40th president told through the eyes of a kgb agent and is based on the soviet union's real-life surveillance of ronald reagan. thevt features several clips on the film. exploring the american stormy, watch american history tv saturdays on c-span 2 and find the schedule on the program that or watch online anytime at c- span.org/history. >> nonfiction book lovers, c- span has podcast, listen to authors and interviewers on the afterwards podcast, and on q&a, conversations with nonfiction authors and others who are making things happen, book notes and episodes of our weekly hour-long conversations that regularly feature fascinating authors of nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics. and the about books podcast

takes you behind the scenes of the nonfiction book publishing industry with insider interviews, industry updates, bestsellers lists, find our podcast by downloading the free c-span now app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> the house will be in order. >> c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other, since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanced and unfiltered coverage of government. taking you to where the policies are debated and decided all with the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting, powered by cable. >> good morning and welcome to the 10th annual american revolutionary war conference, sponsored by the fort plain te museum and historical part in the -- one hour west of albany,

new york. thank you for being here today. definitely, with your support, we appreciate all these events and we appreciate being here. thank you. to get started today, we have a good lineup of speakers, everybody should have a schedule in your folder. we have to stay on time. luckily, we have c-span who will be recording today. you will see all the cameras. we ask you to please file in, have your cell phones on silent, so we can have an interruption free event. thank you. i would like to thank jason for allowing us to use this space. each year, they graciously set us up and provide us with the technology, audio and video, it provides a great space to hold our event. our event started off pretty big in 2015, we started off with a crowd of 150 people and a group through 2019, to over

200, and unfortunately we had the covid pandemic which dropped the numbers that we are back up to our beginning numbers, we have over 150 people signed up this weekend. thank you all. [ applause ] i would like to take bruce franklin and was told publishing, his books are the topic of the three books that will be appearing on c- span, thank you to bruce and his great books, we have a book table and you will see many of his published works. to get started, our first f speaker is shirley green , earned a phd in history from bowling green state university in 2011. and a masters in history from the university of toledo in 2005.th she was honored with a graduate college distinguished dissertation award from bowling green state university in 2012. an emerging leader, excellence category from the african- american legacy project of

northwest ohio in 2010. currently, she is an adjunct instructor with both the university of toledo and bowling green state university. prior to getting into the history field, she was employed by the toledo police department starting in 1976 while retiring as a lieutenant in 2003. thank you for your service currently, she is director of the toledo police museum. she has a recent book, revolutionary blacks, discovering the frank brothers, freeborn men of color, soldiers of independence was published in 2003, also the subject of her talk today. let's give a big round of applause and welcome shirley to the stage. [ applause ]

>> good morning, everyone to thank you for coming out this morning. i am really happy to be the guest speaker, i want to thank brian and the fort plain museum, and historic site , for inviting me to speak at the conference this year this is my second visit to new york state. this year. in february, i was invited to speak at different venues by the westchester county 250 revolutionary consortium group. i had a wonderful time. i have been having a wonderful time here with you all. i am here to talk about my book. and my research. a lot of that is based on my family history. my book is part family history, part micro-history, micro- history is when you focus on a person or an event, or

community or location on a ut small level to tell a bigger story about historical forces or events. most family historians start out on the research trying to answer questions or mysteries about a certain ancestor or certain aspect of history. i was born and raised in toledo, ohio. so was my father. my mother, however, was born and raised in lynn, massachusetts, her father was born and raised in nova scotia, canada. when i first started my research , as a family historian, i was trying to answer the question of how my maternal grandfather came to be born and raised in canada. as i started to address that question, another question came up, excuse me, how did the expenses of my ancestors informed us about the experiences and actions of free blacks revolutionary america? this book is a combinof my journey to answer those questions. i want to start with my maternal great-grandfather,

guide by e name of thomas tholdest cemeteries in north america which was located -- is located in nova scotia. this picture on the screen was ta a local historian who was conducting researr a book on e oldest gravestones s in north america. the ok is entitled "the gravestones of acadia." they had a convon that day that when something like , it is on the screen, what is your name? he responded, my is henry franklin, an uncommon name in these parts. my grandfather came from africa. how old are you? he said, i just turned 70. i find it very ironic that he had just turned 70 when he is

explaining to this historian about his own family history. i am just turning 70 and i am explaining about my family history. [ applause ] >> henry franklin passed away shortly -- shortly after the publication of the book in 1929 that he recited a small part of the franklin oral history to historian. the entire franklin tradition goes something like this, the first franklin ancestor came to america from the west coast of africa by way of haiti. two of his descendents the two brothers with the last name of frank fought in the black regiment in rhode island in the continental army during the iv revolutionary war. i believe that the first frank ancestor in america was captured in five different documents as living and working in colonial rhode island. and active member of the free

providence, rhode island community, known by the name of frankowned a parcel of nd d he worked as a serv of silas carpenter, who was a member of the carpenter fami a large landholding family in providence, rhode island there are pictures of four those documents on the en three e doments are related to a land person by frank from the of silashe from carpent document dicates the initial land purchase. tothe name of frank,servant of silas carpenter. cume 47 indicates that he mortgaged th of immediately after purchasing the land, h later. he is referred to as nigro

servant. he pays off the mortgage documents define and regain control of the land and listed in that document as frank nigro, i use these documents in class and as my students, when did he gain his independence? when did he gain his freedom? nine times out of 10 they can figure out somewhere between 1947 and 1965 -- 18 -- 1847 and 1865. the other document is a cot document. a t fidavit. it details, upon frank, an individual with st name of sprague. the affidavit, it is magnified on the screen, the davisummarizes the attack which appears to be provoked the actions taken byfrank. the complaint reads, this way, that

sprague declared ag himself he had misbehaved, for how he did on the 19th of this instance, may be reason, by reason of great provocation, given him by frank and in this fashion some blows were struck, which drawn blood from frank, a breach of his majesty's law. he was charged, convicted, and fined for the assault in the amount of two shillings and four pence. all of these documents indicate that frank understood how to navigate the system as a black man in colonial rhode island. i believe that this industrious frank was a direct ancestor of two brothers, nate andrew and rufus. i believe that they probably followed west africa custom of adopting a revered ancestors first name as their last name. both andrew and rufus frank

lived and worked in providence, rhode island in the 1700s. both served in the militia, bo were called out to fight off en threats to the community. andrew died in 1756, but his brother rufus lived to head hi own household in rhode island inthe 1770s. rufus bemea member of the providceilitia. this was stated stday, militia service was required of l le-bodied men between 16 to 60. however, this was not generally required for black men and who were normally exempted from military service and were instead required to perform other civic duties like road cleaning and repair. during times of major warfare, the exemptions against black service were disregarded. such as when great britain became involved in a war against france and the native american allies of france and the french and indian war. rufus served as a member of the militia providence during the war om1757 to 1761, excuseme

1762 and stationed primarily in a region that is present day western new york state. he served in three sepate campaigns, which yoare looking at, eit picture of fort in rome, new york, he was stationed there for a time, and in 1762 when spain jumped into conflict on the side of france, rhode island mustered the troops to assist with the capture of cuba which was an important spanish colony at the time. rufus and others made their way to new york and sailed to havana, they captured a fortress in havana's harbor. the season ended. rufus and his fellow troops returned home. home for rufus was not johnston, rhode island after the war, that is where he settled. it is a small town just northeast of providence. rufus married, he had three children he had two sons by the

name of william and ben, one daughter by the name of hannah, it was one of 10 free black households in johnston, the family is enumerated in the 1774 colonial rhode island census on the far right side. which is an area of the senses that was designated for blacks and native americans. rufus and his family's -- his family were part of the growing black population for the revolutionary war. there were approximately 500,000 people of african descent which made up 20% of the population on the eve of the american revolution. most were enslaved. a very small percentage of blacks were free and they lived under very restrictive conditions like the franks. as the war progressed, the desires of these half 1 million people could be separated into two categories as defined by historian ira berlin, the enslaved were looking for liberty and freedom, free

blacks were looking for a quality. the enslaved were looking for liberty and freedom, free blacks were looking for a quality. throughout the duration of the war, they would judge who would and could ramp their desires, the british -- grant their desires, the british or the american, they would follow in the father's footsteps and serve in the military during the revolutionary war. but before they could serve, there needed to be a change in american military policy. one of the reasons for the change was prompted by the actions of john murray, the earl of dunmore, he was also the appointed royal governor of virginia. by november of 1775, he had been run out of his quarters at williamsburg by patriot forces business on a ship in the l chesapeay. on november 7, 1775, he issued a proclamatiat promised freedom to enslaved men who

were willing to fight for mike the british crown. he was looking for a way to regain power and help great britain. he thought that, by draining the resources from the patriot cause, like the enslaved labor force, that would be a good way to do that. one of the many enslaved men and women who fled the british lines was henry washington, who was enslaved to george washington. henry became a member of lord dunmore's is the open regiment, he trained for enslavement and must shooting information marching, he has special uniforms made for them with the insignia "liberty to the slaves." the regiment fought in two major battles, the last battle being the battle of great bridge, virginia for the lost. they lost lives of both bottles, they also lost lives to smallpox epidemic during this time.

however, the proclamation by dunmore created one of the mass emancipation prior to the t civil war. historians have estimated that about 80,000 enslaved people fled to the british line during the war. women and children among them. they were all seeking freedom. the frank brothers, william and ben, enlisted after a change in american military policy at then beginning of the war, george washington banned the use of black socials in the continental army, the militia troops that fought in the battles of lexington and concorde and bunker hill were diverse, they had white, black, native american soldiers serving together. the washington believed you could not have a professional army of black soldiers if you cannot attract southern planters by arming blacks, fr or enslaved. in july of 1775, after he took

control of continental forces, he instructed his cruiting officers in the following manner, some is the screen, "you are not to enlist in the rter from the erial army, r any stroller, or vagabond, or persons suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of america. washington with getting this policy throughout the fall of 1775, but, to counter the proclamation by dunmore, george washington revises policy towards black soldiers, washington was also pressured by command officers and black community leaders who would go on to be the leader of the black freemason movement in america. washington was pressured by these commanding officers and individuals to allow the service of black veterans. soldiers who had already proven themselves in battle .

washington changed his policy and in january of 1776, he allowed for the continued service in the enlistment of free black veterans. the following year, he allowed for the enlistment of all free blacks. by the end of the war, this is an ongoing debate among historians about how many black soldiers served in the continental army the accepted traditional narrative is that 5000 served. but, the dar, in this expensive work of forgotten pages, nativee american and indigenous soldiers that served during the war have calculated that maybe 6000 black soldiers served in the continental army and others push the number up to 7000 they are still working on what the true number is. because of the change in the american military policy, the frank brothers were now able to enlist because they were both free. william, the older brother, signed up to serve with the rhode island state brigade in april of 1777.

later that year, he was enlisted into the second rhode island regiment. his younger brother, trent benjamin -- benjamin, signed up to serve in providence in may of the same year he was 15 years old. his father probably had to give his permission for his young son to enlist. why did they enlist? for a variety of reasons, mostly for economic concerns. they were members of the working class. they were listed as a general laborers. their father did not own land. with enlistment, they can look forward to, they thought, earning a steady wage and receiving food and equipment. given the limited opportunities for free blacks and other members of the working class, military service was one of the few ways to better your life. congress had approved enlistment bonuses, congress and the state had different states -- had promised land bounties at the end of the war. were soldiers of color treated

differently than white counterparts? they initially served and integrated regimens and companies and receive the same pay and equipment. as freeborn men, freeborn black men, the frank brothers were receiving the sought after equality that many free blacks were looking for. what were the frank brothers getting themselves into? they became members of the second rhode island regiment which was committed by colonel israel angel who at one point lived in johnston, rhode island the state of rhode island was passed by congress to provide two infantry regiments, the first and second rhode island, the regiments were integrated. the franks were not signing up for easy duty, continental soldiers lived tough lives, the pay was very sporadic, because of limited treasury of the new federal government and state governments as well. they were issued equipment, muskets and bayonets, issued

clothing that consisted mostly of hunting shirts that were large enough to cover their other clothing and equipment. shoes were always in short supply. in the summer, soldiers could go barefoot, and in the winter, we have heard the stories about the continental army soldiers in the winter sometimes wrapping the feet and cloth soldiers often resorted to foraging the countryside for food soldiers also hato deal with diseases that ran rampt through the camps. on the screen is how colonel angel described e situation of the men who served in the second rhode island regiment. he wre to his bosses in the neral assembly, he said that the regiment is scandausin its appearance in the view of everyone, it has becausof this occurring from surrounding regintfrom the inhabitants of towns to which they have passed, the disagreeable and provoking epittsof the raed -- their uniforms were

covered in lice, naked regiment, such treatment, gentlemen, is discouraging, dispiriting in his tendencies, it does effectually on man the man. -- effectually unman the man in the army. em almost useless this was a reality of lifefor second rhode island regiment. the first bathatthe brothers were engaged was -- they dispatched to the forts along the delaware rive between pennsylvania and new jersey in ocof 1777. s troops from maryland and connticut were stationed at a ft where the yellow arrow is po tothe rhode island troops were scheduled at ft. mercer in red band. the second rhode island was also sent over to reinforce troops. initially, the rhode island

troops were able to defend ft. mercer and repel british troops. however, the british were able to eventually capture for mifflin, forcing the rhode island regiments to evacuate both, as a result, 14 were killed and 21 wounded. but they did receive praise and commendations for their exploits . the commander of the first rhode island regiment, colonel christopher greene, received accommodation sort from the rhode island assembly for his work at ft. mercer. what was the ultimate reward for the service at red bank? valley forge. [ laughter ] march there. se after that, they battle to valley forge in 1777, while there,wa american troops suffer major losses because of

disease, illness, and desertion. washington described the encampment as, composed of men have starved, always in rags, without pay, experiencing every season of distress the food rations were in such short supply that many of the army regulars threatened to revolt. their slogan was, no bread, no meat, no soldier, at the end of 1777, washington told congress many soldiers were unfit for duty, a week later, 1000 men were on sick role, over 3000 soldiers deserted, the rhode island regiments were decimated as well. because of their losses, they were barely enough soldiers left to form one regiment. colonel angell wrote, i am sorry to inform you that a

very great sickness and mortality prevailed among the rhode island troops, which is judged to proceed in some measure from the badness of their costs. the rate of desertion also concerned angell , he wrote, desertion is what we may ever expect so long as the soldiers see that the public faith is not to be depended upon. a general who at overall command of the rhode island regiment was also concerned about the state of the rhode island troops. he wrote, "the two rhode island italians have been sickly, they have lost a considerable number. this is to their immense fatigue in the summer past." he means fatigue, meaning the extra duties they perform in the summer. in 2019, i had the privilege of visiting valley forge national historical park and that is me standing at the encampment. that was moving for me. to solve the problem, of

dwindling manpower, excuse me, general varnum made the recommendation to fill the dwining ranks by recruiting and enlisting enslaved men from rhode island they were able to convince general washington and the rhode island general assembly to allow the enlistment of statement in return for their freedom. the slave enlistmentacwas passed on february th1778, and is situated that any negor --egro and any indian man slave in the state may enlist into either of the two battalions they sa ey shall be entitled to receive all bonuses, excuse me, bounties, wage and encouragements allowed by the cointal

congress cto any soldier listing into the service. it is further voted and resolved that every slave so enlisting shall upon his passing muster refer christopher greene the immediately discharged for the service of his master or mistress and be absolutely free. so, colonel christopher greene of the first rhode island regiment, accompanied by his captains, was given the task ofn leaving valley forge encampment and returning to rhode island to recruit and enlist individuals to serve in the new regiment. however, the recruitment and enlistment of enslavement did not last long, rhode island slaveholders propose a new law, they feared the consequences of arming former slaves and how that would appear to those still in bondage. their opposition prevailed and in june the rhode island assembly appealed the slave enlistment act. in that four months, over 100 free, formally enslaved african

americans and native americans enlisted, among them were individuals like burke, of providence, brown, of johnston, rhode island, and free blacks and native americans also enlisted during this time that included peter daly of warwick, rhode island. this may also have been the first case of sanctioned segregation in american military history. while military historian robert white jr. has called "an experiment in segregation." because these new recruits were combined with over 70 documented veteran and black native soldiers from the first and second rhode island regiments, to form the new first rhode ed island regiment. the frank brothers and other soldiers of colored were transferred from a second rhode island to the reconfigured first rhe island regiment. the reconfigured

first rhode island regiment became known as the black regiment. on the screen are copies of two documents that address that change. the first document on the left si the screen is part of a -- a private testifies that the white men in the regiments were transferred e regiment of colonel angell , the seco document is entitled to return, meaning ensting, return of freeman enlisted for the war. i believe this return listed some of thfreeboard or previously freed men of color who served with the first rhode island regiment. you can see right there, i have magnified the names of the frank brothers, they are listed right the the second documentthat document list over 35 individuals that were considered free prior to the slave enlistment act.

william and be they had resumes assigned to participate in the rhode isnd expedition, the main objective of the expedition was to drive british troops from aquidneck island in the important rt city of newport. it was led by general john sullivan of new hampshire, the first joint effort between american and french troops, so the rhode island troops had to be excited about the opportunity to take the british completely out of rhode island. and they would fight side-by- side with their new allies, the french, who came after the american victory at saratoga in new york in october of 1777. the expedition failed. when americ troops were not able to overcome the british

defenses at newport. on the scen is a graphic from the book titled the black regiment of the american revotion and it lists step-by- step what happens during the battle of rhode islandthat haened during the rhode island expedition. french naval ships were prevented from participating in the battle because ofthe bad wind. and damage upon the fleet. they had to leave to bost for repairs and did not return to give support. also, british reinforcements were sent to repel the american attack. after trying to lay siege for almost a month, the americans we forced to leave the island on august 29th d it was during the retreat that the battle of rhode island happened. additionally, they marched all the way down to lay sieghere, and when they know that british reinforcements arcoming and the french fleet is gone, they have to march back to an aquidneck island and that is

ere the battle of rhode island occurred. the british forces chased afte the retreating troops, they caught them at points 7 and 8 on the screen, william and ben with other members of the first and second rhode island regiments were assigned to protect the right wing of the american line, during the afternoon hours in the heat of the day, they rappelled a combined force of british and haitian troops on three separate occasions. they were being bombarded from british ships in the harbor. since the french fleet had failed to return. by the end of the day, american forces were able to safely retreat from the island. total casualties of 30 killed, 137 where did, 44 came up missing. casualties in the first rhode island regiment were three, 10% of the total americans killed,

11 or 25% were missing. the frank brothers were among the survivors. after the battle, the first rhode island regiment was assigned patrol duty in rhode island. this is when the younger r did something ger brothers do. they do not think things out. during this time, january of 79, ben frank got married, married sarah wilbur, he was 18 years old. sarah was a mother of one child, abraham. they were married but an elder from the baptist church of east greenwich, rhode island he had also married hannah, to solomon wanted who was also a member of the first rhode island regiment. but, a year after his marriage,

ben frank made a pivotal decision, so let's review his life up to this point . he is 18 years old. he is married with a family to support he is serving with the army who could not afford to close or feed him at this point in time. he and his fellow soldiers are called the naked, lousy, ragged regiment, he survived the miserable winter at valley forge. he fought in two major battles and on both occasions his regiments had to retreat. he lost comrades at both battles. at this point, he may have been convinced that the americans could not win the war. what did he do? he deserted. in march of 1780, then frank -- ben deserted from the continental army, not uncommon for them to leave for home, 1/5 to one third deserted during the war. ti poor pay, poor equipment, lack of food, and even homesickness

drove maldiers to desert. for beere was the additional burden of marriage and having to support family with insuffi and unsteady military pay. the mi records on the screen indicate that he signed up to the duration of war. however, his older brother had signed up for three years, always confusto me. however, at this point, ben may have believed he signed up for three years and that his enlistment was almost complete . for whatever reasons, he left , leaving his brother and wife behind. his wife, sarah, will return to her hometown of middleboro, massachusetts, taking her son, abraham, with her. william frank continued his service with the first rhode island regiment. the older brother stayed, the younger brother left. i don't know how. the segregation of the rhode island troops affected him and others, i have tracked over 50 soldiers

of color, freeboard or free before enlistment, before the slave enlistment act and segregation, only three deserted. after the act, 17 deserted. including ben frank and his brother-in-law , solomon. solomon, was retaken and later died of disease in camp. ben was never retaken. his older brother, william, would continue to serve. he may have felt responsible to uphold the family name after his younger brother deserted. he may have felt a sense of loyalty to his fellow soldiers in the rhode island regiments. maybe he did not to jeopardize his chances of ging land for money for his service. maybe he believed that erans would win the war and he would reap e benefits of being a veteran member of the army that liberated americ for whatever his reasons, he reenst on february 1st, 1781 . for the duration of the war

this timehe would continue to rvwith the first rhode t island regiment. on the screen is a listing of rhode land soldiers that was compiled in 1781. there is williafrk. his age and occupation, place of residence and where he was born. skin color, hair color, where he signed up, william will continue his service, in early february of 1781, the first and second rhode island regiments after the second rhode island had taken heavy casualties in springfield. this new consolidated unit was moving -- that spring, the

colonel and his soldiers found himself encamped in westchester county, new york with the primary responsibility for guarding the continental lines. one of the soldiers was assigned to the regiment, was lieutenant jeremiah greenman, assigned to command the guard in pines ridge, one of the two bridges spanning the river in the northern very of what they called neutral ground of westchester county, new york. this neutral ground was daily confrontation between loyalists and patriots. it was guerrilla warfare carried out by a loyalist group that was led by colonel james delancy, known as the core of refugees, this group was composed of americanbo westchester county but had chosen to rema british .

in 1781, delancy led his loyalist moshe towards pines ridge -- one group attacked the headquarters, a second party struck the guard the bridge. eutenant wrote about this, in his memoir, he said, morning was d by calvary supported by infantry which proved to be the core of they soon surrounded me and the vastly superior with no prospect of escape, i thought it most advisable to surrender myself and guard prisoners of war. they informed me that colonel greene was mortally wounded and the major was killed one of those individuals that was captured along with the lieutenant was peter daily, the individual from warwick, rhode isla o signed up as a free man, signed up during thslave

enlistment act ti. i am standing in front of at the davenport house looks li today. that is where the most brutal fighting occurre that is where colol eene was awakened from his sleep and he and his small detachment soldiers were ambushed. major ebenezer flag was shot in the head while reaching for his pistol in his bed and he was -- colonel greene was wounded in the initial attack at his dying body was strapped to a horse and drag about one mile 40 british lines. eventually, the troops left the body at the side of the road and he was later buried along with the major at a site near the headquarters at pines ridge, they are both buried at the first presbyterian church in yorktown, new york.

i and other historians believe that the brutal violence perpetrated upon the body of the colonel was unusually violent and probably because he wa the leader of black soldiers. along with colonel greene, o were killed that day, individuals, africa burk, was killed, kato -- tobannister, their names are on the monument you see on the screen. that nument is in new york and it affects colonel greene he sprung up out of bed, the member of the first black regiment, standing, and on the other side is the portrayal of a native american soldier fighting off delancy's refugees. william frank survived the

attack at pines ridge. as a member of the consolidated first and second rhode island regiment, he served at the pivotal battle of yorktown, in october of 1781 and was -- william has served a total of six years. in 1784, william frank would eventually receive backpay in the amount of over $200. he will also receive a land bounty of 1795 which you probably soldh to a land speculator. william settled in his hometown of johnstown after the war. and became a part of a growing population of free blacks of over 3400 that were now living in the state of rhode land. another 1000 blacks remained enslaved. william is listed as a free head of household of two in that federal -- the first federal census and the red arrow is pointing to william's name in the census. okay, his brother had a more

complicated life. just a little bit after ben left the continental army he th signed up to serve with british troops. he was not alone in fleeing to the british. as i said earlier, thousands of enslaved people fled to british lines during the war. at the end of the war, many of the defeated british troops and loyalists, black loyalist among them, made their way to new york city which was one of the last british strongholds in america at the end of the war. they remained at new york until the final peace treaty was negotiated. a passage would be raised for them to go to england. or british colonies located in the caribbean and canada. part of the peace treaty promised to return all confiscated property by the british to its rightful american owners. this included the formally enslaved, thousands of enslaved people who ran to british lines

. however, british officials refused to return many of the fugitive slaves that ran to the british seeking freedom during the war. but the british were willing to make fair compensation to the owners of the slave persons not returned. i don't think they ever did. in return to do so, in order to do so i should say, they compiled an inventory of the blocks within british lines, this inventory became known as the book of negroes, ben frank, free men his whole life is listed as ben frankham with other black loyalist. listed as been -- ben frankham, ordinary fellow. in october of 1783, he was a passenger on a ship taking him another loyalist from new york to nova scotia. they were part of a large fleet

of over 40,000 loyalist heading to nova scotia, and other british colonies in north america. ben and other embarked on the breathalyzer, the positive -- by april of 1784, he relocated to a settlement ofbardstown, nova scotia. which was several mis northwest of the largest city. p a beautiful city. at that point, it became the largest free black settlement innorth america with population of over 1500 free blacks. bardstown is -- birchtown is to

the left. that is a makeshift hut they lived in, they found the northern climate, and frontier conditions in nova scotia difficult, and were subject to discrimination by other loyalist settlers, many slaveholders. also, the land given to black loyalist was the most rocky and hard to cultivate compared to that was given to some of the white loyalists. in 1792, prompted by the request of black loyalist, the british government offered black loyalist the chance to resettle in a new colony in sierra leone, africa. more than half, almost 2/3 of the black loyalist then living in nova scotia, around 1200 of th, ft the country and moved permanently to sira leone. including henry washington, formally enslaved to george waington. ben, now calling himsf ben franklin, merritt the daughter

of another black loyalist and settled in nova scotia, indicated by the yellow arrow on the screen. i do not know if ben is a bigamist at this point in time but he did get remarried. he and his wife had nine children who survived into adulthood. all of them were baptized in the anglican church. hepaed away sometime after 1838. my maternal great-grandfather is a direct descendent of ben franklin. he passed along his family history to the next generation. e screen you see pictures in the middle of peter franklin, my great uncle, that is tholr brother of my grandfather who we called pa. he was john william franklin, mymaternal grandfather, he is sitting in a chair inthe

backyardof his home in lynn, massachusetts petting his favorite dog. he followed the dressing style of his father with the way his hat is cocked at the same angle. my great uncle peter has a hat in his hand. that he took off for the picture. in the early 1900s, my grandfather, left nova scotia for new york city looking for work. this is what really happened. my grandfather was working on a whaling ship, one of the first jobs young people in nova scotia, if you were a young man, got was working on whalers. he got hurt on one of the bo expeditions and the ship dropped him off in new york city and he decided to stay there. he stayed there and got work. but, following the tradition of frank-franklin, both peter and john served in world war i,

peter served with the battalion from canada and john william, my grandfather, served as part of a new york regiment. he married late in life, eventually settling in massachusetts, he passed away in lynn, massachusetts in 1866 and never gave up his canadian citizenship, he always had a canadian flag hanging in his home. on a wall in the dining room. i always asked, why do we have a canadian flag in the house? he would say, that is where i am from. he passed along the story of the frank brothers to his two sons. i call them the frank brothers part two, check out the names, my uncles, john william franklin jr. and ben franklin, and they would continue the service of the -- the frank tradition of military service, both serving in world

war ii, my uncle, we called him buster, john william franklin jr., served in the pacific, and my uncle ben served in europe. uncle ben passed the story to me, both served in world war ii and also in the korean conflict as well. so, i want to end by reading a section from the epilogue of the book. okay. learning about the franklin family background and origins has been a fascinating personal journey. their struggle to gain standing in their communities and the final equal footing with their white counterparts in the continental army has help me put my own life and career choice in perspective. like the frank brothers, i followed in my own father's

footsteps when i became a police officer in toledo, ohio in 1976, one of the first female officers in the department. my father, a well- respected police investigator and civil war history buff instilled a love of history in me and like from frank to his sons, my father was an inspiring figure in my life. did the heritage from my maternal line instilled an unconventional streak in me that allowed me to envision as myself as someone equal in a male-dominated workforce? it is possible that this nonconforming trait came from the frank-franklin line. throughout my research, i am often asked myself, which of the brothers i identified with the most? even though the life and decisions of ben provided a framework to understand my own predilection to take the road less traveled, as the oldest f sibling of my family, i identified with william, the older brother who was persistent and steadfast in his service. but i'm not judgmental or unsympathetic to the actions

and decisions of ben. to the contrary, the combination of these two dichotomous personalities has found a home in this author and motivating me to not only continue the history of public service but also to write their story. i will end there. questions? [ applause [ >> we do have time for questions. two to five talk. -- fahnestock. did william apply for pension? >> yes, but his application recommendation -- application on the pension file, i have not been able to find them but i do know he did apply for his land bounty. he did receive it. he probably -- he probably sold it to a land speculator.

something i did not mention, there is an understanding that william frank, after the 1790 census, would eventually move to the state of louisiana. if you look in louisiana census, there are a bunch of frank's, i don't know how they're related, but a bunch of franks listed knin the louisian census starting in the 1800s. >> dr. green, thank you for the enlightening presentation. you said your uncle told the g story to you, your grandfather, while he was alive, did he speak much about it? did he spark an interest in you in learning more about what came before him? >> i think what he did, he sparked an interest in the fact that he was not from america. he was from a place called nova scotia and none of my friends knew where that was and i like to brag about that.

[ laughter ] they were like, where is that? that is what intrigued me. i got the information about their military service and military tradition from my uncle ben. my uncle ben was the one that afforded me and gave me all of that information. he was amazing about giving me the information. he was always right. he was always right. sometimes i would question what he would say, for instance, he said that the first frank came i to the americas by way of haiti , i am like, how do you know that? i said, give me a dna sample. he was a match for a young man that lived in the dominican republic. he was always right. yes, sir? yes, ma'am, sorry. >> wonderful research and wonderful to be born into that

fine family. >> thank you for that. >> anyone else? >> do you have family reunions now that you have all this information? >> not very many, i have been to nova scotia on several occasions, primarily for research, most of the family that originally lived in nova scotiaev has migrated to different parts of canada. some of them live in toronto and some as far as alberta. it is very difficult to get everyone together, and the older generations have now passed on. it is difficult to get all of our generation together because everyone lives so far from each other and living throughout the country. >> anyone else ?

>> thank you for the talk. after they were ejected from virginia, general howe had a ban on -- do you know what happened to the human regiment? >> most of them, i have not done existed research, but quite a few of them died of smallpox. they were disbanded after that.l you are right, the british were not double as they did not treat the black soldiers, if you want to call them black soldiers, most supported the black pioneers, it allowed them to serve in auxiliary positions, but not as soldiers. you are absolutely right. the ethiopian regiment kind of dissolved away. mostly primarily because of

death by disease. thank you for your question. >> i have one question or comment, in the pine bridge interaction, the lieutenant, was he a part of that defensive group? then was killed? or was he part of a different group? >> he was part of a detachment that was guarding the bridge. they had two separate, one was at the headquarters at the davenport house were colonel green and the major were in, the other was at the detachment with others and peter daily, they were captured and prisoners of war. >> did you get that information

from the diary? >> yes, a fascinating read. ho >> about 30 miles to the west of here, there was an action in 1777, where elements from, i think, the second rhode island, were involved with the capture of some tories. u do you know anything about that? >> not off the top of my head. thank you. >> i remember reading a famous preacher in massachusetts during the salem witch trials, believing that one of the first systems for trying to prevent smallpox was given to him by some of his slaves >> they had brought to over from africa. which they finally adopted here before they had they had the cure, to take a small infection. you mentioned smallpox twice. i'm curious if there was any

connection with some of the survivors or some of the children of those slaves also used that system or introduced that system. >> well t was a procedure used on the west coast of africa. you're right. it was brought over by, i think the slaves, the enslaved person's name was osemius during that period of time and cotton mather passed along that procedure to one of the doctors in his town. washington at several points in the war had thinks his troops inoculated against smallpox. >> second question. i think i know the answer, but did the black troops ever have black offices or were they all led by caucasians? >> they were all led by white officers. >> like world war i. >> and world war ii. >> i didn't know world war ii. >> in world war ii, i must say that in in my position as the historian for the toledo police

department and the director of the toledo police museum, going back to world war ii, we had an individual by the name of jacob chandler who enlisted for service. he was a toledo police officer and he enlisted for service during world war ii. he was a college graduate. and during his military career he would be among other black soldiers with college educations, some would be elevated to command positions. so jacob chandler started his career in the american military as a private. he eventually became a lieutenant and he lost his life serving in italy outside of florence, italy. [ applause ] >> thank you. you are enjoying american history tv sign up for our newsletter using the qr code on the sc