Free blacks in the North and South fought on both sides of the Revolution , but most fought for the Patriots . Gary Nash reports that there were about 9,000 black Patriots , counting the Continental Army and Navy , state militia units , privateers , wagoneers in the Army , servants to officers , and spies . Ray Raphael notes that thousands did join the Loyalist cause , but " a far larger number , free as well as slave , tried to further their interests by siding with the patriots . " Crispus Attucks was shot dead by British soldiers in the Boston Massacre in 1770 and is considered the first American casualty of the Revolutionary War
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
American Revolution