Nell are we indebted for the
earliest recital of the heroic deeds of the colored American in the
Wars of the Revolution and 1812. Whittier contributed an article on
this subject to the "National Era" in 1847, and five or six years
later Nell published his pamphlet on "Colored Patriots," a booklet
recently reprinted by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It is a
useful contribution, showing as it does the rising and spreading
abroad of that spirit which appreciates military effort and valor; and
while recognizing the glory that came to American arms in the period
described, honestly seeks to place some of that glory upon the
deserving brow of a race then enslaved and despised. The book is
unpretentious and aims to relate the facts in a straight-forward way,
unaccompanied by any of the charms of tasteful presentation. Its
author, however, is deserving our thanks, and the book marks an
important stage in the development of the colored American. His mind
was turning toward the creation of the soldier--the formation of
armies.
There are other evidences that the mind of the colored man was at this
time turning towards arms. In 1852 Doctor Pennington, one of the most
learned colored men of his times, having received his Degree in
Divinity from Heidelberg, delivered an address before a mass
convention of colored citizens of Ohio, held in Cleveland, in which he
spoke principally of the colored soldier.
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