America’s Black Patriots: the History You Never Learned in School

Have you ever heard of Wentworth Cheswell or the Reverend Jonas Clark? How about Peter Salem? If you haven’t, don’t feel bad. I didn’t know either and I taught history.

With all the chatter about February being Black History Month, I thought I would throw myself into the fray to offer a little sneak peek into the history we never learned in school.

Frankly, I have never been a fan of Black History Month. No, I’m not a racist. To me, history ought to be taught through a more integrative rather than separatist approach. The fact of the matter is black and white Americans have often worked side by side contributing to our rich history -- a history that dates back to our nation’s founding. 

Unfortunately, this history has often been distorted, even erased from our history books by progressives -- the real racists. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of these amazing black American patriots.

1)  Wentworth Cheswell (1746-1817):  Few people have ever heard of Wentworth Cheswell, yet in 1775 he rode alongside Paul Revere to alert everyone that the British were coming. As the story goes, the two men eventually split off -- Cheswell rode north and Revere rode west. In addition to being a patriot, Cheswell was a respected schoolteacher, church leader, and historian. He also became America’s first black judge in 1768. That’s seven years before America won her independence! ...