CrisRadio welcomes you to read and hear its stories and original documents by and about the forgotten people who lived in and served the Redding Encampment during the American Revolution.
Forgotten Voices, Forgotten Patriots
An audio introduction to people of color at the Redding Encampment.
For centuries race-based slavery was practiced in New England. A myth endures that this was relatively “good slavery” compared to the plantation systems of the American South. New England slavery was different, but not better. Unlike indentured servitude, race-based slavery created a permanent underclass of forced laborers who were denied rights based on the color of their skin. Service in the Patriot Army during the American Revolution was a rare route to manumission for enslaved Americans.
CONTENT WARNING: Please be advised that some of the 18th-century primary sources used to produce this podcast contain terms and descriptions for ancestral, racial, and ethnic identity that may be offensive. This language has not been censored. Listen at your discretion. Authors: Peter Moran, Anna Fossi, and Dana Meyer.
Voices in this program (in order of appearance):
- Peter Moran
- Anna Fossi
- Dennis Culliton – Witness Stones Project
- Ellery Leary – Putnam Memorial State Park
- Dana Meyer
- Kerel Tiggett
If you’re interested in learning more, check out our sources at:
- History of Redding
- Connecticut’s Black Soldiers: 1775-1783 – David O. White
- Putnam’s Revolutionary War Winter Encampment: The History and Archaeology of Putnam Memorial State Park – Daniel Cruson
- Memoir of a Revolutionary Soldier – Joseph Plum Martin
- Forgotten Patriots – Daughters of the American Revolution
- Revolutionary War Pension Records – Ancestry.com (Subscription Required)
- Historical Archaeology of the Revolutionary War Encampments of Washington’s Army – Sgarlata, Et al.
Learn more about related research in Connecticut: Coloring Our Past
Learn more about Indigenous Patriots in Connecticut: Connecticut Indians in the War for Independence – David J. Naumec (Subscription Required)
