Racism began to evolve during the second half of the 17th Century, around 1640.  African Americans made up a few thousand of the total population in the new colonies. Many of those early African Americans experienced life much like their fellow European settlers. The reversals they experienced were subtle at first but then became drastic. Those changes occurred because slavery was being used in the Caribbean to produce sugar so those ideas about labor traveled north easily.  It was also harder to import labor from Europe because the Civil War and the plague had reduced the population there. European colonists were realizing that enslaving African Americans would be more efficient and profitable. 

 The Declaration of Independence and the words “all men are created equal” provided thousands of enslaved Africans high expectations and many were ready to fight for the Country and their own personal freedom. Thousands of enslaved Africans impacted the war right from the start at Lexington and Concord, all the way to the end at Yorktown. This lesson will explore the life of James Armistead Lafayette, an enslaved African Virginian. Working as an undercover spy for George Washington, James risked his life to gather key intelligence about the British that helped secure an American victory at Yorktown. In this lesson, we will discuss whether his efforts in service of the American cause helped or hindered his ability to achieve emancipation.