America's Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes & Early Leaders with 21 Activities (For Kids series)
Grade 5–8—This activity-based guide reveals how African Americans played crucial roles in helping the United States gain its independence. Sanders includes well-known figures such as Phillis Wheatley, Crispus Attucks, and James Forten in her narrative, but also enriches traditional accounts of the period by explaining the contributions of lesser-known patriots. For example, she talks about black troops who fought at Bunker Hill and Valley Forge. She also tells the story of James Armistead Lafayette, a black soldier who spied on Benedict Arnold and Lord Cornwallis. Most of the activities help make this period real to young people. The "Explore Your Family Tree" project gives print and online resources that can help readers discover the roles their own ancestors may have played in the American Revolution. This book also includes information about how African Americans created social and political networks to support one another during the earliest days of the Republic. Sanders makes excellent use of primary sources, providing the original texts of documents and petitions that demanded equal rights and the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. She then explains these documents in language contemporary children will understand. A solid resource for teachers and librarians who wish to engage children in this formative period of American history.—Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.