The revolutionary era witnessed the American War of Independence (1775–83) and emancipation in the North. The colonial population of 2.8 million included 700,000 blacks, 90 percent of them enslaved.

Inspired by the “created equal” ideal of the war, blacks fought on both the American and British sides. Early on, blacks petitioned Massachusetts to abolish slavery. Virginia's deposed royal governor proclaimed all servants and slaves “free, that are able and willing to bear arms” for the Crown. Only black freemen could join the Continental army but a manpower shortage forced slave conscriptions; so 5,000 enslaved and free blacks, promised freedom and pensions, were Patriot laborers, sailors, and soldiers. About 1,000 slaves became Crown soldiers; thousands escaped and labored for Britain, which freed and evacuated more than 30,000 of them in 1783. Perhaps 100,000 found refuge in the woods and among Indians. Meantime, slavery was declining in the North, where war had disrupted the economy and energized antislavery. Slavery was abolished in all states north of Maryland between 1777 and 1846, a milestone African Americans helped to reach.