Politics

illustration of the flag of Great Britain waving with large white letters painted on it: LIBERTY FOR SLAVES
Illustration by Paul Spella. Source: Paul Popper / Popperfoto / Getty.

The Black Loyalists

Thousands of African Americans fought for the British—then fled the United States to avoid a return to enslavement.

photo of the title page of The Pennsylvania Magazine, with engraved illustration of American symbols, from July 1776
Photograph by Rythum Vinoben for The Atlantic. Document courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library.

The American Experiment

At 250, the Revolution’s goals remain noble and indispensable.