Abstract
Our fourth article, “Carpenter, Mariner, Soldier, Veteran: Cato Vernon and Black Service in the American Revolution,” by Heather Bollinger, is an in-depth account of an enslaved man who gained his freedom by enlisting in a Rhode Island regiment in 1778, and who survived five years of combat. Bollinger has scrupulously examined archives, public records, newspapers and other sources to find every possible scrap of information relating to Cato Vernon. In so doing, she has uncovered the complex meaning of liberty for one Newport man who risked his life to be free, and, in freedom, encountered serious obstacles.
Recommended Citation
Bollinger, Heather
(2026)
"Carpenter, Mariner, Soldier, Veteran: Cato Vernon and Black Service in the American Revolution,"
Newport History: Journal of the Newport Historical Society: Vol. 104:
Iss.
293, Article 5.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/newporthistory/vol104/iss293/5
