Richard Pierpoint - West Africans in Early America

port of harlem gambian education partnership

Richard Pierpoint
(Circa 1744-1837)

Canadian War Hero

Richard Pierpoint was about 16 when slave catchers kidnapped him from Bundul, Senegambia and enslaved him in British controlled North America. With a promise for his freedom, if he survived the war, he fought for the British in the American Revolutionary War. The British lost and Pierpoint moved from the newly formed United States to British controlled Canada.

At the start of the War of 1812 between Britain/Canada and the United States, Pierpoint was the first to petition the organizing of a Black fighting unit. The petitions he signed or sent to his government preserves most of his story including his 1821 request for passage to Senegambia in place of his receiving a second land award. Authorities rejected the request. Pierpoint died leaving no family or heirs.

The Port Of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership provided this panel to educate people in the Gambia and the United States about each other. America’s Islamic Heritage Museum provided research support. Original pencil drawing by William Hasenbuhler.

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