No last name.
No freedom.
No promise of anything.
In 1781, an enslaved man walked into a British camp pretending to be a runaway.
What he memorized helped end the American Revolution.
But America nearly erased his name.
🧵
No freedom.
No promise of anything.
In 1781, an enslaved man walked into a British camp pretending to be a runaway.
What he memorized helped end the American Revolution.
But America nearly erased his name.
🧵
His name was James.
He belonged to a man named William Armistead.
Lafayette recruited him to spy for the Continental Army.
James posed as a runaway and was welcomed by the British and by Cornwallis himself.
They never saw it coming.
He belonged to a man named William Armistead.
Lafayette recruited him to spy for the Continental Army.
James posed as a runaway and was welcomed by the British and by Cornwallis himself.
They never saw it coming.
James memorized troop movements, false orders, supply routes…everything asked of him.
He passed British lies to Lafayette.
He passed real intelligence to the Americans.
He was the war’s most important double agent….without a gun, a map, or protection.
He passed British lies to Lafayette.
He passed real intelligence to the Americans.
He was the war’s most important double agent….without a gun, a map, or protection.
The intel helped trap Cornwallis at Yorktown.
That battle ended the war.
But when it was over, James returned home… and was still enslaved.
Because he wasn’t technically a soldier.
Because paperwork mattered more than sacrifice.
That battle ended the war.
But when it was over, James returned home… and was still enslaved.
Because he wasn’t technically a soldier.
Because paperwork mattered more than sacrifice.
His petition for freedom was denied.
He had helped win the war….but he wasn’t free.
It took Lafayette’s personal letter to the Virginia Assembly in 1784 to change that.
Three years later, they finally let him go.
He had helped win the war….but he wasn’t free.
It took Lafayette’s personal letter to the Virginia Assembly in 1784 to change that.
Three years later, they finally let him go.
James took the name James Armistead Lafayette to honor the man who helped him.
He bought land.
Raised a family.
And died in 1830….still mostly forgotten.
No statue.
No textbook chapter.
No public legacy.
He bought land.
Raised a family.
And died in 1830….still mostly forgotten.
No statue.
No textbook chapter.
No public legacy.
But every American owes him.
James Armistead Lafayette risked everything for a country that wasn’t his…..at least not yet.
And if you didn’t learn his name in school, that says more about history than it does about him.
James Armistead Lafayette risked everything for a country that wasn’t his…..at least not yet.
And if you didn’t learn his name in school, that says more about history than it does about him.
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