BLACK CITIZEN-SOLDIERS

"In 1855 about eighty black Bostonians--'among the worthiest our colored population'--organized a volunteer unit called the Massasoit Guards. The governor refused to arm this company, so Robert Morris, a prominent lawyer who commanded the unit , proposed 'to raise by subscription the means to purchase arms and equipment.'... "3. Massachusetts' constitution abolished slavery in 1780. Vermont had no slaves in 1790, but did not become a state until another year... Massasoit was an Indian chief who signed a treaty of friendship with the Plymouth Colony settlers in 1621. Robert Morris (1823-1882) passed the Suffolk County bar exam in 1847, and became one of the first African Americans licensed to practice law.." P.8, "African American Militia During the Civil War," THE BLACK CITIZEN SOLDIERS OF KANSAS (2008) by Roger D. Cunningham