Introduction to the primary source written by James G. Basker, from James G. Basker (editor) with Nicole Seary, Black Writers of the Founding Era: 1760–1800 (New York: Library of America, 2023), p. 221.

“Sometimes attributed to the ‘Black Whig’ whose sermon also appeared in Philadelphia in 1782, this wartime sermon was published anonymously but presented on its title-page and its dedication page as ‘By an African American.’ This is the earliest recorded use of the term ‘African American,’ preceding by 50 years the earliest example cited in the Oxford English Dictionary. The emergence of the term marks the moment that a people who had been labeled as foreigners—“Africans” or “Ethiopians”—began to claim their rightful American identity. The author seems to be from South Carolina and to have witnessed events there, including the heroism of the patriotic Christopher Gadsden, the dedicatee, who had served in the Continental Congress and in the Revolutionary Army, and had recently endured 42 weeks of solitary confinement in a British prison in Florida.

“The sermon has several powerful themes. One is the joyful recognition that the ‘capture of Cornwallis,’ better known as the Battle of Yorktown, means that American independence is certain. Another is the savagery of Cornwallis and his troops, described here as ‘butchers,’ ‘cut-throats,’ ‘plunderers,’ and ‘banditti,’ and their divinely ordained defeat: ‘Oh, Cornwallis how art thou fallen!’ Disappointingly (to modern readers), the author reproves his fellow ‘descendants of Africa,’ the self-emancipated slaves who joined the British, for trusting in ‘the veracity of British promises and protection.’ He urges them to renounce the British and remain in America even if their freedom is delayed. Finally, he urges the British and their Loyalist allies, who have not yet formally recognized America’s independence, to ‘desist now’ and ‘save the honour of your nation.’”