Final answer:
Enslaved people during the American Revolution sought freedom by fleeing to join the British forces and petitioning for their emancipation. They used the contradiction between the colonists' fight for freedom and the existence of slavery to challenge the institution. However, slavery ultimately survived and continued after the revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the American Revolution, many enslaved people took advantage of the chaos and conflict to seek their freedom. Some slaves fled to join the British forces, who had promised freedom in exchange for their service. Others petitioned for their freedom, using the rhetoric of the revolution to argue for emancipation.
Many enslaved people recognized the contradiction between the colonists' fight for freedom from British oppression and the existence of slavery in the colonies. They used this contradiction to challenge the institution of slavery, highlighting the hypocrisy of the revolutionaries' claims to liberty and equality.
While some enslaved people gained their freedom during the revolution, slavery ultimately survived and continued to thrive in the years and decades that followed.