Final answer:
African Americans fought for the British in the Revolutionary War as Black Loyalists, drawn by the promise of freedom. Thousands fought in various capacities and many gained their freedom, later relocating to other countries.
Step-by-step explanation:
African American Participation in the British Army during the Revolutionary War
During the Revolutionary War, a significant number of African Americans chose to fight for the British side, enticed by the promise of freedom. The British extended offers of emancipation to enslave people willing to join their ranks, a compelling offer which contrasted sharply with the American revolutionaries' reluctance to do the same. Notably, Lord Dunmore's Proclamation in 1775 promised freedom to any enslaved Black individuals who would leave their American rebel owners to join the British cause, leading to participation by thousands of African Americans in the British military efforts.
Black Loyalists, as they came to be known, played various roles ranging from combatants to support personnel within the British forces. At Yorktown for instance, thousands of African American troops fought under British General Lord Cornwallis. The irony of a population fighting for liberty while another remained enslaved was not lost on observers at the time. Their participation forced a confrontation with the apparent contradictions in the American revolutionary ideology.
These actions, however, did have significant outcomes. Between ten and twenty thousand enslaved individuals were estimated to have gained their freedom as a result of the Revolutionary War, with some of these Black Loyalists later migrating to locations such as Sierra Leone, Canada, or England after the war.