Each week, The Spokesman-Review examines one question from the Naturalization Test immigrants must pass to become United States citizens. Today’s question: What founding document said the American ...

James Forten was nine years old when the Declaration of Independence was read aloud just blocks from his house. He was born free in 1766, yet “All men are created equal” still did not apply to people ...

James Forten was an inspirational character in history. He was born in 1766 as a free African-American in Philadelphia. When his dad died in 1775, 9-year-old James worked very hard to provide for his ...

The fight for racial equity has existed in the U.S. and Philadelphia since their inception. Before the protests and calls to defund the police of today, there were the abolitionists — including James ...

One of the most active proponents of colonization was a free black shipping merchant from Massachusetts named Paul Cuffe. Cuffe, a Quaker convert who was half Indian, was convinced that black people ...

James Forten was a sailmaker and a soldier in the U.S. Army during the Revolutionary War who helped build a free African-American community in Philadelphia. The Museum of the American Revolution has ...

James Forten was 14 when he signed onto a privateer to fight for his country. James Forten was born free in Philadelphia. At 14, he was old enough to fight for his country and signed onto a privateer ...

A new donation to the Museum of the American Revolution has a wealth of genealogical information about one of the most significant African American families in Philadelphia's history. Atwood "Kip" ...

PHILADELPHIA — When Kip Jacobs, 63, was growing up in West Philly, his great-grandmother was the only family member who talked much about their ancestor James Forten, a free Black man who became a ...

African Americans were faced with a dilemma at the start of the American Revolution. The British were offering freedom to enslaved men who joined their army. The Continental Army was making no such ...