Life of Richard Pierpoint

Bondu, Senegambia, West Africa

Most likely part of the Fulani tribe and his religion was most likely Moslem.

He arrived in North American where he was sold to a British solider named Richard Pierpoint.

At the age of 16 he was captured and sold as a slave to the Europeans. He belonged to the Royal African Company.

The British army needed recruits to fight against the rebel Americans. One way to fill the spots was to recruit the slaves who were willing to fight. If they survived, they would become a free man or woman. Richard Pierpoint was one of a dozen black slave recruits.

He signed the Petition of Free Negros, Which was a document requesting to free the black slaves who worked as British soldiers during the American Revolution. This Petition also requested giving the black soldiers land. The petition was REJECTED.

After his petition was rejected, he returned to being a labourer. When the Americans declared war against the British, Pierpoint sent a personal petition which requested the the blacks fight for upper Canada which was initially rejected. But when few white soldiers volunteered, they had no choice but to accept. Pierpoint was placed as a private.

After the war. Pierpoint was eligible for a grant of 100 acres of land to homestead. He did not want the land he could have, instead he wrote another petition requesting that he get a one-way boat ticket back to his home in Bondu, Africa. But it was rejected. So with no other choice, he accepted the land and became an official property owner in 1822 at the age of 78.