By Koby Kawano

The history of Asians on colonial soil has existed for over three and a half centuries. The first AAPI people in the Colonies were people of South Asian descent, who were first brought to the Americas through the European trade network as slaves and indentured servants. These very first few Asian workers were stripped of their freedom, coerced into relinquishing their humanistic rights for the profit of their overseers. Many of these individuals worked as sailors or typical plantation workers.

The first evidence that there is of an AAPI individual is from a singular record of an enslaved man in Virginia in 1635, described plainly as “Tony East Indian.” Tony was probably a result of the expansive forced labor industry of the European and New World, fueled by the mercantilist economic system that birthed the colonies. Although there are a few records, the extent of the use of Asian slaves in British North America is widely unknown.

By the time the Colonies began fighting for their independence, there are estimated to be over a hundred individuals of Asian descent. Of that population, there are two known individuals to have been involved in the war, both on the side of the Revolution. Of the two serving for the Continental army, one was an enslaved or formerly enslaved man from India given the English name of Charles Peters. The other being given the English name of John Newton, who was from Bengal, enslaved and in his mid-twenties. Due to the fact that these individuals have European names, there is the possibility that there are more unknown Asians or Pacific Islanders who fought in the war. In addition, there are records of a Malay population on an American warship, quite possibly, also forced laborers.

There were also Asian and Pacific Islander individuals who fought on the British side. Like some of their Revolutionary counterparts, these individuals may have been originally connected to systems of forced labor within the British Empire.

While the extent of Asian and Pacific Islander involvement in the Revolutionary War is unknown, it remains evident that they were there. Their presence constitutes one of the most overlooked groups of people in one of the most significant time periods in American history.

Sources and Further Reading

Museum of the American Revolution : Looking Through the Silk Screen: Asian People in the American Revolution by Daniel Sieh, May 2021

Interview of Daniel Sieh from the Museum of the American Revolution

PBS: Part 1. COOLIES, SAILORS AND SETTLERS Voyage to the New World

EBSCO: Asian Americans and Military Service by Josephine Campbell, 2023