Our History Matters “Peter Salem – A Colonial Hero”

Peter Salem shooting British Royal Marine officer Major Pitcairn at Bunker Hill Courtesy image British soldiers advanced toward the American defenses at Breed’s Hill on June 17, 1775. The fighting was fierce, and the colonial defenders were running low on ammunition. Among the men standing their ground was a young African American patriot named Peter Salem. Born into slavery, he had never known the full meaning of freedom. Yet on this day, he was fighting for the freedom of a nation that had not yet been born.Peter Salem was born in 1750 in Framingham, Massachusetts. His early life was spent in slavery. He was originally owned by Captain Jeremiah Belknap, who later sold him to Major Lawson Buckminster. As the conflict between Great Britain and the American colonies grew, Buckminster agreed to free Salem so that he could join the colonial militia.On April 19, 1775, Salem joined Captain Simon Edgell’s company of Framingham Minutemen.

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