In the years leading up to the American Revolution, white colonists prepared to fight for their own liberty, yet they refused to consider emancipation of their slaves. Nevertheless, when war finally broke out, enslaved and free black men were eager to join the fight for independence. One of the free African Americans was Agrippa Hull of Stockbridge.

Hull was born to freed slaves in Northampton in 1759. According to tradition, he was brought to Stockbridge at the age of six by a black man named Joab, a former servant of the Rev. Jonathan Edwards. Hull was in his early teens when the long-simmering conflict turned to war in the spring of 1775.

Agrippa Hull remained at home until 1777, but nearly 200 black, Indian, or mixed-race Massachusetts men had already fought at Lexington and Concord and at Bunker Hill. When other colonies began to send troops to help maintain the siege of Boston, the issue of black soldiers in the Continental Army became contentious. Despite the willingness of black men — even those who were enslaved — to risk their lives for the Revolutionary cause, white commanders debated whether it was appropriate or even acceptable for them to serve.