preview

Harrington Research Paper

Decent Essays

A 16 year old male named Harrington became the first ever black Drummer Boy. He was the best in his practice academy and was destined to the prestigious position. Although, due to his African American heritage, it took him and his supporters a lot of protesting to get him their.
Harrington lives in a small town named Chincoteague which is located in Virginia. He was raised by one of the rare free black families. His father works as a shoe maker while his mother is a maid for a wealthy white family. Harrington’s parents were born into slavery and worked on the same plantation until their owner set them free before his death. They got married and had 4 children. Harrington was the oldest child meaning he had to care for his siblings. His parents wanted him to become a factory worker but he refused. Harrington was born with the gift of music. He especially liked playing …show more content…

He traveled to Pittsburgh to enroll for the admission test. All the drills, practices, and tests were a piece of cake to him. After other students told the local newspaper that Harrington exceeded in all of the criterias. The results came in a week later. All of the drummer boys made it except, Harrington and another black student. This angered many abolitionists, slaves, and people who believed in equality. Many protesters against and for the racial act lined up near the training academy to express their feelings. Many chanted out it is wrong to discriminate. Others saying people who are related to slaves shouldn’t be able to be such a high positions. Many took this dispute as an advantage to loot stores and houses like they did during the bread riots. The peaceful protest turned into a riot after two individuals started getting physical with each other. The city mayor stepped in afterwards to stop the chaos. He also deemed the academy’s decision as unconstitutional personally selecting Harrington as the first black drummer boy ever in american

Get Access