Why did James Forten want to gain from fighting to uphold the American principal of freedom?

James Forten was a powerful African American businessman and activist who used his influence to fight slavery in pre-civil war Philadelphia. Born free,

so to sum up he wanted other to be free

When he was a boy, he served on several privateer ships during the Revolutionary War. Forten sought public recognition of his political rights as a citizen and hoped military service would help gain him that recognition. Forten was captured by the British and was imprisoned for several months on a British ship.

d.

the northwest territory became the most densely populated area in the u.s.