Slavery During the American Revolution
Lord Dunmore's proclomation during the Revolutionary War
The British Colonists rebelled against British rule in 1775 and
fought the British until finally gaining freedom in 1783. This was called the
Revolutionary War and was mostly about the fight against the British but African
Americans played a significant role in the birth if America. During this time
Slavery was a common thing in the Colonies and Britain. Most rich people had
slaves and many people thought nothing of it. Slaves were taken mostly taken
from Africa and slave trading was a large business, so one can imagine that the
enslaved weren’t overjoyed at their situation. The British saw the growing
hatred many slaves had for their masters and exploited it. In 1775, the year
that Colonist troops started attacking, John Murray/ Lord Dunmore/ Royal
Governor of Virginia made a proclamation in the name of England’s king that
slaves of patriot’s would be named free if they fought for the British. The
slaves obviously didn’t care who won as long as they had freedom and about 800
slaves escaped to join the British. The Colonists also had black soldiers among
them, estimated to number 5,000. Although the topic of slavery was avoided
(except for tax purposes) when making the Constitution black people certainly
had many brave and nameless soldiers who fought for the US when freedom was
within view.
fought the British until finally gaining freedom in 1783. This was called the
Revolutionary War and was mostly about the fight against the British but African
Americans played a significant role in the birth if America. During this time
Slavery was a common thing in the Colonies and Britain. Most rich people had
slaves and many people thought nothing of it. Slaves were taken mostly taken
from Africa and slave trading was a large business, so one can imagine that the
enslaved weren’t overjoyed at their situation. The British saw the growing
hatred many slaves had for their masters and exploited it. In 1775, the year
that Colonist troops started attacking, John Murray/ Lord Dunmore/ Royal
Governor of Virginia made a proclamation in the name of England’s king that
slaves of patriot’s would be named free if they fought for the British. The
slaves obviously didn’t care who won as long as they had freedom and about 800
slaves escaped to join the British. The Colonists also had black soldiers among
them, estimated to number 5,000. Although the topic of slavery was avoided
(except for tax purposes) when making the Constitution black people certainly
had many brave and nameless soldiers who fought for the US when freedom was
within view.