24. Liberty to Negroes
Black bondsmen took up the British on their offer of freedom. Thousands fled from their masters, hoping to trade slavery under the Americans for freedom with the British. For example, in South Carolina, a quarter of the slave population – about 25,000 slaves – fled to the British. So did a quarter of Georgia’s slave population, and about 30,000 slaves in Virginia. Many of the black runaways were caught, savagely punished by their masters, then returned to slavery. However, those who made it to British territory became free.
During the war, over 100,000 slaves succeeded in escaping bondage by making their way to freedom behind British lines. The freed black men and women aided the British as laborers, servants, nurses, guides, spies, and fighters. Many served with conspicuous courage, sporting sashes that read “Liberty to Negroes” – freedom fighters, quite literally. Unsurprisingly, many former slaves, after years of mistreatment and indignities, were eager to spill the blood of their former masters when given the chance.