American Reaction to British Offers of Freedom to Their Slaves
The British offer of freedom to Black slaves who fled their Patriot masters struck slaveholders as monstrous. It convinced many of the undecided to side against Britain. The Declaration of Independence, despite the “All men are created equal” part, assails the British for offering slaves an opportunity to secure that equality. In 1779, General Henry Clinton, British commander in chief in America, went further and issued the Phillipsburgh Proclamation. It decreed that slaves who fled their rebel masters and made it to British lines were free. So bondsmen fled by the thousands, hoping to trade slavery under the Americans for freedom with the British. 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 Virginia slaves. Many were caught, savagely punished by their masters, then returned to slavery.
Those who reached British territory, however, were free. During the war, over 100,000 slaves escaped bondage by making their way to freedom behind British lines. The freed slaves aided the British as laborers, guides, spies, and fighters. Many served courageously, sporting sashes that read “Liberty to Negroes” – freedom fighters in the most literal sense of the word. Unsurprisingly, many former slaves, after years of mistreatment and indignities, were eager to fight their former masters. In November, 1775, Virginia’s governor, Lord Dunmore’s issued a proclamation offering freedom to slaves in exchange for service to the Crown. Within weeks, hundreds of slaves fled their American owners and joined his troops in Norfolk. Hundreds more arrived each week, and as the number of runaways steadily grew, so did the fear and ire of slave owners.