A British Governor Offered Freedom to Enslaved People Who Would Fight for Britain
It was a desperate wartime move in 1775, not abolitionism, and it pushed both sides to recruit Black soldiers.
Joys of Compounding · America at 250: The Ideas of 1776 - [Joys of Compounding, EP. 39]In November 1775, John Murray, Lord Dunmore, governed Virginia from the deck of a British warship anchored off the coast.
He was the colony's last royal governor, and his authority on land had collapsed. He had fled the capital, and British rule in Virginia had effectively ended. From offshore, he issued a proclamation.
The order promised freedom to enslaved people who left owners rebelling against Britain and came to support the British army. It did not apply to people held by loyalists who stayed faithful to the king. As Frank Cogliano, a historian of the American Revolution, explains, the offer came from wartime desperation, not from opposition to slavery.
That desperation turned the war into a struggle over who would deliver freedom. Patriots fought for freedom from Britain, while enslaved people weighed which side might free them. In the northern states, patriot governments reluctantly moved toward ending slavery and began bringing Black men into military service, while Black soldiers ended up serving in both armies.
Both sides were trying to raise enough men to win. Dunmore promised liberty to draw enslaved people to his side, and patriot leaders later made limited appeals of their own to enslaved recruits in northern states. War often brings unexpected social change of that kind, even when no one sets out to make it.
Neither Dunmore nor the patriot leaders began with a plan to end slavery. But to build their forces, they competed for the same support, Dunmore by promising freedom and patriot leaders by appealing for recruits among enslaved people in the North.
As Cogliano puts it, Dunmore was no civil rights leader. He was a governor without a capital, issuing an order from the sea that offered freedom to the enslaved workers of his enemies if they would leave and join his army.
Questions people ask
Why did the offer apply only to people enslaved by rebels?
Dunmore promised freedom only to enslaved people owned by rebels who would leave and serve the British military. People owned by loyalists were excluded, which showed it was a weapon aimed at the rebellion rather than a general attack on slavery.
Did enslaved people actually answer Dunmore's call?
Yes. Hundreds of men reached British lines and Dunmore formed them into a unit often called the Ethiopian Regiment. Many died of smallpox and hardship, and the unit soon dissolved as the fighting in Virginia turned against Britain.
Did the American side also offer freedom?
Yes, though slowly and reluctantly. Northern states began passing gradual abolition laws during and after the war, starting with Pennsylvania in 1780, and patriot armies brought Black soldiers into service. Most southern states did not follow that path.