History 389: Slavery and the American Founding

VA Gov. Lord Dunmore orders the removal of arms and ammunition from the powder magazine in Williamsburg to keep it out of rebel hands. Patriots are outraged, claiming that Dunmore's actions left them vulnerable to slave uprisings.

Dunmore fires back at the patriots when they protest, asserting that if British interests were threatened, he was prepared "to declare freedom to the slaves and reduce the City of Wmsburg to ashes" (quoted in Kornblith, 17).

In November, Dunmore would follow through on this strategy (see Dunmore's Proclamation).

Later changed to allow free blacks to serve; state militias had varying policies.

Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, calls on slaves of rebels to join British and fight against rebels.

Turns many Virginia elites against British.

Quakers were the first organization/denomination to take such a stance.

Language about "enter[ing] into a state of society" added to prevent an antislavery interpretation of natural rights.

As the Articles of Confederation were being drafted, members of Congress agreed to raise revenue from the states proportionally to their population (as a proxy for overall wealth) ... but they disagreed over whether to count the enslaved population as people or as property.

Ultimately, slaves were counted as part of the population for this purpose, but in the debate, Benjamin Harrison raised the possibility of counting 1/2 of the slave population (two slaves equal one freeman) as a compromise, based on assumptions about the lesser productivity of slave labor. This idea was not adopted, but the same concept resurfaced in the Constitution in the 3/5 Compromise.

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson after the Second Continental Congress's adoption of the resolution for independence on July 2, the Declaration not only proclaimed independence, but also asserted that "all men are created equal," and "endowed with certain inalienable rights," including "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." These broad, philosophical claims helped elevate natural rights and equality as key values of the Revolution and the new United States.

The main body of the Declaration was a more specific list of grievances against and abuses of power by King George III. This list served to explain why his rule had become illegitimate and why the colonists were justified in declaring themselves independent.

Jefferson's first draft contained a denunciation of the slave trade as "cruel war against human nature itself." He blamed George III and Britain more broadly for the trade and for preventing its abolition, and he accused the king of encouraging slave rebellion in the colonies (see entries for Williamsburg Powder Magazine and Dunmore's Proclamation).

Jefferson blamed opposition from South Carolina and from northern delegates whose colonies had been engaged in the slave trade for the deletion of the passage. Scholars debate the significance of the passage, but tend to highlight Jefferson's own hypocrisy here: the passage placed all blame on George III, and was silent on the colonies' own eager participation in and substantial (and continuing) profits from slavery and the slave trade; moreover, it treated slavery purely instrumentally, containing no real acknowledgement of or interest in slaves' own humanity (see Kornblith, pp. 19-20).

In response to new troop quotas, "states from Massachusetts to Maryland subsequently relaxed or eliminated restrictions on black enrollment" (Kornblith, 21).

In order to fill troop quotas, Rhode Island creates a regiment for soldiers of color -- the law offers freedom to slaves willing to enlist and provides monetary compensation to their masters. It was a successful recruitment tool ... even though the law was repealed after four months, 225 to 250 Rhode Island men of color served during the war (see Kornblith, pp. 21-22).

(See Kornblith, pg. 22). Laurens proposes plan to free slaves who enlist in Continental Army and to form black battalions led by white officers. Desperate for troops and in hope of preventing the British from capitalizing on slave unrest, Washington, Congress, and SC Gov. John Rutland all agree, but the plan is rejected by the SC and GA legislatures.

British General Henry Clinton expands on actions taken by Dunmore and others by making a general proclamation offerimg freedom and protection to all slaves of rebel masters in the colonies. This triggered a huge rush of runaways, and further alienated many loyalists in the colonies.

British General Lord Cornwallis expels runaways from British camp at Yorktown -- low on supplies and ravaged by disease, he felt that they had become a liability. Emphasizes the extent to which British support of black freedom was primarily a strategic decision limited by strategic concerns rather than a moral or humanitarian commitment. (Although compare this with Sir Guy Carleton's actions in getting around article seven of the Treaty of Paris.)