Black Loyalist
Encyclopedia
A Black Loyalist was an inhabitant of British America
of African descent who joined British colonial
forces during the American Revolutionary War
. Many had been enslaved
and decided to join the British in return for promises of freedom.
Some 3,000 Black Loyalists were evacuated from New York
to Nova Scotia
; they were individually listed in the Book of Negroes
as the British gave them certificates of freedom and arranged for transport. The original of the Book of Negroes and an authenticated transcript are now online. Some of the United Empire Loyalists
who migrated to Nova Scotia brought enslaved African Americans with them, a total of 2500 people. These African Americans were not regarded as Loyalists, since they had no choice in their fates.
Some Black Loyalists were evacuated to London
. They were included in the population of the Black Poor. With government assistance, 4,000 blacks were transported from London for resettlement to the colony of Sierra Leone
in 1787. Five years later, another 1,192 Black Loyalists from Nova Scotia also chose to migrate to Sierra Leone. They became known in Sierra Leone as the Nova Scotian settlers and were part of creating a new nation and government. The modern-day Sierra Leone Creole people
(Krios) are their descendants. The American leader Thomas Jefferson
referred to the Black Loyalists as "the fugitives from these States."
were presented to the English courts. Numerous runaways hoped to reach England where they hoped to be free.
The slaves' belief that King George III
was for them and against their masters rose as tensions increased before the American Revolution; colonial slaveholders feared a British-inspired slave revolt. In early 1775 Lord Dunmore wrote to Lord Dartmouth of his intent to take advantage of this situation.
issued a controversial proclamation, later known as Lord Dunmore's Proclamation. Faced with rebellion and short of troops, Virginia's royal governor called on all able-bodied men to assist him in the defense of the colony, including enslaved Africans belonging to rebels. He promised such slave recruits freedom in exchange for service in the British Army.
Within a month about 800 formerly enslaved African Americans had escaped to Norfolk, Virginia
to enlist. It is likely that far more heard the call and would have joined if not for the fear of reprisal.
Outraged Virginia slave owners decreed that runaway slaves would be executed. They also engaged in a smear campaign of the British Army's promises, saying that slaves who escaped to the British would be sold to sugar cane plantations in the West Indies. Despite this, many slaves were willing to risk their lives for a chance at freedom.
Dunmore's Proclamation was the first mass emancipation
of enslaved people in United States history. The 1776 Declaration of Independence
refers obliquely to the Proclamation by citing as one of its grievances, that King George III
had 'excited domestic Insurrections among us'.
After the American Revolutionary War began, a number of British generals issued proclamations calling for Loyalists to free their slaves so that they could join the undermanned British army and bolster its numbers. Among those issuing proclamations were John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
, Governor of Virginia, and Sir Henry Clinton
. The Governor of Jamaica
, John Dalling, drafted a proposal in 1779 for the enlistment of a regiment of mulatto
es and a regiment of Negro
es.
issued the Philipsburg Proclamation
. In it he expanded Lord Dunmore's Proclamation to promise freedom to any escaped slave of a rebel.
The British often returned escaped slaves to Loyalist masters and requested the owner to refrain from punishment. In 1778 the Patriots promised freedom to escaped slaves of Loyalists. Most slaves who escaped to one side or the other ended up being sold back into slavery. During the disruption of war, however, tens of thousands of slaves escaped to freedom; others died from disease and warfare.
and Sir Clinton's Black Pioneers. Other regiments included the Jersey Shore Volunteers, the King's American Dragoons, the Jamaica Rangers, and the Mosquito Shore Volunteers. It was also common for Blacks to serve the military in non-combat positions.
. The Patriot militia at Kemp's Landing was unprepared for the attack and quickly retreated. Next, Dunmore led the Royal Ethiopians into the Battle of Great Bridge
. But this time Dunmore was overconfident and he had been misinformed about the Patriot numbers. The Patriot forces overwhelmed the British troops. After the battle, Dunmore loaded his troops onto the British fleet, hoping to take the opportunity to train them better. The cramped conditions lead to the spread of smallpox
. By the time Lord Dunmore retreated to New York
, only 300 of the original 800 men had survived.
. (In the military terminology of the day, a "pioneer" was a soldier who built roads, dug trenches, and did other manual labor.) These soldiers were typically divided into smaller corps and attached to larger armies. While not a combat regiment, the Black Pioneers worked to build fortifications and other necessities. They could often be called upon to work under fire. The Pioneers served under General Clinton in a support capacity in North Carolina
, New York
, Newport, Rhode Island
, and Philadelphia. The Black Pioneers did not sustain any casualties because they were never used in combat. In Philadelphia, their general orders to "...attend the scavangers, assist in cleaning the streets & removing all newsiances being thrown into the streets" made them essentially laborers, but they freed other soldiers for combat.
. The title Colonel was not an official military designation, as Blacks were not then formally commissioned as officers. Instead, such titles were permitted in an unofficial capacity. Tye, a former slave, and the Black Brigade were the most feared Loyalists in New Jersey
, which was his home territory. They participated in several raids from 1778 at the Battle of Monmouth
to 1780. Tye was wounded in the wrist during a raid on a patriot militia leader. Within weeks he died from gangrene
.
(also known as Refugees), where they often served in mixed-race units.
, a primary issue of debate was the fate of Black British soldiers. Although General Cornwallis abandoned his Black troops to re-enslavement, many other British commanders were unwilling to do the same. Loyalists who remained in the United States wanted Black soldiers returned so their chances of receiving reparations for damaged property would be increased. But British military leaders fully intended to keep the promise of freedom made to Black soldiers despite the anger of the Americans.
In the chaos as the British evacuated Loyalist refugees, many American slave owners attempted to recapture their former slaves. Some would capture any Black, including those born free before the war, and sell them into slavery. The US Congress ordered George Washington
to retrieve any American property, including slaves, from the British, as stipulated by the Treaty of Paris (1783)
.
Since Sir Guy Carleton intended to honor the promise of freedom, the British proposed a compromise that would compensate slave owners, and provide certificates of freedom to any Black person who could prove his, plus the right to be evacuated to one of the British colonies. The group of refugees who arrived in Nova Scotia were the greatest number of people of African descent to arrive there at any one time. One of their settlements, Birchtown, Nova Scotia
was the largest free African community in North America for the first few years of its existence.
Black Loyalists found the northern climate and frontier conditions in Nova Scotia difficult, and were subject to discrimination by other Loyalist settlers, many of them slaveholders. The land given to the Black Loyalists was the most rocky and hard to cultivate compared to that given to White Loyalists. In 1792, the British government offered Black Loyalists the chance to resettle in a new colony in Sierra Leone
, Africa. The Sierra Leone Company
was established to manage its development. Half of the Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia, nearly 1200, departed the country and moved permanently to Sierra Leone. They set up the community of Freetown.
In 1793, the British transported another 3,000 Blacks to Florida
, Nova Scotia
and England
as free men and women. Their names were recorded in the Book of Negroes
by General Carleton.
Not all were as lucky. In the South
, blacks were seen as easy targets, and planters often ignored their claims of freedom. Many British officers and Loyalists saw them as spoils of war. When Britain ceded Florida to Spain, many of the freedmen who had been transported there from the United States were left behind when the British pulled out.
as its own colony in 1784. Most of the free Blacks settled at Birchtown, the largest Black township in North America
at the time. The indentured servants and newly freed slaves mostly settled in the town of Shelburne
.
Among the descendants of the Black Loyalists are noted figures such as Rose Fortune
, a Black woman living in Nova Scotia
who became a police officer and a businesswoman. The Canadian opera
and concert singer, Measha Brueggergosman
(née Gosman), is a New Brunswick
native and descendant of a Black Loyalist through her father. Her paternal 4xgreat-grandfather and grandmother left the United States and settled in Shelburne with their first child, born free behind British lines in New York.
was declared a National Historic Site in 1997. A seasonal museum commemorating the Black Loyalists was opened in that year by the Black Loyalist Heritage Society. A memorial has been established at the Black Loyalist Burying Ground. Built around the historic Birchtown school and church, the museum was badly damaged by an arson attack in 2008 but rebuilt. The Society began plans for a major expansion of the museum to tell the story of the Black Loyalists in America, Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.[
. This organization backed the settlement of the black poor from London to the colony of Sierra Leone
in West Africa
. About half the Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia were given passage there as well. Today their descendants are known as the Sierra Leone Creole people
, or Krios. They live primarily in the Western Area of Freetown, Sierra Leone
.
Black Loyalists from the American South brought their languages, such as Gullah
and African American Vernacular English
, to Freetown
; their lingua franca
was a strong influence on their descendants, who speak Krio
. Many of the Sierra Leone Creoles or Krios can trace their ancestry directly to their Black Loyalist ancestors. One of George Washington
's slaves, Henry Washington
, escaped to British lines, and went to Nova Scotia. He later migrated to Freetown, where he became the leader of a rebellion against colonial rule. His descendants are part of the Creole population, who make up 5.8% of the total.
British America
For American people of British descent, see British American.British America is the anachronistic term used to refer to the territories under the control of the Crown or Parliament in present day North America , Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana...
of African descent who joined British colonial
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
forces during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Many had been enslaved
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and decided to join the British in return for promises of freedom.
Some 3,000 Black Loyalists were evacuated from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
; they were individually listed in the Book of Negroes
Book of Negroes
The Book of Negroes is an important historical document which records names and descriptions of 3,000 African-American slaves who escaped to the British lines during the American Revolution and were evacuated by the British by ship to points in Nova Scotia as freedmen.-Background:African Americans...
as the British gave them certificates of freedom and arranged for transport. The original of the Book of Negroes and an authenticated transcript are now online. Some of the United Empire Loyalists
United Empire Loyalists
The name United Empire Loyalists is an honorific given after the fact to those American Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War and prior to the Treaty of Paris...
who migrated to Nova Scotia brought enslaved African Americans with them, a total of 2500 people. These African Americans were not regarded as Loyalists, since they had no choice in their fates.
Some Black Loyalists were evacuated to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. They were included in the population of the Black Poor. With government assistance, 4,000 blacks were transported from London for resettlement to the colony of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
in 1787. Five years later, another 1,192 Black Loyalists from Nova Scotia also chose to migrate to Sierra Leone. They became known in Sierra Leone as the Nova Scotian settlers and were part of creating a new nation and government. The modern-day Sierra Leone Creole people
Sierra Leone Creole people
The Sierra Leone Creoles, or Krios, are an ethnic group in Sierra Leone, descendants of West Indian slaves from the Caribbean, primarily from Jamaica; freed African American slaves from the Thirteen Colonies resettled from Nova Scotia; and Liberated Africans from various parts of Africa...
(Krios) are their descendants. The American leader Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
referred to the Black Loyalists as "the fugitives from these States."
Prior to the War
Slavery in England had never been authorized by statute. It was made illegal at common law by a decision of Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in 1772, but this decision did not apply in the colonies. A number of cases for emancipationEmancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
were presented to the English courts. Numerous runaways hoped to reach England where they hoped to be free.
The slaves' belief that King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
was for them and against their masters rose as tensions increased before the American Revolution; colonial slaveholders feared a British-inspired slave revolt. In early 1775 Lord Dunmore wrote to Lord Dartmouth of his intent to take advantage of this situation.
Lord Dunmore's Proclamation
In November 1775 Lord DunmoreJohn Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore was a British peer and colonial governor. He was the son of William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore, and his wife Catherine . He is best remembered as the last royal governor of the Colony of Virginia.John was the eldest son of William and Catherine Murray, and nephew...
issued a controversial proclamation, later known as Lord Dunmore's Proclamation. Faced with rebellion and short of troops, Virginia's royal governor called on all able-bodied men to assist him in the defense of the colony, including enslaved Africans belonging to rebels. He promised such slave recruits freedom in exchange for service in the British Army.
...I do require every Person capable of bearing Arms, to resort to His MAJESTY'S STANDARD, or be looked upon as Traitors to His MAJESTY'S Crown and Government, and thereby become liable to the Penalty the Law inflicts upon such Offenses; such as forfeiture of Life, confiscation of Lands, &. &. And I do hereby further declare all indented Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His MAJESTY'S Troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to a proper Sense of their Duty, to His MAJESTY'S Crown and Dignity.--- Lord Dunmore's Proclamation, November 7, 1775
Within a month about 800 formerly enslaved African Americans had escaped to Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
to enlist. It is likely that far more heard the call and would have joined if not for the fear of reprisal.
Outraged Virginia slave owners decreed that runaway slaves would be executed. They also engaged in a smear campaign of the British Army's promises, saying that slaves who escaped to the British would be sold to sugar cane plantations in the West Indies. Despite this, many slaves were willing to risk their lives for a chance at freedom.
Dunmore's Proclamation was the first mass emancipation
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
of enslaved people in United States history. The 1776 Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
refers obliquely to the Proclamation by citing as one of its grievances, that King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
had 'excited domestic Insurrections among us'.
After the American Revolutionary War began, a number of British generals issued proclamations calling for Loyalists to free their slaves so that they could join the undermanned British army and bolster its numbers. Among those issuing proclamations were John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore was a British peer and colonial governor. He was the son of William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore, and his wife Catherine . He is best remembered as the last royal governor of the Colony of Virginia.John was the eldest son of William and Catherine Murray, and nephew...
, Governor of Virginia, and Sir Henry Clinton
Henry Clinton (American War of Independence)
General Sir Henry Clinton KB was a British army officer and politician, best known for his service as a general during the American War of Independence. First arriving in Boston in May 1775, from 1778 to 1782 he was the British Commander-in-Chief in North America...
. The Governor of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, John Dalling, drafted a proposal in 1779 for the enlistment of a regiment of mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
es and a regiment of Negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
es.
The Philipsburg Proclamation
With the arrival of 30,000 Hessian troops, the need for Black soldiers greatly diminished. Sir William Howe banned the formation of new Black regiments and disbanded his own. But freeing slaves still held value as economic warfare against the rebels. In 1779 Sir Henry ClintonHenry Clinton (American War of Independence)
General Sir Henry Clinton KB was a British army officer and politician, best known for his service as a general during the American War of Independence. First arriving in Boston in May 1775, from 1778 to 1782 he was the British Commander-in-Chief in North America...
issued the Philipsburg Proclamation
Philipsburg Proclamation
The Philipsburg Proclamation is a historical document issued by Sir Henry Clinton on June 30, 1779. The proclamation extended the scope of Dunmore's Proclamation, which was issued four years earlier. Dunmore's Proclamation granted freedom to slaves in Virginia, provided that they were willing to...
. In it he expanded Lord Dunmore's Proclamation to promise freedom to any escaped slave of a rebel.
The British often returned escaped slaves to Loyalist masters and requested the owner to refrain from punishment. In 1778 the Patriots promised freedom to escaped slaves of Loyalists. Most slaves who escaped to one side or the other ended up being sold back into slavery. During the disruption of war, however, tens of thousands of slaves escaped to freedom; others died from disease and warfare.
Regiments
Lord Dunmore's proclamation, among others, led to the formation of several Black regiments in the British army. The most notable were Dunmore's Ethiopian RegimentEthiopian Regiment
Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment or Ethiopian Regiment was the name given to a British colonial military unit organized during the American Revolution by John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, and last Royal Governor of Virginia. Composed of slaves who had escaped from Patriot masters, it was led by...
and Sir Clinton's Black Pioneers. Other regiments included the Jersey Shore Volunteers, the King's American Dragoons, the Jamaica Rangers, and the Mosquito Shore Volunteers. It was also common for Blacks to serve the military in non-combat positions.
The Royal Ethiopian
Dunmore organised his 800 Black volunteers into the Royal Ethiopian Regiment. The unit was quickly trained in the rudiments of marching and shooting before engaging in their first conflict at the Battle of Kemp's LandingBattle of Kemp's Landing
The Battle of Kemp's Landing, also known as the Skirmish of Kempsville, was a skirmish in the American Revolutionary War that occurred on November 15, 1775...
. The Patriot militia at Kemp's Landing was unprepared for the attack and quickly retreated. Next, Dunmore led the Royal Ethiopians into the Battle of Great Bridge
Battle of Great Bridge
The Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9, 1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The victory by Continental Army and militia forces led to the departure of Governor Lord Dunmore and any remaining vestiges of British power from the Colony of...
. But this time Dunmore was overconfident and he had been misinformed about the Patriot numbers. The Patriot forces overwhelmed the British troops. After the battle, Dunmore loaded his troops onto the British fleet, hoping to take the opportunity to train them better. The cramped conditions lead to the spread of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
. By the time Lord Dunmore retreated to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, only 300 of the original 800 men had survived.
The Black Pioneers and Guides
The largest Black regiment was the Black PioneersBlack Pioneers
The Black Pioneers were an African American regiment established in May 1776 out of Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment. Famous American slaves such as Thomas Peters were Black Pioneers...
. (In the military terminology of the day, a "pioneer" was a soldier who built roads, dug trenches, and did other manual labor.) These soldiers were typically divided into smaller corps and attached to larger armies. While not a combat regiment, the Black Pioneers worked to build fortifications and other necessities. They could often be called upon to work under fire. The Pioneers served under General Clinton in a support capacity in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, and Philadelphia. The Black Pioneers did not sustain any casualties because they were never used in combat. In Philadelphia, their general orders to "...attend the scavangers, assist in cleaning the streets & removing all newsiances being thrown into the streets" made them essentially laborers, but they freed other soldiers for combat.
The Black Brigade
The Black Brigade was a small combat unit of elite commandos, led by a veteran of Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment named Colonel TyeColonel Tye
Colonel Tye, also known as Titus Cornelius , was a slave of African descent in New Jersey who achieved notability during the American Revolutionary War by his leadership and fighting skills, when he fought as a Loyalist...
. The title Colonel was not an official military designation, as Blacks were not then formally commissioned as officers. Instead, such titles were permitted in an unofficial capacity. Tye, a former slave, and the Black Brigade were the most feared Loyalists in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, which was his home territory. They participated in several raids from 1778 at the Battle of Monmouth
Battle of Monmouth
The Battle of Monmouth was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on June 28, 1778 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Continental Army under General George Washington attacked the rear of the British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton as they left Monmouth Court...
to 1780. Tye was wounded in the wrist during a raid on a patriot militia leader. Within weeks he died from gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
.
Associators
Many Blacks were denied entry into regular units because of racism or distrust by British and Loyalist officers. Many joined the irregular AssociatorsAssociators
Associators were members of a Military Association, more commonly known as a militia. During King Georges War, Benjamin Franklin, in 1747, wrote and published the pamphlet, Plain Truth, calling for a voluntary association to defend Philadelphia. This was in line with his earlier formation of...
(also known as Refugees), where they often served in mixed-race units.
Postwar treatment
When peace negotiations began after the Battle of YorktownSiege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...
, a primary issue of debate was the fate of Black British soldiers. Although General Cornwallis abandoned his Black troops to re-enslavement, many other British commanders were unwilling to do the same. Loyalists who remained in the United States wanted Black soldiers returned so their chances of receiving reparations for damaged property would be increased. But British military leaders fully intended to keep the promise of freedom made to Black soldiers despite the anger of the Americans.
In the chaos as the British evacuated Loyalist refugees, many American slave owners attempted to recapture their former slaves. Some would capture any Black, including those born free before the war, and sell them into slavery. The US Congress ordered George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
to retrieve any American property, including slaves, from the British, as stipulated by the Treaty of Paris (1783)
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
.
Since Sir Guy Carleton intended to honor the promise of freedom, the British proposed a compromise that would compensate slave owners, and provide certificates of freedom to any Black person who could prove his, plus the right to be evacuated to one of the British colonies. The group of refugees who arrived in Nova Scotia were the greatest number of people of African descent to arrive there at any one time. One of their settlements, Birchtown, Nova Scotia
Birchtown, Nova Scotia
Birchtown is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located near Shelburne in the Barrington Municipal District of Shelburne County. Founded in 1783, it is famous as the largest settlement of Black Loyalists and was the largest free settlement of Africans in North America in the 18th...
was the largest free African community in North America for the first few years of its existence.
Black Loyalists found the northern climate and frontier conditions in Nova Scotia difficult, and were subject to discrimination by other Loyalist settlers, many of them slaveholders. The land given to the Black Loyalists was the most rocky and hard to cultivate compared to that given to White Loyalists. In 1792, the British government offered Black Loyalists the chance to resettle in a new colony in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, Africa. The Sierra Leone Company
Sierra Leone Company
The Sierra Leone Company was the corporate body involved in founding the second British colony in Africa in 1792 through the resettlement of black American ex-slaves who had initially been settled in Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War...
was established to manage its development. Half of the Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia, nearly 1200, departed the country and moved permanently to Sierra Leone. They set up the community of Freetown.
In 1793, the British transported another 3,000 Blacks to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as free men and women. Their names were recorded in the Book of Negroes
Book of Negroes
The Book of Negroes is an important historical document which records names and descriptions of 3,000 African-American slaves who escaped to the British lines during the American Revolution and were evacuated by the British by ship to points in Nova Scotia as freedmen.-Background:African Americans...
by General Carleton.
Not all were as lucky. In the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, blacks were seen as easy targets, and planters often ignored their claims of freedom. Many British officers and Loyalists saw them as spoils of war. When Britain ceded Florida to Spain, many of the freedmen who had been transported there from the United States were left behind when the British pulled out.
Descendants
Many descendants of Black loyalists have been able to track their ancestry by using General Carleton's Book of Negroes.Nova Scotia
Between 1776 and 1785, around 3,500 Blacks were transported to Nova Scotia from the United States, part of a larger migration of about 34,000 Loyalist refugees. This massive influx of people increased the population by almost 60%, and led to the establishment of New BrunswickNew Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
as its own colony in 1784. Most of the free Blacks settled at Birchtown, the largest Black township in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
at the time. The indentured servants and newly freed slaves mostly settled in the town of Shelburne
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Shelburne County.-History:-Settlers:...
.
Among the descendants of the Black Loyalists are noted figures such as Rose Fortune
Rose Fortune
Rose Fortune was an African American who came to Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia with the Black Loyalists where she became a successful businesswoman and the first female police officer in Canada.-Biography:...
, a Black woman living in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
who became a police officer and a businesswoman. The Canadian opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and concert singer, Measha Brueggergosman
Measha Brueggergosman
Measha Brueggergosman is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards...
(née Gosman), is a New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
native and descendant of a Black Loyalist through her father. Her paternal 4xgreat-grandfather and grandmother left the United States and settled in Shelburne with their first child, born free behind British lines in New York.
Commemoration
The Black Loyalist settlement of Birchtown, Nova ScotiaBirchtown, Nova Scotia
Birchtown is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located near Shelburne in the Barrington Municipal District of Shelburne County. Founded in 1783, it is famous as the largest settlement of Black Loyalists and was the largest free settlement of Africans in North America in the 18th...
was declared a National Historic Site in 1997. A seasonal museum commemorating the Black Loyalists was opened in that year by the Black Loyalist Heritage Society. A memorial has been established at the Black Loyalist Burying Ground. Built around the historic Birchtown school and church, the museum was badly damaged by an arson attack in 2008 but rebuilt. The Society began plans for a major expansion of the museum to tell the story of the Black Loyalists in America, Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.[
Sierra Leone
Sympathy for the former black soldiers who had fought for the British stimulated support for the Committee for the Relief of the Black PoorCommittee for the Relief of the Black Poor
The Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor was a charitable organization founded in London in 1786 to provide sustenance for distressed people of African and Asian origin...
. This organization backed the settlement of the black poor from London to the colony of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. About half the Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia were given passage there as well. Today their descendants are known as the Sierra Leone Creole people
Sierra Leone Creole people
The Sierra Leone Creoles, or Krios, are an ethnic group in Sierra Leone, descendants of West Indian slaves from the Caribbean, primarily from Jamaica; freed African American slaves from the Thirteen Colonies resettled from Nova Scotia; and Liberated Africans from various parts of Africa...
, or Krios. They live primarily in the Western Area of Freetown, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
.
Black Loyalists from the American South brought their languages, such as Gullah
Gullah
The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands....
and African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
, to Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
; their lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
was a strong influence on their descendants, who speak Krio
Krio language
Sierra Leone Krio is the lingua franca and the de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 97% of Sierra Leone's population and unites the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each...
. Many of the Sierra Leone Creoles or Krios can trace their ancestry directly to their Black Loyalist ancestors. One of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's slaves, Henry Washington
Henry Washington
Henry Washington was a one time African American slave of the first president of the United States, George Washington. His history and linked documents can be found on-line He was a saltwater slave from Africa purchased from a deceased estate in 1763 to be part of Washington's workforce in the...
, escaped to British lines, and went to Nova Scotia. He later migrated to Freetown, where he became the leader of a rebellion against colonial rule. His descendants are part of the Creole population, who make up 5.8% of the total.
Notable Black Loyalists
- David GeorgeDavid George (Baptist)David George was an African-American Baptist preacher and a Black Loyalist from the American South who escaped to British lines, accepted transport to Nova Scotia and eventually resettled in Freetown, Sierra Leone....
- Boston KingBoston KingBoston King was a former American slave and Black Loyalist, who gained freedom from the British and settled in Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War...
- John Kizell
- John MarrantJohn MarrantJohn Marrant was one of the first African-American preachers and missionaries. He wrote three books about his experiences as a preacher.-Early life and career:...
- Cato PerkinsCato PerkinsCato Perkins was an African American slave from Charleston, South Carolina and he belonged to John Perkins.-Background:Perkins ran away to the British during the Siege of Charleston and he joined General Clinton in New York and worked as a carpenter there. Perkins was evacuated to Birchtown, Nova...
- Thomas PetersThomas Peters (black leader)Thomas Peters was one of the Black Loyalist Founding Fathers of Sierra Leone. Peters, along with David George, Moses Wilkinson, Cato Perkins, and Joseph Leonard, were influential blacks who recruited African settlers in Nova Scotia for colonization of Sierra Leone...
- Colonel TyeColonel TyeColonel Tye, also known as Titus Cornelius , was a slave of African descent in New Jersey who achieved notability during the American Revolutionary War by his leadership and fighting skills, when he fought as a Loyalist...
- Henry WashingtonHenry WashingtonHenry Washington was a one time African American slave of the first president of the United States, George Washington. His history and linked documents can be found on-line He was a saltwater slave from Africa purchased from a deceased estate in 1763 to be part of Washington's workforce in the...
In popular culture
- The saga of the Black Loyalists inspired Lawrence HillLawrence HillLawrence Hill is an award-winning Canadian novelist and memoirist. He is best known for the 2001 memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada and the 2007 novel The Book of Negroes....
's 2007 novel The Book of Negroes (published as Someone Knows My Name in the United States). It won the 2008 Commonwealth Award for Fiction. - M.T. Anderson's 2008 young-adult novel The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves details the life of young Octavian Nothing, who joins Lord Dunmore's Royal Ethiopians.
External links
- http://www.blackloyalist.info
- http://www.learnquebec.ca/en/content/curriculum/social_sciences/features/loyalists/background/loybkgr_peters.html
- http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol7/no1/loyalties.html
- http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/Heritage/Black/Loyalists.htm
- Black Loyalist Heritage Society
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/work_community/loyalists.htm
- Africans in America:Revolution at PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
- Loyalist Institute - Documents and writings on Black Loyalists
- http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/anti-slavery/05310201_e.html
- http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vygAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA113&dq=hastings+sierra+leone+soldiers#PPA118,M1
- Enslaved Africans in Upper Canada
- Nova Scotia archives, virtual exhibition
- Atlantic Canadian Portal Black Loyalists' experience in Canada