More enslaved people freed themselves by serving the British than the patriots
Evidence
“The American Revolution brought some specific gains for blacks. Some slaves in fact obtained the freedom promised in return for military service. However, not all slaves who fought for the patriot cause were freed. In 1782 Virginia sold almost all the state-owned slaves in its navy. Blacks elsewhere had to resist attempts by their masters to re-enslave them upon the expiration of their term enlistment Ironically, it appears that more blacks obtained their freedom by serving with the British than with the patriots.” — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1999
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: Counterpoints the American Revolution’s egalitarian myth; the British as the better route to freedom echoes the runaways-to-the-British pattern in Chapter 6.
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: what happened to the Black soldiers who served the British after 1783 — the settlement histories that follow.
Related
- More American slaves won freedom by fighting for Britain than for patriots (similarity 0.94)
- Slave soldiers enlisted more with American nationalists but the British honored them more faithfully. (similarity 0.84)
- Most Port Royal Black soldiers had freed themselves before enlistment (similarity 0.80)
- Far more enslaved people joined the British than fought for the Patriots (similarity 0.80)
- White indentured servants gained no liberation across the eighteenth century (similarity 0.79)