Republican commissioners extended land rights to enslaved soldiers defending the colony.
Evidence
At the end of August Polverel issued a proclamation acknowledging the crucial role that “warriors”—slaves turned Republican soldiers—were playing in defending the colony. “Those who own nothing,” however, should not have to “sacrifice their lives for the defense of the property of others.” The “warriors” deserved more than freedom. They deserved land. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 556
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: Echoes the land-for-service bargain pattern seen in Roman military colonies and later Latin American independence movements.