Rumors of British emancipation bills inflamed white colonists’ fear for slave property

Evidence

In early 1775, James Madison, who operated a slave-labor camp in Orange County, Virginia, reported hearing a rumor that British Parliament had introduced a bill to emancipate the colonies’ enslaved. In addition, a report from the Virginia House of Burgesses accused British officials of contemplating a “most diabolical” scheme to “offer Freedom to our Slaves, and turn them against their Masters.” Both further enflamed colonists already worried about the British encroaching on their “property” rights. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 99

Categorization

• SHARE: Niche detail for a historian friend: even Madison reported emancipation rumors in early 1775 — shows how central the fear was before Dunmore even acted.