ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES

 

 

November 11, 2004

Local historians trace roots of black loyalists

Jeremy Schwab

The word “slave insurrection” conjures up images of Nat Turner’s followers attacking whites in the South. But the black exodus to the British side during the Revolutionary War amounted to a much larger slave revolt, one seldom covered in history books.

“The South lost more slaves during the American Revolution than in any slave rebellion,” said state Rep. Byron Rushing. “That was because white people were fighting white people. The whole place was a mess. White people could not fight the war and get runaway slaves back. If you took the gumption, chances are you got away.”

Rushing and other history buffs in Boston’s black community say the successful flight from slavery of thousands of African Americans during the Revolution deserves more historical recognition.

“If you are going to talk about the history of black people in the American Revolution, talk about all of them,” said Rushing. “You can’t just pick the winners.”

During an event at Fort William in South Boston this summer to draw attention to the history of British loyalists, representatives of Roxbury’s Shirley-Eustis House set up an exhibit about black loyalists.

Historian Tom Plant, a governor at the Shirley-Eustis House, said it is important for African Americans to learn not just about black patriots, but about black loyalists.

“Coming from Africa to America our families were destroyed,” he said. “And to have war tear the fabric again, pitting patriot against loyalist, it is important we reconnect with our history.”

The history of black loyalists remains unknown to many African Americans, however.

At the outset of the revolution, the last royal governor of Virginia authored a proclamation freeing all slaves who fought alongside the British.

As most patriots were loathe to allow slaves freedom, blacks flocked to the British lines. As many as 55,000 slaves ran away from their masters in the South during The Revolution, according to estimates.

While many escaped slaves were either caught by their masters, re-enslaved by unscrupulous merchants or eventually abandoned by the British troops, others fled to the relative safety of New York City, Florida or the Western frontier.

New York City remained under British control throughout the war, and both white and black loyalists took refuge there.

Following the war, the British helped over 3,000 black loyalists migrate to Nova Scotia and London. Many had been promised land by the British.

While most of those listed in British documents as embarking for Nova Scotia following the war were blacks from the heavily slave-holding South, a few were from New England.

Hundreds of free and runaway blacks from New York, Virginia, South Carolina and New Jersey sailed to Nova Scotia, according to British records. Meanwhile, only 3 free-born blacks, 14 runaway slaves, 19 slaves freed by proclamation, 3 emancipated slaves, 1 black released on his master’s death and 1 man still a slave made up the New England contingent sailing to Nova Scotia following the war, according to The Black Loyalist Directory, edited by Graham Russell Hodges, a book which summarizes the history of black loyalists and lists those who left for Nova Scotia.

The black loyalists settled in Birchtown and nearby Shelburne, Nova Scotia. Tensions arose between them and white farmers living nearby. Economically struggling whites harassed the black newcomers whom they feared would compete with them for work, a dynamic reminiscent of Chicago and other northern cities during the black migration north after World War II.

Facing discrimination and hard winters, many black Nova Scotians returned to the United States following the abolition of slavery, although descendants of the black loyalists live on in the Canadian province.

Roxbury resident Yvonne Desmond is one of those whose ancestors were black loyalists who emigrated to Canada then returned to the United States.

Desmond and her daughter have been tracing their ancestors’ history in Nova Scotia.

“They got land initially in fertile areas where there was a lot of farmland,” said Yvonne, whose grandfather came to Boston from Nova Scotia. “But black loyalists ran into trouble with the Arcadians who already were there, so the British gave them land toward the coast which wasn’t good land. It made it very difficult for them to adjust. Some of them survived. A lot didn’t.

“I didn’t want my children to be embarrassed and just say we were slaves,” she said. “I wanted to find our heritage and say this is where we were. Many of us, we can look in the mirror and say we have African heritage, but we want to know exactly where they might be from.”

 

Back to Lead Story Archives

Home Page