On November 7, 1775, Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation was issued, marking a significant moment in Black history during the American Revolution.

? Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation (November 7, 1775)

John Murray, Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation offering freedom to enslaved Black men who escaped from their Patriot (rebel) owners and joined the British army. This was the first large-scale British effort to recruit enslaved Africans during the American Revolution.

Key Points:

• The proclamation promised freedom to any enslaved man willing to bear arms for the British against the American revolutionaries.
• It terrified slave-owning colonists, as they feared mass revolts and the loss of their labor force.
• Led to the formation of Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment, a Black military unit that fought for the British.
• Although some enslaved people gained freedom, many later suffered due to disease, hunger, or recapture.

Dunmore’s actions helped shape Black military involvement in the American Revolution and highlighted the contradiction of slavery in a war for “liberty”.

Many Black soldiers who fought for the British were eventually evacuated to Canada, the Caribbean, or Britain after the war, while others were re-enslaved.