Juneteenth and Other Lesser Known African-American Historical Culture

1. Resettling America’s Black Freedom Fighters

In addition to matters of honor and basic decency, the dispute over the fate of the escaped Black Loyalist slaves offered the British an opportunity to demonstrate moral superiority over the victorious Patriots. As the British commander in South Carolina put it: “those who have voluntarily come in under the faith of our protection, cannot in justice be abandoned to the merciless resentment of their former masters“. The British commander in chief concurred, and ordered that: “such that have been promised their freedom, to have it“.

George Washington was infuriated, and it was touch and go for a while whether hostilities would erupt anew over the issue. The British in New York finally resolved the issue, to the ire of the slave owners, by issuing thousands of “Certificates of Freedom” to Black Loyalists. The documents entitled their bearers to decamp to British colonies such as Nova Scotia “or wherever else He/She may think proper.” In South Carolina, the British also honored their commitment to Black Loyalists, taking them with them when they evacuated the state.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Black Loyalist – Washington’s Revolution (Harry, that is, not George)

Black Then – Stephen Blucke: Black Loyalist and Birchtown Founder

Bright Hub Education – Famous African Americans Of the Revolutionary War

Encyclopedia Britannica – Dred Scott Decision

Encyclopedia Britannica – Juneteenth

Foner, Eric – The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (2011)

Horne, Gerald – The Counter Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America (2014)

Kolchin, Peter – American Slavery: 1619-1877 (2003)

National Museum of African American History and Culture – The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth

History Collection – African American Loyalists During the Revolutionary War: 10 Significant People, Events, and Things

New York Times, June 10^th, 2012 – Liberation as Death Sentence

Online Institute For Advanced Loyalist Studies – A History of the Black Pioneers

PBS – George Washington’s Runaway Slave, Harry

Schama, Simon – Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution (2006)

Selig, Robert A. Colonial Williamsburg, Summer, 1997 – The Revolution’s Black Soldiers

Smithsonian Magazine, May, 2006 – Dirty Little Secret: To See the Revolutionary War Through the Eyes of Slaves is to Understand Why So Many of Them Fought For the Crown

History Collection – History Battle of Black Race for Liberty and Justice

Virtual Museum of Canada – Margaret and Stephen Blucke

Wikipedia – Black Loyalist

Wikipedia – Colonel Tye

Wikipedia – Juneteenth