What Happened to Thomas Jefferson’s Escaped Slaves?
During the American War of Independence, thousands of slaves took immense risks in a bid for freedom
“State of the losses of Thomas Jefferson in the county of Cumberland by the British in the year 1781.”, starts a document, that, despite its bureaucratic tone, reveals some of the horror of the Revolutionary War for African Americans.
As the United States was in the last stages of fighting for independence, thousands of slaves were fleeing to the British in a bid to gain their freedom. For many, this bid was successful. But for many more, seeking their freedom meant death or a return to bondage.
The Liberating British
From the very beginning of the American Revolution, British commanders sought to do damage to the rebellious colonists by providing a refuge for escaped slaves within British-held territory.
The primary form of wealth in the Tidewater and South, emancipation promised to wreak economic havoc on the American cause. By the end of the war, tens of thousands of slaves would flee to British lines. Jefferson’s State of Losses gives a personal look into this mass movement of people, reporting 14 slaves lost to the British in 1781.
