Enslaved people inside Britain
| Origins and Percentages of Africans imported into British North America and Louisiana (1700–1820)[21][22] | Amount % |
|---|---|
| West-central Africa (Kongo, N. Mbundu, S. Mbundu) | 26.1 |
| Bight of Biafra (Igbo, Tikar, Ibibio, Bamileke, Bubi) | 24.4 |
| Sierra Leone (Mende, Temne) | 15.8 |
| Senegambia (Mandinka, Fula, Wolof) | 14.5 |
| Gold Coast (Akan, Fon) | 13.1 |
| Windward Coast (Mandé, Kru) | 5.2 |
| Bight of Benin (Yoruba, Ewe, Fon, Allada and Mahi) | 4.3 |
| Southeast Africa (Macua, Malagasy) | 1.8 |
Slavery in Great Britain had never been authorized by statute. In 1772 it was made unenforceable at common law by a decision of Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, but this decision did not govern the Atlantic slave trade, where Britain had become the largest trader,[23] nor apply in the colonies, where the overwhelming majority of British slaves lived. A number of cases for emancipation were presented to the British courts. Numerous runaways hoped to reach Britain where they hoped to be free. The slaves' belief that King George III was for them and against their masters rose as tensions increased before the American Revolution; some colonial slaveholders feared that rebelling against the Crown might trigger a British-inspired slave revolt.
Lord Dunmore's proclamation
In early 1775 Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, wrote to Lord Dartmouth of his intent to free slaves in case of rebellion.[24] On November 7, 1775, Lord Dunmore issued Lord Dunmore's Proclamation which declared martial law[25] and promised freedom for any slaves of American patriots who would leave their masters and join the royal forces. Slaves owned by Loyalist masters, however, were unaffected by Dunmore's Proclamation. Of slaves owned by Rebel masters, approximately 1500 did so; most died of disease before they could do any fighting. Only 300 made it to freedom in Britain.[26]
Revolutionary War and freedom
Many Northern states moved towards emancipation during the Revolutionary Era. The 1777 Constitution of the Vermont Republic banned slavery, freeing males over the age of 21 and women over the age of 18. Pennsylvania in 1780 passed An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, which declared all children born after the act to be free, and Massachusetts, via the Quock Walker Case of 1783, immediately ended slavery in the state. In response to the British offer of freedom for slaves owned by rebel masters, tens of thousands of slaves who were owned by Rebel masters tried to enlist in the British army when it controlled an area. For instance, in South Carolina, nearly 25,000 slaves (30% of the total enslaved population) fled, migrated or died during the disruption of the war. Throughout the South, losses of slaves were high, with many due to escapes.[27] Slaves escaped throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic, joining the British who had occupied New York. In the closing months of the war, the British evacuated 20,000 freedmen from major coastal cities, transporting more than 3,000 for resettlement in Nova Scotia, with others taken to the Caribbean islands, and some to England. Along with these freedmen, the British also transported the slaves of Loyalists. For example, over 5,000 enslaved Africans owned by Loyalists were transported in 1782 from Savannah to Jamaica and St. Augustine. Similarly, over half of the Blacks evacuated out of Charleston to the West Indies and Florida by the British in 1782 were slaves owned by White Loyalists.
In the 18th century, Britain had become the world's largest slave trader. During the revolutionary era, all its rebellious colonies banned or suspended the international slave trade. This was done for a variety of economic, political, and moral reasons depending on the colony. The trade was later reopened in South Carolina and Georgia.[28]
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