Freedom and Resistance: A Social History of Black Loyalists in the Bahamas, by Christopher Curry

摘要

The American Revolution (1774–83) set in motion a number of unintendedmigrations or diasporas. The British, in an attempt to erode the material base ofthe Revolution, offered to manumit the enslaved Africans of the Patriots (butnot those of their Loyalist allies) in returnfor service to“King and Crown.” Absolutes are difficult to ascertain but it has been estimated that upwards of 50,000“Black Loyalists” abandoned their Patriot-masters, received certificates of freedom for service rendered (aides, guerrillas, etc.), and were transported in anexodus-like migration from Savannah, Charleston, and New York to Canada,England, Africa, and the West Indies (Jamaica and the Bahamas). It needs tobe stated that the British never entertained losing, nor did they anticipate theconsequences of reinserting emancipated Africans in postrebellion Americahad the Patriots lost or in the larger Empire had they won.