1770s

On March 5, 1770, Crispus Attucks — a man of African and Wampanoag descent who had escaped slavery twenty years earlier — was the first person killed when British soldiers fired into a crowd on King Street, Boston. He became the first martyr of the American Revolution. John Adams, defending the soldiers at trial, described Attucks as a rabble-rouser. Abolitionists later celebrated him as proof that Black Americans had invested blood in the nation's founding from its first moment.

Lord Chief Justice Mansfield ruled that James Somerset, an enslaved man brought to England from Virginia by merchant Charles Stewart, could not be forcibly returned to slavery. Mansfield held that slavery was so 'odious' it could only be sustained by positive law — and no such law existed in England. The ruling freed Somerset and roughly 15,000 enslaved people in England. In the American colonies, slaveholders cited it as proof that British rule threatened their property in enslaved people — fue

On November 7, 1775, Virginia's royal governor Lord Dunmore declared martial law and offered freedom to enslaved men belonging to rebel colonists who could reach British lines and bear arms. Within weeks, roughly 800 men had escaped to join him. They were organized into the Ethiopian Regiment, whose uniforms reportedly bore the motto 'Liberty to Slaves.' The proclamation terrified Virginia slaveholders and hardened Southern opposition to British rule.

On November 7, 1775, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore and Royal Governor of Virginia, issued his proclamation from aboard a British warship off Norfolk, declaring martial law and offering freedom to any enslaved or indentured person belonging to rebel colonists who could reach British lines and bear arms. Over the following months, between 800 and 2,000 enslaved people escaped their enslavers and enlisted with Dunmore. He formed them into the Ethiopian Regiment, which bore the motto 'Liberty to Slaves.' Politically, the proclamation drove wavering Virginia planters into the patriot camp, as the prospect of British-backed slave insurrection terrified the slaveholding class more than any tax dispute. For enslaved people it represented a calculated gamble — many would die of smallpox in British camps — but thousands took it, recognizing that the Revolution offered a potential opening for Black freedom on both sides.

On November 7, 1775, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore and Royal Governor of Virginia, issued his proclamation from aboard a British warship off Norfolk, declaring martial law and offering freedom to any enslaved or indentured person belonging to 'rebel' colonists who could reach British lines and bear arms. Dunmore had been building toward this for months: in April 1775 he had seized Williamsburg's gunpowder supply; by June 8 he abandoned the Governor's Palace entirely, fearing patriot militia attack. Over the following months, between 800 and 2,000 enslaved people — willing to risk capture, return to slavery, or death — escaped their enslavers and enlisted with Dunmore. He formed them into the Ethiopian Regiment, which bore the motto 'Liberty to Slaves.' Politically, the proclamation was devastatingly effective: it drove wavering Virginia planters into the patriot camp, as the prospect of British-backed slave insurrection terrified the slaveholding class more than any tax dispute. For enslaved people it represented a calculated gamble — many would die of smallpox in British camps — but thousands took it, recognizing that the Revolution offered a potential opening for Black freedom on both sides.

In June 1772, Lord Chief Justice Mansfield ruled in Somerset v. Stewart that Charles Stewart, a Boston customs official, could not forcibly remove James Somerset — a man he claimed to own — from England against his will. Somerset had been enslaved in Virginia and Massachusetts, brought to England, escaped, been recaptured, and was about to be shipped to Jamaica when abolitionist Granville Sharp obtained his habeas corpus hearing. Mansfield carefully narrowed his holding, but the decision was popularly interpreted on both sides of the Atlantic as declaring slavery illegal on English soil. The ruling sent immediate tremors through American slave-owning colonies: if English soil conferred freedom, colonial enslavers feared the legal logic spreading. For enslaved people in the colonies, the ruling was electrifying news. Some would invoke Somerset directly in freedom petitions in Massachusetts within months. It also hardened the resolve of Virginia planters to resist British authority — partly from fear that British rule might ultimately threaten slavery itself.

Lord Mansfield ruled in London that James Somerset, an enslaved man brought from Virginia by his enslaver, could not be forcibly returned to the colonies. The ruling held that slavery was not supported by English common law and that no enslaved person could be forcibly removed from England. The case did not abolish slavery in British colonies but energized abolitionists on both sides of the Atlantic. American slaveholders viewed it with alarm; enslaved people in the colonies learned of it rapidly. Somerset himself was freed.

Phillis Wheatley, enslaved in Boston, published Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in London — the first book by an African American and the third by an American woman. Wheatley had been examined by eighteen prominent Boston men, including John Hancock, to verify she wrote the poems herself. The book circulated in Britain and America and was invoked by abolitionists as proof of African intellectual capacity. Wheatley was manumitted shortly after publication.

Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment eventually numbered between 800 and 2,000 men. They saw combat at the Battle of Kemp's Landing (November 1775), where they helped capture two American colonels. At the Battle of Great Bridge (December 1775) the regiment was defeated and Dunmore forced offshore. Smallpox then devastated the regiment; by mid-1776 hundreds had died. Survivors evacuated with British forces, with some reaching Nova Scotia, the Bahamas, and eventually Sierra Leone.

Lord Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia, issued his proclamation offering freedom to enslaved people belonging to rebel colonists who could bear arms and reach British lines. Roughly 800 enslaved men joined his Ethiopian Regiment, wearing sashes reading 'Liberty to Slaves.' The regiment fought at the Battle of Kemp's Landing and Great Bridge. By mid-1776 smallpox devastated the regiment; survivors were abandoned on Gwynn Island. Some were recaptured and re-enslaved. A few hundred eventually reached freedom in Nova Scotia, Sierra Leone, or the Caribbean via British evacuation.

Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence included a clause condemning King George for perpetuating the transatlantic slave trade, calling it a 'cruel war against human nature.' Delegates from South Carolina, Georgia, and some Northern states whose merchants profited from the trade objected. The Continental Congress struck the passage entirely. Jefferson later noted bitterly that it was removed to placate slaveholders in the South and traders in the North.

Vermont's 1777 constitution, adopted July 8, declared: 'no male person, born in this country, or brought from over sea, ought to be holden by law, to serve any person, as a servant, slave or apprentice, after he arrives to the age of twenty-one years.' This was the first explicit constitutional prohibition of slavery in the Americas. Vermont's small Black population and near-absence of an established slaveholding class made the provision politically feasible where others could not.

In February 1778, Rhode Island authorized the enlistment of enslaved men with freedom promised upon service. The First Rhode Island Regiment became the largest Black military unit in the Continental Army, with roughly 130 Black soldiers. At the Battle of Rhode Island (August 1778), the regiment repelled three charges by Hessian troops and held the American flank during a contested retreat — one of the most documented battlefield performances by Black soldiers in the Revolution.

Quaker teacher Anthony Benezet published Some Historical Account of Guinea, drawing on firsthand accounts to describe West African societies before European contact — refuting claims that Africans were 'savages.' The book shaped Thomas Clarkson, John Wesley, and Granville Sharp and was foundational to British abolitionist thought.

Quaker teacher Anthony Benezet published Some Historical Account of Guinea in 1772, drawing on firsthand accounts from African travelers to describe West African societies before European contact — directly refuting the claim that Africans were 'savages' who benefited from enslavement. The book was read by Thomas Clarkson, John Wesley, and Granville Sharp, and shaped British abolitionist thought. Benezet operated one of the first schools for Black children in Philadelphia and corresponded with a

In January 1773, a group of enslaved men in Massachusetts — including Felix Holbrook — submitted a formal petition to the Governor and General Court invoking the revolutionary language of natural rights and liberty to demand their freedom. The petition read in part: 'the endearing name of father is common to all mankind, we have a right to our own children.' Additional petitions followed throughout 1773 and 1774. The petitioners explicitly cited the contradiction between colonial revolutionary rhetoric about liberty and the practice of enslaving people. These petitions were among the first formal legal challenges to slavery in America grounded in natural rights philosophy rather than religious or technical arguments. Though the Massachusetts legislature failed to act on the petitions, they established the legal and rhetorical groundwork for the freedom suits that would succeed after 1780 and for the Quock Walker cases that effectively ended slavery in Massachusetts.

On March 6, 1775, Prince Hall and 14 free Black men in Boston were initiated into Irish Military Lodge No. 441 — the only Masonic lodge that would accept Black members. In 1784 they received a charter from the Grand Lodge of England forming African Lodge No. 459, the first Black Masonic lodge in America. Prince Hall Freemasonry became a cornerstone institution of free Black civic life, providing mutual aid, social networks, and a platform for anti-slavery activism in Northern cities.

An estimated 5,000 Black men served in the Continental Army and state militias during the Revolutionary War, fighting at Bunker Hill, Trenton, Yorktown, and other engagements. Salem Poor, a freed Black man, was commended for gallantry at Bunker Hill. Peter Salem is credited with shooting British Major Pitcairn at the same battle. Many were promised freedom for service; most were returned to bondage when the war ended. Southern states refused to arm enslaved people at all, and Washington initially barred Black enlistment before reversing course under manpower pressure.

By mid-1776, a smallpox epidemic swept through Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment and the Black freedom seekers sheltering aboard British ships off the Virginia coast. Hundreds died. Dunmore wrote that disease had killed more of his Black soldiers than enemy action. Bodies were buried on small islands or thrown overboard. Survivors — perhaps 300–500 — were evacuated with British forces as the Revolution continued. Their sacrifice for British promises of freedom ended for most not in liberty but i

By mid-1776, smallpox swept through Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment and freedom seekers sheltering aboard British ships off Virginia. Hundreds died. Dunmore wrote that disease killed more Black soldiers than enemy action. Bodies were buried on small islands or thrown overboard. Perhaps 300–500 survivors were evacuated as the Revolution continued.

At the Siege of Savannah (October 1779), the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue — roughly 500 free Black men from Haiti — fought alongside American forces. Among them was Henri Christophe, future king of Haiti. Their service is documented in French military records and celebrated in Haitian national memory as a founding act of Atlantic Black military resistance.

Black Continental soldiers fought in numerous engagements in 1778–1779. At the Siege of Savannah (October 1779), the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue — a unit that included roughly 500 free Black men from Haiti — fought alongside American forces. Among them was Henri Christophe, future king of Haiti. Their service was documented in French military records and later celebrated in Haitian national memory as a founding act of Atlantic Black military resistance.

Rhode Island enacted a law prohibiting the importation of enslaved people into the colony — the first such restriction by any American colony. The law declared all enslaved people imported after its passage to be free. However, it contained a significant loophole: it did not prohibit Rhode Island merchants from continuing to trade enslaved people to other colonies and markets. Newport remained a major slave-trade port for decades afterward.

In July 1775, the Continental Army's Cambridge headquarters formally prohibited the enlistment of Black men — free or enslaved. George Washington and a council of generals agreed to the exclusion, partly to appease Southern slaveholding delegates. The policy was reversed within months as manpower shortages became acute, but the initial exclusion reflected the Revolution's fundamental ambivalence toward Black freedom and service.

In the summer and fall of 1775, as news of Lord Dunmore's threatened proclamation spread through the colonies ahead of its November issuance, North Carolina authorities uncovered evidence of a planned insurrection in several counties — particularly in the lower Cape Fear region. Enslaved people had been meeting in secret, sharing information about Dunmore's offer and reportedly planning a coordinated uprising timed to the spread of British military activity along the coast. North Carolina's colonial Committee of Safety responded with emergency measures: increased patrols, searches of enslaved quarters for weapons, restrictions on the movement of Black people (enslaved and free), and the execution of suspected leaders. The episode demonstrated that news of potential freedom traveled rapidly through the enslaved community's communication networks and that the coming Revolution would be a moment of calculated decision-making for enslaved people across the South.

Crispus Attucks, a man of African and Native descent, is among the first killed in the Revolution.

Virginia's royal governor offers freedom to enslaved people who join the British; thousands flee.

Vermont's constitution becomes the first in the Americas to abolish adult slavery outright.

The Pennsylvania Abolition Society, the first in America, is organized in Philadelphia.