Enslaved African-Americans confront difficult choices [View all]

British Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane’s April 1814 Proclamation made a promise that the British would welcome those who departed the United States. Aimed at enslaved African-Americans, Cochrane had a thousand copies distributed in the Chesapeake region. Runaway slaves could negotiate for their freedom by joining the British military, or by relocating as a free people to a British colony.

“That all those who may be disposed to emigrate from the United States will, with their Families, be received on board of His Majesty’s Ships or Vessels of War, or at the Military Posts that may be established upon or near the coast of the United Sta
-Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane

For some enslaved African-Americans, the War of 1812 offered a rare chance to escape bondage. The outbreak of fighting presented two conflicting paths to freedom: fighting for the United States, or joining with British forces as Loyalists. The starkly divergent nature of the two paths forced enslaved African-Americans to make difficult, pragmatic decisions in choosing sides.

Geography often played a role in those decisions. Particularly in the Chesapeake Bay region, some African-Americans chose loyalism, convinced that a British victory would bring about not only their own freedom but an end to slavery.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/slave-loyalism.htm?utm_source=article&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=experience_more&utm_content=small