WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Lord Dunmore, serving as Royal Governor of Virginia in 1775, issued a proclamation declaring that any slave who escaped and joined the British Army would earn their freedom.

Detailed explanation-2: -The term “Hessians” refers to the approximately 30, 000 German troops hired by the British to help fight during the American Revolution. They were principally drawn from the German state of Hesse-Cassel, although soldiers from other German states also saw action in America.

Detailed explanation-3: -On June 30, 1779, Clinton expanded on Dunmore’s actions and issued the Philipsburg Proclamation, which promised protection and freedom to all enslaved people in the colonies who escaped from their patriot masters. Black men captured fighting for the enemy, however, would be sold into bondage.

Detailed explanation-4: -Enslaved men of color supported the British cause for a number of reasons. First, many slaves believed slavery had already been abolished in Great Britain. In 1772, James Somerset, an enslaved man owned by customs official Charles Stuart, brought suit against his owner in a London court in order to obtain his freedom.

Detailed explanation-5: -Blacks fought in provincial regiments prior to the war, and roughly 5, 000 African American soldiers and sailors, free and slave, served the Revolutionary cause.