As we celebrate American Independence on the 4th of July I think it fitting to write about the founding of America and the founding of Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. The relationship between these two events and how much they are intertwined gets lost on us as we let an important slice of history fall between the cracks. The founding of Freetown came out of the seeds of the American Revolution when then Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation that promised blacks their freedom if they crossed the lines and fought for the British against the patriots led by George Washington. At the time, the American colonies were resisting British imperial rule and were determined to fight for their liberty. This, of course, had its contradictions as these Americans had enslaved Africans who were in no stretch of the imagination considered liberated. Even though Thomas Jefferson and many of the founding fathers appeared to abhor slavery, they were slave owners themselves and resisted freeing their slaves. Although the founding fathers appeared torn with this contradiction of slavery, their slaves were fully aware of what liberation meant. So, following Lord Dunmore’s proclamation, thousands of slaves rushed to pick up arms. Lord Dunmore was no abolitionist; this was a tactical move on his part considering that the British didn’t have enough troops. The patriots were terrified of the prospect of a slave rebellion, which would have caused a military disaster on their part. They reciprocated by allowing blacks “under certain conditions” to fight on their side. Thus the main question for the slaves was “Should I fight for the Americans or should I fight for the British”. The slaves that fought for the British were called the Black Loyalists, some of whom later became the founders of Freetown my hometown.
It is interesting to note that among the slaves who went to Freetown was Harry Washington, who was owned by George Washington, and Ralph Henry, who was owned by Patrick Henry, who we all know for his famous cry “Give me liberty or give me death”. As a singer/songwriter or sometimes I recently recorded an album called “The Black Loyalists” that tells this story. I have also just started a blog at
www.shabakasounds.blogspot.com , which goes into a little more detail on the Black Loyalists, and the founding of Freetown.
There are several books that also tell the Black Loyalist story, including one recently published by Harvard Professor, Maya Jasanoff called “Liberty’s Exiles”. Her focus is more on the White Loyalists but she does tell the story of the Black Loyalists very well. There have been other books like “Rough Crossings” by renowned British Historian Simon Schama who says that the reason Black Loyalist leader Thomas Peters is not in the pantheon of greats like Frederick Douglas, is because he “fought on the wrong side” during the revolutionary war. Another fascinating book on this topic is called “Epic Journeys of Freedom” by Australian professor Cassandra Pybus. These books were published over the past few years which suggest a growing interest in this story. Visit my blog to get more on this story and let the conversation begin.
Posted By: Freddy Shabaka
Tuesday, July 5th 2011 at 11:02PM
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