Liberty or Death: The Surprising Story of Runaway Slaves Who Sided with the British during the American Revolution (review)

Most students who are alert in their history class realize that, while the Patriots took up arms amid cries for freedom from tyranny, they only envisioned that freedom extending to a narrowly defined group of peers—white men of means. Slaves who embraced the cause of Liberty begged to differ, and when Virginia governor Lord Dunmore took punitive measures against rebel citizens by proclaiming freedom for their slaves, hundreds of black men, women, and children flocked to join forces with the Loyalists. Though Blair acknowledges that Patriots also eventually offered limited terms of freedom for blacks who would enlist on the rebel side, she confines most of her discussion to those who supported Dunmore and other British leaders throughout the Colonies. Their valor on the battlefield and suffering throughout a smallpox epidemic are important parts of the story of the war, yet of equal interest is the aftermath that saw the freedmen cheated out of their promised land, treated as second-class citizens in Nova Scotia, or even captured and returned to slavery. The final chapters focus on efforts to establish a free black settlement in Sierra Leone. The text moves briskly, and historical paintings, document excerpts, and sidebar information complement the narrative. End matter includes a timeline, index, source notes, and a resource guide (which surprisingly omits some key recent books). This title will be an important supplement to Revolutionary War collections.