Monuments to the American Revolution in Lafayette Park
In 1853, Clark Mills’ statue of President Andrew Jackson on horseback is in the center of Lafayette Park. The park’s four...
Emancipators
How Long? 2 minutes
On April 2, 1814 British Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane issued a proclamation stating that "all persons who may be disposed" to escape to and seek refuge on a British warship would receive their freedom and land in a British colony. In response, an estimated 3,400 enslaved people in Chesapeake coastal areas welcomed the invading British troops as emancipators and ran away from slavery for protection under the British flag.
When enslaved people on a navigable river or bay saw the masts of a British ship or ships, or saw British raiding parties who had landed on shore, they often elected to escape and try their luck with the British. Slaves stole fishing boats and dugout canoes from their owners to get away. Usually young men would escape first, then lead British shore raiders back to the plantations and farms to help bring the rest of their families along as well.
The British recognized that former slaves were valuable sources of information on local defense, terrain and conditions, militia movements, and where food supplies could be found. About 120 escaped slaves fought for the British as Colonial Marines under Admiral Sir George Cockburn's naval command. Many formerly enslaved families from the Chesapeake region eventually settled in Nova Scotia and Trinidad.
Political broadside depicting the burning of Washington and satirizing British emancipation offers, ca. 1814.
You Might Also Like
-
-
Civil War Veterans Visit the White House
In May 1865, at the close of hostilities, a Grand Review throughout Washington, D.C., exhibited parading Union troops from the...
-
Hoover Easter Egg Rolls
The annual White House Easter egg roll was a well-established tradition when President Herbert Hoover took office, and the Hoovers...
-
Sicilian Salvador Catalano
Few people today know the story of a Sicilian-born sailor named Salvadore Catalano who became an early American naval hero....
-
Wormley Hotel
Lafayette Square in the 19th century was the epicenter of political, social and civic activity in Washington, D.C. Originally...
-
Presidents' Day at the White House
Just how does the president celebrate Presidents’ Day? Throughout the more than 200-year history of the White House, presidents themselves ha...
-
African Americans Enter Abraham Lincoln's White House, 1863-1865
The New Years’ Day reception became a White House tradition with President John Adams in 1801 and ended with President Herbert Ho...
-
Paul Jennings
Paul Jennings was born in 1799 at Montpelier, the Virginia estate of James and Dolley Madison. His mother, a slave of...
-
A Friendly Voice
Marian Anderson was a successful American contralto singer known for her enchanting performances in the United States and throughout the...
-
Rescue of the Papers of State During the Burning of Washington
In August 1814, British forces occupying the Chesapeake Bay began to sail up the Patuxent River in Maryland. Fearing an attack...
-
Picketing the White House
In the second half of the nineteenth century Americans headed west to seek greater opportunities for themselves and their families....
-
April 6, 1917
At eight o’clock on the morning of April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson and his wife Edith “threw responsibilities to the wind...