Alexander Hamilton offered this motion in the Continental Congress to protest the practice of carrying off “American Negroes” during the British evacuation from New York City at the end of the Revolutionary War.
The Preliminary Articles of Peace signed in Paris on November 30, 1782, stipulated that the United Kingdom return all property that was seized during the War, including slaves. Sir Guy Carleton, commander of British forces, however, intended to keep the promise of freedom that was made to African Americans who joined and fought for the British. George Washington demanded the return of escaped slaves, but Carleton countered that, under the King’s orders, slaves reaching British lines were to be freed.
The “Book of Negroes, or “Inspection Roll of Negroes” as the American version is called, listed those who were evacuated – to tally the loss of “property” for which the British government might compensate the United States at a later date. (No record of that payment has been found.) In 1792, over 1,000 of the new African Canadians continued on and settled back on the continent of Africa, establishing the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
