Anti-Slavery and the American Revolution
Richard K. MacMaster examines the 'crack in the Liberty Bell'.
The American revolution occurred at a time when critics of Negro slavery were advancing proposals for its abolition. Granville Sharp, John Wesley, Anthony Benezet, and other abolitionists published pamphlet attacks on slavery and concerted their strategy in regular correspondence across the Atlantic.
Lord Mansfield’s decision in the Somerset case in 1772 gave British foes of slavery a major victory and stimulated fresh efforts in the American Colonies.
The American Revolution retarded the antislavery cause. The partial emancipation proclamation issued by John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, as Governor of Virginia, was even alleged as one of the reasons for independence in 1776.
Americans defended their rebellion with appeals to the natural rights of men to liberty and property, but they deliberately excluded persons of African descent held as slaves from a share in these inherent rights.
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