Document · November 7, 1775
Dunmore’s Proclamation
martial-law and emancipation proclamation · John Murray, Lord Dunmore
Read in context
The offer applied to people enslaved by rebels who reached British lines and could serve; it was neither general abolition nor empty rhetoric.
Why it matters
Its limits and its practical opening for self-emancipation must be held together.
Selected passage
All indented Servants, Negroes, or others… free, that are able and willing to bear Arms.