Inspection Roll of Negroes Book No. 2
“September 22, 1783,” Inspection Roll of Negroes, New York, New York City, Book No. 2, 1784-1789. National Archives and Records Administration.
Click here to download all the pages of Inspection Roll of Negroes Book No. 2.
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Background
Beginning in 1775 the British military offered freedom to any enslaved person owned by a Patriot who ran away and assisted the British war effort. They hoped that liberating the Patriots’ enslaved workforce would weaken communities, instill fear of an armed slave rebellion, and end the war faster.
Historians estimate that around 20,000 enslaved people self-emancipated and joined the British between 1775 and 1783. Many were women with children or whole families escaping together. The British had no plan for the people who responded to the call. Some men were formed into fighting regiments. Some women were hired as washerwomen and cooks. Many were low-paid or unpaid servants of the Army officers and staff. Life was incredibly difficult for the self-emancipated during the war. Women with children faced the additional challenge of providing for their little ones. Before the fighting ended, about 8,000 self-emancipated people died of disease, starvation, or in battle.
Patriot leaders, including George Washington, demanded that the British return all of the self-emancipated people at the end of the war. They even included this demand in the Treaty of Paris. But the British honored their promise. By the time the final British forces left the colonies in November 1783, between 8,000 to 10,000 self-emancipated Black colonials had been evacuated from New York and Charleston on ships heading to Nova Scotia, East Florida, the Caribbean, and other parts of the British Empire. Life in these new places would prove to be difficult and dangerous, but every Black person who made this journey was officially free.
About the Documents
The British evacuation of New York City began in August and ended on November 25, 1783. British military officers reviewed the history of thousands of self-emancipated Black colonials who wanted to leave with the British. The officers had the power to decide who could go and who must stay. Each person they approved for evacuation was recorded in ledger books that are collectively known as the Book of Negroes. These records were collected to make sure the private ships helping with the evacuation did not illegally sell their passengers back into slavery in the Caribbean.
The Book of Negros records that 2,744 free Black people evacuated from New York. American enslavers complained that the number was much higher, because the book did not list everyone who left on private ships. The book includes details about what each person looked like, where they were from, and how they came to be free. Today, historians use this information to learn about the lives of Black colonials. The notes that describe each person’s history of enslavement are particularly useful. They show that many people self-emancipated in groups or with their families, supporting one another in their quest for freedom.
A searchable database of the Canadian copy of the Book of Negroes is available online from the Library and Archives of Canada.
Vocabulary
- self-emancipate: The act of an enslaved person freeing themselves from bondage.
- Treaty of Paris: The official peace treaty between the United States of America and Great Britain that ended the American Revolutionary War. It was signed on September 4, 1783.
Discussion Questions
- What does this document reveal about the end of the American Revolution?
- Who could benefit from the British policy of self-emancipation? Who could not?
- Why is it significant that so many of the people listed in this book are women and children?
Suggested Activities
- For more information about self-emancipation before the American Revolution, see Runaway Slaves and Conditional Manumission Laws.
- Pair this resource with Life Story: Deborah Squash and Life Story: Peggy Gwynn to learn more about the specific experiences of enslaved women who self-emancipated during the war.
- For a larger consideration of how enslaved women exploited the American Revolution to push for manumission and the abolition of slavery, pair this resource with any or all of the following:
Themes
POWER AND POLITICS; IMMIGRATION, MIGRATION, AND SETTLEMENT
The New York Historical Curriculum Library Connections
- For resources relating to the American Revolution in New York, see The Battle of Brooklyn.
