Artist’s rendering of Peggy Gwynn
Christopher Zaccone, “Artist’s rendering of Peggy Gwynn,” 2005. The New York Historical.
Very few images of Black people were recorded in the Colonial Era. The drawing that accompanies this life story is an artist’s interpretation of Peggy Gwynn based on some of the earliest available photographs of Black people from the mid-1800s. It is intended to help students understand that Peggy was a real person not fundamentally different from us.
The little we know about Peggy Gwynn’s life begins in 1775 at the outbreak of the American Revolution. Peggy was an enslaved woman living on the plantation of a man called Mr. Crammon in Virginia. She likely worked in the production of tobacco or other cash crops.
The Patriot leaders of the Continental Congress that led the new country during the Revolutionary War were divided over the practice of slavery. Some believed that it was insincere for the Patriots to fight against the oppression of the English government while upholding the oppression of slavery. Others refused to endorse any independence movement if the practice of slavery was threatened.
English colonial government leaders saw this disagreement as a weakness and tried to use it against the Patriots. On November 7, 1775 Lord Dunmore, the British governor of the Virginia colony, issued a proclamation promising freedom to any enslaved person belonging to a rebel who escaped and joined the British cause. Dunmore hoped that losing their enslaved workers would cripple the Patriots’ ability to produce the supplies they needed to fight the war. Other British war leaders issued similar proclamations as the war dragged on.
Peggy was one of the estimated 20,000 enslaved people who took this opportunity to emancipate themselves. She made her way to New York City, which was the base of English operations during the war. She became a member of a quickly growing Black community of self-emancipated people in the city, all of whom hoped to earn their freedom by helping the British win the war. The men became soldiers or laborers in the British Army. Women like Peggy were cooks or laundresses.
Life for self-emancipated people was not easy. A quarter of New York was burned down in a fire in 1776 and the living conditions for even the wealthiest New Yorkers were dismal. The British colonial government did not have the resources to properly support the self-emancipated people, so there was not always enough food. Many lived in makeshift tents in the burned-out parts of the city. There were also no records that kept track of which self-emancipated people were supporting the British cause.
Even so, Peggy had more personal freedom than she had ever experienced before. She could demand payment for her work, go to a tavern with friends, dance, and listen to fiddle music. At some point during the war, Peggy met and married another self-emancipated person who was working for the British artillery.
The British lost the war, and the Treaty of Paris required that the British army return all self-emancipated people to their enslavers. But British commander Sir Guy Carleton was determined to honor the promises that had been made to the thousands of self-emancipated Black people. He promised to provide any self-emancipated person with papers that granted their freedom as well as transportation away from the American states. American enslavers were furious. George Washington himself came to argue with Carleton about the situation. Carleton compromised and said he would only free Black people who could prove they had been in New York City before the first peace treaty was signed on November 30, 1782. This meant every self-emancipated person had to have their case reviewed by a British clerk, who would determine if they were eligible for freedom.
In New York City, Peggy had more personal freedom than she had ever experienced before.
Peggy submitted her petition for freedom directly to Sir Carleton. She explained that she had come to New York with the king’s troops and requested that she be allowed to leave the city with her husband, the artilleryman. But she was not able to provide concrete evidence of when she arrived in the city. She and her husband simply begged Sir Carleton to help her keep her hard-earned freedom.
Peggy’s petition did not sway the British. She was returned to a life of enslavement under Mr. Crammon in Virginia. Her husband sailed to freedom without her.
Vocabulary
- cash crop: A crop grown for sale, rather than for the use of the farmer.
- Loyalist: A person who supported the British during the American Revolution.
- petition: A formal written request sent to an authority figure.
- self-emancipated: A person who has freed themselves from slavery, usually by running away or purchasing their freedom.
- 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 Peggy Gwynn’s story teach us about the experience of being enslaved during the American Revolution?
- Why was Peggy Gwynn’s petition for freedom denied?
- How does Peggy Gwynn’s story complicate the story of the American Revolution?
Suggested Activities
- APUSH Connection: 3.5: American Revolution
- To better understand Peggy Gwynn’s story, learn more about Dunmore’s Proclamation.
- Peggy Gwynn and Deborah Squash had very different outcomes to their bids for freedom. Ask the students to compare their life stories and discuss what differences might have led to their disparate conclusions.
- For a larger discussion of how enslaved women responded to the opportunities of the American Revolution, pair this life story with any or all of the following:
Themes
AMERICAN IDENTITY AND CITIZENSHIP; POWER AND POLITICS
The New York Historical Curriculum Library Connections
- For resources relating to the American Revolution in New York, see The Battle of Brooklyn.
