The Promise of Freedom for Slaves Escaping in British Ships: The Emancipation Revolution 1740-1807

224 pages

M. K. BARRITT

CAPTAIN, RN

This book is the result of a suggestion that the author expand on the subject of the final chapter of A Maritime History of the American Revolutionary War (reviewed on the NR website, and posted on 2 February 2024), which described the mass evacuation of black people amongst the Loyalists transported from the now independent states of the east coast of America. It covers a large canvas, with substantial résumé of the broader history of emancipation that can be found elsewhere in the cited secondary sources. What is has to offer for NR readers is a very different narrative than the two standpoints that often dominate the general discourse on the Royal Navy’s engagement in slavery: on the one hand, condemnation for defence of the system as “a cradle of seamen” and vital source of revenue for a maritime war; on the other, adulation of costly effort to supress the trade, which, if measured dispassionately, was largely ineffectual. Theodore Corbett argues that the war for independence was the crucial event in the road to emancipation, and, as he builds up an unflattering picture of the rebel plantation culture, so he sets out to research how the Royal Navy contributed to the picture of Britain as a “promised land”.

His argument culminates in the assertion that the experience of naval officers in the war combined with the impact of evangelism to produce “an unmatched flurry” of contributions to the abolition movement. Even taking into account later sympathisers and activists such as Edward Columbine and William Fitzwilliam Owen, neither of whom feature here, this seems somewhat overstated. The author leans heavily on the standard works by Richard Blake, and adds few to the familiar cast of James Ramsay, the Middletons and Gambiers, John Clarkson and Philip Beaver. More compelling is his narrative of how senior officers and ship’s captains handled the humanitarian issues arising during what was a civil war, and the huge logistical challenges of evacuating vulnerable people along with military personnel and stores. Just as the rebel planters saw Britain as “a dangerous place” of legal judgments and benevolent charity that undermined the institution of slavery, so they regarded the Royal Navy as the major agency subverting the plantation system.

Theodore Corbett picks up and amasses evidence to support the judgment that the Royal Navy was a conspicuously ‘color-blind’ organisation. Drawing on a wide range of sources he builds up a background picture of the black seafaring population in London’s East End, and the employment of negroes, not slaves, in the dockyards of the West Indies as well as back in Deptford. These were skilled men. This would seem to be a topic crying out for more research to match that which has been given to the Krew-men who served in the West Africa squadrons of the next century. There are several instances in this book of particular eagerness to recruit a work-force of ‘Paupau or Calamentee blacks’. Who were they? Which part of Africa did they hail from? We are not told. Carpentry, caulking and store-keeping skills were all attributed to black personnel, as well as seamanship. Such men were valued onboard the Navy’s ships, and more were welcome if they chose to escape from slavery.

The Royal Navy was already employing such men as pilots and skilled boatmen in locations such as Jamaica and Bermuda. Commanders were well aware of the numbers of black seamen in Loyalist privateers. They were quick to accept and assist as fellow combatants the watermen of the Chesapeake whose skills were revealed in Theodore Corbett’s previous book. Here we learn that the planters had fostered this work-force as part of their riverside tobacco and wheat economies. To their chagrin the watermen were in the forefront of those hearing Governor Dunmore’s Proclamation of 1775, claiming freedom and flocking to the Royal Naval squadron in the Chesapeake, whose commander would swiftly equip them with purpose-built galleys. Here and at Charleston the watermen would be devastating raiders, descending on the isolated plantations. Black pilots would be significant figures recruiting watermen to serve the British forces in Georgia. When those forces withdrew at the end of the war they would take with them more than a third of the entire population of the state.

Once again Theodore Corbett offers a new take on this tumultuous period of our history from a welcome, but subversive, North American perspective. Like its precursor, however, this is a dense text, and it has to be mined to find its many nuggets of gold. Whilst it is clearly signposted with headings and sub-headings, it is not an easy read. It would have benefited from tauter editing. There are many puzzling sections of repeated text. If the author has done this deliberately for emphasis, it is a very clumsy device. If not, a reproach is due for both proof and copy editors. This is a work that raises questions and excites curiosity, and which will therefore have readers looking for clear pointers to further information. Here there is another significant shortcoming, namely the apparatus. There will always be debate over the best compass and presentation of notes and references, but the absence of a list of sources, and a reference format giving author without short title, are immense irritations. It took this reviewer time to digest this account. I fear that some readers may not persevere, which would be a pity since Theodore Corbett has gathered together much fascinating information. Furthermore, a thinking reader should finish with some challenging questions to ponder, not least over the founding mythology of the United States.