Chapter 7

Chapter 7 of Hochschild's Bury the Chains begins by talking about the first form of emancipation for slaves, albeit not in a truly altruistic manner. When the colonies began to stir with talks of rebellion in 1775 the British offered freedom to any slave that would join the British military in an effort to harm the colonial economy, as well as bolster their own military. The chapter then moves into the reprecussions that went on after the war. During the peace negotiations in France the newly formed United States "stipulated that British troops should carry off no negroes or other American property." The British troops still occupied New York City and Washington sent a list to the city of runaway slaves to be returned. A British general, Sir Guy Carleton, felt obligated to uphold their agreement with the former slaves and made the decision to evacuate the former slaves to Nova Scotia, a British colony. Nova Scotia then became the largest community of free blacks anywhere in the world.