Dear All,

The letter in question is from 1 May 1772, from Dunmore to the Earl of
Hillsborough, who was secretary for the colonies until August 1772. In it
Dunmore mentions that the people of the colony were looking to reduce the
importation of slaves, The reasoning, he says, is that they outnumbered 2:1
the white people in the colony, which gave the latter "just cause to
apprehend the most dangerous consequences therefrom." During times of
peace, "unremitted observance of their conduct, rigorous exertion of the
laws relating to them, an the most exemplary punishment of all the
refractory" is sufficient to prevent insurrection. However, he adds, "...in
case of a war (which may probably often happen) with Spain or indeed *any
other power that might make an attack upon this colony*, the people with
great reason tremble at the facility that an enemy would find in procuring
such a body of men attached by no tie to their masters of to the country."
(italics mine)

He does not specifically mention the British using slaves as allies against
the colonists. One thing I found in my research of the 1774/1775 time
period, however, is that the officials often avoided specifically
mentioning potential British support for slave insurrections or Indian
attacks because their mail was so often falling into the hands of the
rebels. It is certainly reasonable to assume Dunmore had in mind Britain
might someday be the other power that might make an attack on the colony.

This letter can be found on page 94-95 of Volume V of Documents of the
American Revolution (K.G. Davies, ed.) - an excellent source for quick
access to the most important official documents sent between colonial
officials, military commanders, and government officials back in London
between 1770-1783. this volume provides the National Archives record number
as C.O. 5/1350, fo. 46.

V/r,

Dan Troy
troy.40@osu.edu
datroy@gmail.com

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