Liberty's Exiles

[osprey_archer]

I have been reading Maya Jasanoff’s Liberty’s Exiles, which is about the fate of Loyalists after the American Revolution. A lot of them fled the US, as many as one in forty members of the population at that time. It’s an awesome book: Jasanoff does a great job tying the broader historical trends into individuals’ stories, so you get a sense how it felt to be part of this grand dislocation on the ground.

Inevitably I filter all the Revolutionary history that I read through a “would this make a good Felicity fic?” sieve. And oh, man, would this ever. The Committee of Safety (the American Revolution had Committees of Safety too; apparently this was common practice during emergencies until the French Revolution tainted the phrase) -

- the Committee of Safety, as I was saying, comes to Elizabeth Cole’s house to look for her father, who of course has not been there for quite some time, but they tear up the house anyway because that’s just what Committees of Safety do. The Cole girls flee to the Merrimans’ house for succor, and it is totally awkward for Elizabeth and Felicity, because what can you possibly say when your side has just wrecked your friend’s house? “Sorry” just doesn’t seem to cut it.

Also, it turns out that I remembered correctly that the British army offered freedom to any slaves who came to fight for them. In fact, after he was chased out of Williamsburg for trying to empty the magazine, the Royal Governor Dunmore set up a floating city of ships in the Chesapeake Bay, to which quite a few slaves - including, IIRC, one of George Washington’s slaves - escaped.

At the end of the war the Americans wanted their escaped slaves back, but the British stuck to their guns and sent them to Nova Scotia instead. But they tended to get their land grants later than the white colonists - and they tended to get less land, and worse - so some of them left to found a colony in Sierra Leone.

Marcus, however - Marcus of Loyalty for Felicity, who joined the British army after he ran away - Marcus stayed in Nova Scotia, hoping to earn enough money to buy his mother Dido and his sweetheart out of slavery. He did manage to get word to them where he was, and when they were freed, they came to Nova Scotia - presumably a lot of walking was involved - and they used the money he had saved to get a plow instead.

Comments

[goldjadeocean.livejournal.com]

My ancestors were United Empire Loyalists. It's why I tend to view narratives of the American Revolution at a different slant than the authors almost always intend--when you identify with the people who died trying to get tar and feathers off their skin, you see things differently.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Many of the Loyalists were given land in the Bahamas, where they attempted to set up plantations. The Bahamas, as it turns out, are not very good for growing crops. There's a fabulous Loyalist-era ruin on a small cay off Grand Exuma, very interesting from a historical perspective.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It was kind of a problem where to send the Loyalists with slaves, because most of Britain's Caribbean islands were full up with planters already. They briefly thought maybe they could raise cotton on the Bahamas, but no, not so much.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Soooo glad to hear this about Marcus!! How wonderful that your researches have allowed you to share this information about what happens to him.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Now I just have to figure out how Dido and Rose would get up to Nova Scotia!