Colonial Williamsburg Foundation [1977-296-2]

Vernon Wooten. Dunmore Proclamation Being Read to African Americans.

This painting by artist Vernon Wooten depicts British soldiers reading the Proclamation by the Earl of Dunmore, Virginia’s last Royal Governor. On November 7, 1775, Lord Dunmore declared that "all indentured servants, negroes, and others" willing to join the British troops and bear arms against the rebellious colonists would be free. General George Washington expressed grave concern when he learned of the Proclamation. In a letter to Richard Henry Lee, a fellow Virginian, Washington asserted that if Dunmore was not defeated during the next few months, he would become a formidable enemy. Approximately eight hundred slaves responded to the Proclamation and stole sloops, schooners, and scows to join British forces.