As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved as decisive as the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Journalist and author Andrew Lawler offers a new perspective on the roots of the American Revolution as he describes the impact of the actions of Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia.
When patriots imperiled Williamsburg, the province’s capital, Dunmore lacked troops, so he threatened to free and arm enslaved Africans to fight for Britain. After he fled the capital for the port of Norfolk, enslaved people flocked to his camp and skirmishes broke out. “Lord Dunmore has commenced hostilities in Virginia,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. “It has raised our countrymen into a perfect frenzy.”
With a patriot army marching on Norfolk, the royal governor freed enslaved men and sent them into battle. In retribution, rebels burned Norfolk on January 1, 1776, blaming the crime on Dunmore. The port’s destruction and Dunmore’s act of emancipation prompted Virginia’s patriot leaders to urge the Continental Congress to split from Britain, breaking a deadlock on the issue among the colonies.
Lawler’s book A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution (Atlantic Monthly Press) is available for purchase.
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