During the winter at Valley Forge from 1777-1778, the army was in a desperate situation: morale was low and the need for soldiers was high. To combat this, Rhode Island recruited slaves to fight, motivating Laurens to formulate a similar plan.
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"In January 1778 a group of Rhode Island officers responded to a desperate situation with a daring idea. They proposed to Washington that their state fill its undermanned battalions with slaves. The following month Rhode Island's legislature approved the plan, which provided freedom for slaves who enlisted and compensation for their owners. A keen observer of these developments, John Laurens was inspired to come up with a plan of his own." |
"I barely hinted to you my dearest Father my desire to augment the Continental Forces from an untried Source . . . I would sollicit [sic] [you] to cede me a number of your able bodied men Slaves, instead of leaving me a fortune—I would bring about a twofold good, first I would advance those who are unjustly deprived of the Rights of Mankind . . . and besides I would reinforce the Defenders of Liberty with a number of gallant Soldiers.” |
"Your Regiment if you trusted to your own resources would not consist of more than forty Men . . . have you considered that your kind intentions towards your Negroes would be deemed by them the highest cruelty, & that to escape from it they would flee into the Woods?" |
In 1778, the British began a campaign in the southern colonies, threatening South Carolina. Laurens left Washington's camp to fight in his home state, pushing for his regiment plan urgently.
This time, Laurens received support from Henry, who pushed for the plan in Congress. Hamilton also advocated the plan to John Jay, who replaced Henry as president.
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"Col. Laurens . . . is on his way to South Carolina, on a project, which I think, in the present situation of affairs there, is a very good one and deserves every kind of support and encouragement. This is to raise two three or four batalions [sic] of negroes . . . I have not the least doubt, that the negroes will make very excellent soldiers . . . they cannot be put in better hands than those of Mr. Laurens.” |
"In late March 1779, Congress approved a plan to enlist three thousand slaves from South Carolina and Georgia. If they served loyally for the duration of the war, the slaves would receive their freedom . . . The delegates commissioned John Laurens lieutenant colonel . . . Congress, however, could only endorse the plan. The final decision was left to the legislatures of South Carolina and Georgia." |
William Whipple, a New Hampshire Congressional delegate, remarked:
"[If Laurens's plan was implemented,] it will produce the Emancipation of a number of those wretches and lay a foundation for the Abolition of Slavery in America." |
With his plan approved, Laurens needed to convince his state. Laurens proposed the idea to South Carolina Governor John Rutledge and the Privy Council, who rejected his plan. One councilman, Christopher Gadsden, expressed outrage at the idea:
"[The South Carolina legislature is] much disgusted here at Congress recommending us to arm our Slaves. It was received with great resentment, as a very dangerous and impolitic Step." |
Many South Carolinians were unwilling to use their slaves as soldiers, even when the British threatened to capture the state. They were terrified of arming slaves since it could lead to an insurrection, especially considering African-Americans greatly outnumbered whites in South Carolina. Many slaveholders also feared multiracial societies.
"One South Carolinian foresaw that the Laurens plan would inevitably lead to a general emancipation after the war, which would bring about the ultimate horror of the Southerner: 'whites and blacks inter-married.' For many, slaveholders, the union of a white woman and a black man was indeed the ultimate horror." |
Despite his defeat, Laurens remained persistent. He presented his plan to the South Carolina House of Representatives but was overwhelmingly rejected. Six months later, under renewed threat from the British, Laurens pressed the plan again and was rebuffed. In 1780, Charleston ended up surrendering to the British, which shows that southerners would rather lose the war than arm their slaves.
After the Battle of Yorktown, Laurens returned to South Carolina for the last time with General Nathanael Greene's support.
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"Though Greene endorsed arming slaves, Laurens again met an overwhelming defeat when the South Carolina legislature met in early 1782 . . . Laurens proposed that slaves from confiscated loyalist estates be used to form a black regiment. Unlike previous attempts, this plan did not threaten the property of any revolutionary. The distinction won him few votes." |
"In politics as in war, Laurens was willing to destroy himself in order to prove his virtue. Such zeal may make a martyr, but not a politician . . . Effective politics demands more than virtue; it also requires the kind of realism . . . that prompted John Rutledge to declare in the Constitutional Convention that the slave trade . . . had nothing to do with moral principle; rather it was a matter of economic interest . . ." |