British Colonialism
Which was more important in unleashing a wave of resistance to slavery: ideology about unalienable rights” or the British offer of freedom to any slave or indentured servant reaching British lines and prepared to fight against the Americans seeking independence? Why did Africans in North America fight against the British to help white colonists gain independence? What might be some examples of how different motives came into play? Despite many calls for the abolition of slavery, the founding fathers shrank from leading the antislavery cause? What were some of the political, social, and economic impediments to ending slavery in the new nation, either in writing the Constitution or by other means? In what sense might Thomas Peters be considered a founding father”? If so, in what ways? What might have been the value and/or disadvantages of his decision to encourage former enslaved Africans to return to their African homelands?
