Nova Scotia Archives
African Nova Scotian Teaching and Learning
Admiral Cochrane's proclamation
This proclamation invited Americans to desert to the British side during the War of 1812. Although the proclamation was not scecifically directed at enslaved Blacks, the intent of the document is clear. The British believed that if they offered freedom and rations to potential escapees many enslaved Blacks would leave their owners. The strategy worked, as nearly 4000 did so. They subsequently settled in British colonies. By the end of 1816 over 1600 of them had settled in Nova Scotia. A number of ensalved Blacks had already taken the initiative to escape to British ships and encampments before Cochrane's proclamation.
Date: 2 April 1814
Reference Commissioner of Public Records Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 volume 111 pages 99-100
Questions to Consider
- When do you think the document was written?
- Who do you think wrote the document?
- Why do you think the document was written
- Who do you think received the document?
- Who do you think this document was written for?
- What information do you think this document provides? What do you think it tells us about the past?
- How do you think the document reflects the attitudes and values of the time period in which it was written?
- What impact do you think the document had at the time it was written?
- Do you think those were different impacts for different people?