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The Fate of the Black Loyalists of Fairfield County, CT (Part 1)

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Here is Part 1 of a 2-part article on The Fate of the Black Loyalists of Fairfield County, CT. Part 1 of this article series lays the groundwork to understanding the position that Black Loyalists found themselves in while serving the British Crown. Part 2 will tell the individual stories of what happened to some of the Black Loyalists from Fairfield County, Connecticut, after they arrived in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada, and in Sierra Leone. I approach this topic as a family historian-genealogist and a descendant of enslaved/formerly enslaved African and Indigenous peoples who served as Black Patriots and Black Loyalists in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. I believe that their remarkable contributions to both the United States and Britain have been overlooked. It is important to recognize that their acts of resistance and agency positioned them as the
“Founding Fathers” in the US and Canada.

While this article does not provide a comprehensive overview of Connecticut Loyalists’
involvement in the War, it offers a snapshot of the significant events that Black Loyalists of Fairfield County faced. I do mention Black Patriots throughout because both groups served under similar conditions and faced similar outcomes. These events highlight how the promises made to them by the Loyalists ultimately turned out to be grand gestures that led to a false sense of freedom.

The full article can be read here: The Fate of Black Loyalists Final of Fairfield County

Part 2 will be published in the next issue of Connecticut Ancestry.

 

Connecticut Ancestry, 66:1 (Aug 2023), 1-9