At the start of the American Revolution in 1775, approximately one-half million enslaved people of African descent lived in British North America, the vast majority of them in the southern colonies where they toiled away producing hemp, sugar, indigo, tobacco, and cotton. Tens of thousands of enslaved people assisted the British as Loyalists in various capacities during the war, in the hope of gaining their freedom once it ended. Many Black Loyalists, an estimated 20,000, chose to serve in the British army in exchange for emancipation, which resulted in a paradoxical situation in which both American Patriots and American Blacks fought in the name of independence, but on opposite sides. John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, the colonial governor of Virginia, first extended the offer of freedom to Black Loyalists in exchange for serving the British in November 1775. Enticed by the promise of liberation, thousands of Blacks from across the southern colonies escaped from their places of bondage and made their way to New York City, the site of the British army’s headquarters, and joined various groups to serve in a wide array of capacities that extended well beyond combat roles.