The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832

Format: Hardcover Language: English ISBN: 0393073718 ISBN13: 9780393073713 Release Date: September 2013 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Length: 624 Pages Weight: 2.40 lbs. Dimensions: 1.9" x 6.5" x 9.4" Frederick Douglass recalled that slaves living along Chesapeake Bay longingly viewed sailing ships as "freedom's swift-winged angels." In 1813 those angels appeared in the bay as British warships coming to punish the Americans for declaring war on the empire. Over many nights, hundreds of slaves paddled out to the warships seeking protection for their families from the ravages of slavery. The runaways pressured the British admirals into becoming liberators. As guides, pilots, sailors, and marines, the former slaves used their intimate knowledge of the countryside to transform the war. They enabled the British to escalate their onshore attacks and to capture and burn Washington, D.C. Tidewater masters had long dreaded their slaves as "an internal enemy." By mo