BOOK OF NEGROES BIRTHPLACE
Between April and November 1783, British and American officials met at Fraunces Tavern in New York City to document in the Book of Negroes approximately 3000, formerly enslaved, Black Loyalists who were evacuating with the British. Samuel Fraunces opened the Tavern, originally called 'Queen's Head Tavern', in 1762 and during the American Revolution it became an important meeting place. It was also the site of General George Washington's last meeting and farewell to his American officers on 4 December 1783. The place remains an important historical site and is open with a museum.
On a visit to the Museum in Fraunces Tavern on 14 May 2025, I was interested to view correspondence between General George Washington and Sir Guy Carleton, the British Commander - in - Chief, regarding the evacuation of Black Loyalists. The two significantly disagreed over the interpretation of the 1783 Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolutionary War. Carleton insisted on honouring promises of freedom made to Black Loyalists , while Washington argued that removing them was contrary to the treaty's clause about carrying away American property. On 6 May 1783 Washington wrote in a letter to Carleton:
I was surprised to hear you mention that an Embarkation had already taken place, in which a large number of Negroes had been carryed away - Whether this conduit is consonant or not to, or how far it may be deemed an Infraction of the Treaty, is not for me to decide. I cannot however conceal from your Excellency, that my private opinion is, that the measure is totally different from the Letter & Spirit of the Treaty - But waving the Discussion of the point & leaving its decision to our respective Sovereigns, I find it my duty to signify my Readiness, in Conjunction with your Excellency, to enter into any agreement, or take any measures which may be deemed expedient, to prevent the future carrying away of any Negroes or other Property of the American Inhabitants.
Sir Guy Carleton wrote in a letter to General George Washington dated 12 May 1783:
I must confess that the mere supposition that the King's Minister could deliberately stipulate in a treaty, an engagement to be guilty of a notorious breach of the public faith towards people of any complection seems to denote a less friendly disposition than I could wish, and I think less friendly than we might expect; after all I only give my own opinon. Every negroe's name is registered, the master he formerly belonged to, with such other circumstances as served to denote his value, that it may be adjusted by compensation, if that was really the intention and meaning of the treaty: Restoration, where inseparable from a breach of the public faith, is, as all the world I think must allow, utterly impracticable. I know of no better method of preventing abuse and the carrying away negroes, or other American property...and I am pleased to find your excellency has approved of this method.
Proceedings were carried out by a commission which met weekly in Fraunces Tavern to determine which Black Loyalists were eligible to evacuate to Nova Scotia. This was called the Birch Trials and resulted in the Book of Negroes. Members of the commission were Brigadier General Samuel Birch, Major Frederick Musgrave and Captain John Stewart, for the British, and Egbert Benson, Lieutenant Colonel William Stephens Smith, and Daniel Parker, appointed by the Americans.
Further Reference:
The Birthplace of the Book of Negroes by Brian McConnell, UE, published by UELAC in 2025
The Birch Trials at Fraunces Tavern video on YouTube prepared by Brian McConnell, UE, on 14 May 2025
