Rough Crossings
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| Author | Simon Schama |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | History |
| Publisher | BBC Books |
Publication date | 2005 |
| Media type | Print (book) |
| Pages | 445 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-06-053916-X |
| OCLC | 61652611 |
| 326.0973/09033 22 | |
| LC Class | E269.N3 S33 2006 |
Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution is a history book and television series by Simon Schama.
This gives an account of the history of thousands of enslaved African Americans known as Black Loyalists who escaped to the British cause during the American War of Independence. It tells of the legal battles in England that established that slavery was not legally valid in England itself, how the British government offered freedom to enslaved African Americans if they would fight for the king. Also the book discusses the many ambiguities involved - some loyalists were slave-owners, some blacks were recruited for the War of Independence.
The book then follows the fate of these African Americans: those who were sent to Nova Scotia and were treated unfairly there, and how some then settled in what was to become Sierra Leone. The descendants of those who settled in Freetown, Sierra Leone are known as the Sierra Leone Creole people. They have strong ancestral ties with mainly the United States, Caribbean, and Canada.
In other media
In 2007 Headlong Theatre produced a stage adaptation, adapted by Caryl Phillips, on UK tour.
See also
- Black Loyalist
- African American history
- History of slavery in the United States
- History of Sierra Leone