slaveryto
freedom
Study Areas
February 1778: Charles Escapes in British Occupied Philadelphia
A MULATTO BOY.
RAN AWAY, from his place, on Thursday afternoon, A MULATTO BOY, about 14 or 15 years of age, rather tall and thin; he calls himself CHARLES: Had on, when he went away, a green dussil livery coat and waistcoat, turned up with red, black velvet breeches with coloured buttons, and a black velvet stock round his neck; he took with him the keys of his master's apartments, and several other things; he was seen the same afternoon in the market house among the negroes, drinking coffee, and it is supposed they inticed him away and now secreet him. Whoever will apprehend him, or them who attempts to detain him, and gives notice, or brings him to the printer, shall receive TWO DOLLARS reward.
Feb. 21.
Notes
British forces occupied the city of Philadelphia from late September 1777 until June 1778. Before their arrival, Patriot forces, citizens, officials and delegates -- the city was home to the Continental Congress -- fled the city, leaving about 15,000 Loyalists, neutral Quakers, and those too poor or powerless to relocate. Included in this last group were large numbers of the city's free and enslaved Black population. British forces and their Loyalist supporters, officials and government administrators moved in, numbering more than 15,000, and effectively doubled the population.
Charles, the enslaved teenaged boy in the notice above, was one of those caught up in the turbulence of the occupation. He may have been enslaved by a native-Philadelphian Loyalist, or he may have moved in as part of the household of a Loyalist supporter or a British government or military official. We don't know, since his enslaver chose not to publish his or her name. But from the description of Charles' clothing, we can guess that his enslaver was a member of the wealthy elite. Charles was dressed as a man-in-waiting, with livery coat and matching waistcoat, velvet breeches and a black velvet stock tie as a finishing touch wrapped neatly around his neck. He seems to have had some degree of responsibility, as he had access to the keys to his enslaver's residence.
Charles was spotted on Thursday afternoon, the same day he went missing, drinking coffee at the market house with a group of local Blacks. His enslaver assumed that they enticed him to escape and were also responsible for hiding him. It is probably true that Charles had not fled the city and was indeed "hiding" somewhere within its boundaries. Travel in and out of the city was tightly controlled by the British military, but there was considerably reduced oversight within the city proper, as gambling, prostitution, carrousing, theft and a general chaotic atmosphere prevailed with the existence of thousands of bored redcoats. A lone teenaged boy could easily go unnoticed among the throngs of Philadelphia's poorest residents.
Sources
The Pennsylvania Ledger, or the Philadelphia Market Day Advertiser, 21 February 1778.
Covering the history of African Americans in central Pennsylvania from the colonial era through the Civil War.
Support the Afrolumens Project. buy the books on Amazon:
The Year of Jubilee, Volume One: Men of God
The Year of Jubilee, Volume Two: Men of Muscle