There Were Limits to the Patriotism of South Carolina's Elite
In Spring 1779, a British army invaded Georgia, and then South Carolina. An attempt to invade from Canada had failed at the Battle of Saratoga, the first American victory over a full British army. There was good reason to consider the southern colonies a softer target. South Carolina's wealthy plantation economy had much in common with the British aristocracy. Georgia was full of nouveaux riches planters trying to catch up. Perhaps there would be a good deal of Loyalist sentiment to develop. John Laurens, a native of Charleston, asked for leave from his assignment on General George Washington's staff to help organize the defense of his home state.
Laurens wrote to Washington "had we Arms for 3000 such black men as I could select in Carolina I should have no doubt of success in driving the British out of Georgia & subduing East Florida before the end of July." Washington worried that accepting slaves into the army might “render slavery more irksome to those who remain in it” and “be productive of much discontent in those who are held in servitude.” No doubt that was true -- but Washington endorsed the proposal, paying more attention to the immediate necessity to defeat the British attack. Laurens also hoped to provide the American cause "the glory of triumphing over deep rooted national prejudices."
The Continental Congress approved the proposal. All soldiers Laurens enlisted were to be granted their freedom and $50 at the conclusion of the war. Their former owners of record would be paid up to $1000 for each enslaved man who was enlisted. The legislatures of both South Carolina and Georgia angrily rejected the idea. In fact, South Carolina's government threatened to surrender Charleston to the British and remain neutral until the war ended. Christopher Gadsden, a member of the state's Privy Council wrote "We are much disgusted here at Congress recommending us to arm our Slaves; it was received with great resentment as a very dangerous and impolitic step." Another wrote "The measure for embodying the negroes... was received with horror by the planters, who figured to themselves terrible consequences."
The consequences of rejecting Laurens's proposal were terrible to the cause of independence. In May of 1780, Charleston fell to British forces, and Laurens was taken prisoner. For the next year and a half, Lord Cornwallis rolled across the Carolinas and into Virginia. Washington communicated to Laurens, "I must confess that I am not at all astonished at the failure of your Plans. That Spirit of Freedom, which at the commencement of this contest would have gladly sacrificed everything to the attainment of its object, has long since subsided and every selfish Passion has taken its place."