Buying and Freeing Slaves

St. Augustine, Florida Territory, the United States of America

January 11th, 1784

James had lived an interesting life so far. Originally, he worked on a sugar plantation in Jamaica and spent sixteen years as a slave harvesting sugar cane. However, that all changed when the French and Spanish took over the island and ravaged many of the plantations there. The French, who took control of the island, decided that the island was "unkeepable" and looted the island as best as they could. Afterward, they gathered as many slaves as they could and shipped them to Hispanola to make the island unprofitable when the British returned. He worked on a sugar plantation in Hispanola as he did in Jamaica previously, but soon after he got settled in his new home, the British invaded and caused destruction and chaos in Hispanola as the French did in Jamaica. While he was illiterate, he was fluent in English and learned a good bit of the language the slaves in northern Hispanola used. He heard rumors that the war between his two previous masters was coming to an end and before he knew it, he was taken off Hispanola forcibly and packed onto a ship.

After a short trip, he was now in foreign land for the second time in the past five years. He was ushered off the ship along with hundreds of other slaves and forced onto the docks while he was chained. When British troops lined up next to him and the others, James was afraid that his life was coming to an end. Perhaps the British discovered that the gathered slaves were formerly British and were to be executed for "betrayal" or for doing fieldwork for the French. It wasn't uncommon for slaves to go mysteriously "missing" or to be killed for disobedience. When a soldier near him adjusted the straps of his musket, the slave near leaped into the ocean out of fear.

Several minutes of unease passed by as the soldiers watched the slaves leave the ship one by one. After the last slave exited the ship, the slaves were ordered to march ahead and keep their heads down.

The former Jamaican slave closed his eyes and walked forward, listening to his captors as he knew he had no chance to get away anyways. He was surprised to see that he was not in an open field, about to be fired upon by the Redcoats. Instead, he was still in the town and was brought to a halt in front of a line. The line was drawn clearly, and on the other side of the line, a number of soldiers in unfamiliar blue uniforms watched their surroundings carefully.

One of the British officers walked up to a white soldier with a fancy blue uniform and spoke to him, "The slaves are all yours for the keeping, as we promised."

"Are the French aware of their "escape?" The blue-uniformed soldier answered.

The British officer snorted ungentlemanly, "Are the French capable of doing anything right?"

"Maybe the Quebecois, but they're not entirely French. I, and most Americans, have no love for the French."

"Then we finally agree on something, I suppose," The Redcoat mused, "The payment?"

"Sent to your superiors, 50 pounds for each as we guaranteed. However, for their safe passage, we have a bit extra for you and your men."

A chest was handed to the British officer, who opened it and smiled, "Right then, we're in agreement. We didn't see anything, and you and your men didn't see anything. If anyone asks, we were both attending to important military matters. Tomorrow, we will all guard the line and glower at each other, but perhaps I will be open to buying you a drink tomorrow evening for your gracious support."

The British departed quickly afterward, though James overheard one of the British soldiers mumbling, "Damn Yankees." Right after they left, the blue-uniformed soldiers brought them over the line and unchained them. The soldier that was speaking with the Redcoat earlier stood in front of them and motioned for them to follow him, "Come on lads, we have a lot of things to do before we can help you live freely. It'll only take a few days at most, and after that, we'll assign you jobs fitting your background."

Three hours later, James was clothed in new clothing and fed one of the best meals of his life. He looked at his captors while eating his meal slowly as if he expected them to drag him to a plantation right after he finished his meal. Many of the other slaves seemed all too eager to eat a good hot meal and enjoy their new clothing, but James saw that a few others like him were also skeptical of their new masters.

Finally, after the meal was completed, the soldier from before stood in front of them and spoke, "Before I start talking, who speaks English here?"

Around five hands were raised out of hundreds, and after a short while, James hesitantly raised his hand too.

"Right then, I'll need you lot to translate for the others because time is precious. My name is Nathanael Greene, and I'm a major general in the United States Army. Just so I clear up any misunderstandings, none of you will be returning to slavery."

James looked at the man in shock, and when the other slaves around him asked him what the man said, he translated the general's words to them. The slaves looked either confused, intrigued, or skeptical at the man's words.

"After we process some papers for you and ensure that you receive some education, we will allow you to own your own lands and receive citizenship."

"What did he say?" One of the slaves asked in French Creole.

"He said..." James hesitated; weren't his words too good to be true? Freedom, education, land? Was that white man telling him the truth, or was he just exciting them in order to get them to work harder? "He said we'll be set free, get educated, and own land. And citizenship."

"Of course, all of those guarantees will not come right away. However, if you swear allegiance to the United States and follow our instructions, I promise you that all of you here will be citizens of our nation within a year, if not shorter. Many former French slaves in Florida can attest to this, and they will also help you transition into our society. Many of them are landowners in Florida themselves. If you are willing, then please stand up so we can help you get prepared for the road ahead."

Dozens of slaves stood up after hearing the American officer's translated message. However, James remained seated and thought over his options. The offer seemed too damn good to be true, and he knew in his heart that all the white people were the same. The French and British weren't any different; they just tossed him into slavery without a second thought. But he didn't have many options at this point, not when he was in a foreign land without any friends or contacts. The best course of action for him was to take the leap of faith and hope to whatever God was out there that he was making the right choice.

So he pushed down onto the table and stood up.