The proclamation was a weapon against the American slave system and a route used by people already seeking freedom. Its bureaucratic options of service or resettlement cannot contain the personal danger of escape.
All those who may be disposed to emigrate from the UNITED STATES will, with their Families, be received on board His Majesty's Ships or Vessels of War, or at the Military Posts that may be established, upon or near the Coast of the UNITED STATES, when they will have their choice of either entering into His Majesty's Sea or Land Forces, or of being sent as FREE Settlers to the British Possessions in North America or the West Indies, where they will meet with due encouragement.
Historical wording and forms retained where stated.
Modernized reading
People leaving the United States could bring their families and seek refuge aboard British ships.
Plain-language reading; not a substitute for quotation.
Editorial method: The complete notice sentence is reproduced; capitalization follows the broadside transcription.
Annotations
emigrateThe proclamation's neutral legal term for flight from slavery and departure from the United States.
receivedReception did not guarantee equal treatment, family unity, or an easy resettlement.
Witness and provenance
Creator
Alexander Cochrane
Witness used
Cochrane's proclamation as issued at Bermuda and reproduced from an Indiana University broadside.
Repository or edition
Indiana University; transcription by Baltimore Heritage
Collection
Cochrane proclamation broadside
Identifier
VAC2927, 2 April 1814
Transmission
Issued at Bermuda by the Royal Navy's North American commander. The linked page identifies and transcribes the broadside witness.
Rights
Public-domain British proclamation; image rights remain with the holding repository.
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