John Murray (also known as Lord Dunmore), the Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia, starts the first mass emancipation of slaves in North America by issuing Lord Dunmore's Offer of Emancipation, which offers freedom to slaves who abandoned their colonial masters to fight with Murray and the British.

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore

British Army officer and colonial administrator (1730–1809)

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Virginia from 1771 to 1775. Dunmore was named governor of New York in 1770. He succeeded to the same position in the colony of Virginia the following year after…

List of colonial governors of Virginia

Some of those who held the lead role as governor of Virginia never visited the New World and governed through deputies resident in the colony. Others, such as Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, held the lead role for many years but were in Virginia for only a short portion of…

Colony of Virginia

British colony in North America (1606–1776)

The Colony of Virginia was a British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776.

Dunmore's Proclamation

1775 declaration by the governor of Virginia

Dunmore's Proclamation is a historical document signed on November 7, 1775, by John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, royal governor of the British colony of Virginia. The proclamation declared martial law in the colony, and promised freedom for "all indented servants, negroes, or…