public question from there forward." Freedom offered as incentive by British Although a small number of African slaves were kept and sold in England and Scotland, slavery had not been authorized by statute in England, though it had been in Scotland. In 1772, in the case of Somerset v Stewart, it was found that slavery was no part of the common law in England and Wales, and therefore was not permitted. The British role in the international slave trade continued until it abolished its slave trade in 1807. Slavery flourished in most of Britain's North American and Caribbean colonies, with many wealthy slave owners living in England and wielding considerable power. In early 1775 Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia and a slave owner, wrote to Lord Dartmouth of his intention to free slaves owned by patriots in case of rebellion. On November 7, 1775, Lord Dunmore issued Lord Dunmore's Proclamation, which declared martial law in Virginia and promised freedom to any slaves of American patriots who would leave their masters and join the royal forces. Slaves owned by loyalist masters, however, were unaffected by Dunmore's Proclamation. About 1,500 slaves owned by patriots escaped and joined Dunmore's forces. Most died of disease before they could do any fighting, but three hundred of these freed slaves made it to freedom in Britain. Many slaves took advantage of the disruption of war to escape from their plantations to British lines or to fade into the general population. Upon their first sight of British vessels, thousands of slaves in Maryland and Virginia fled from their owners. Throughout the South, losses of slaves were high, with many due to escapes. Slaves also escaped throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic, with many joining the British who had occupied New York. In the closing months of the war, the British evacuated freedmen and also removed slaves owned by loyalists. Around 15,000 black loyalists left with the British, most of them ending up as free people in England or its colonies. More than 3,000 were resettled in Nova Scotia, where they were eventually granted land and formed the community of the black Nova Scotians. Slaves and free blacks who supported the rebellion The rebels began to offer freedom as an incentive to motivate slaves to fight on their side. Washington authorized slaves to be freed who fought with the American Continental Army. Rhode Island started enlisting slaves