The Gunpowder Incident started when Lord Dunmore organized the removal of locks from firearms in Williamsburg’s armory and seized stores of gunpowder. Citing a potential slave insurrection, Dunmore ordered the removal of these supplies from the armory and transported the weapons to a British warship. Dunmore claimed this was a preventative measure to ensure that rebellious slaves would not get their hands on arms. 2
The threat of slave rebellion was certainly real in the American colonies, so Lord Dunmore’s reasoning was plausible. Especially in southern colonies, which had the largest enslaved populations, slave uprisings were commonplace in the 1760’s. This meant that colonists, especially in a state like Virginia, were well aware that hostilities
The threat of slave rebellion was certainly real in the American colonies, so Lord Dunmore’s reasoning was plausible. Especially in southern colonies, which had the largest enslaved populations, slave uprisings were commonplace in the 1760’s. This meant that colonists, especially in a state like Virginia, were well aware that hostilities