PBS debuted a new two-part documentary on Tuesday by Lucy Worsley that seeks to cover the American Revolution from the British perspective and how its series of missteps led to the loss of the colonies. At one point in part one, Worsley interviewed Prof. Olivette Otele in a segment that sounded like it came out of The 1619 Project, as both suggested the Dunmore Proclamation had a lot to do with the Southern colonies being pushed to join the rebellion despite the historical timeline not matching up with such an assertion.
Worsley teased that, “At the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, I'm meeting a historian to examine newspaper reports from December 1775. They tell a remarkable story about Lord Dunmore, Britain's royal governor in Virginia.”
After Otele repeated that biographical information, Worsley asked, “And what was going on in Virginia? Was it a tough assignment? Was there rebellion?”
On PBS's documentary on the American Revolution from the British perspective, Lucy Worsley and Prof. Olivette Otele give a 1619 Project-esque view of the rebellion in the southern colonies.
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) April 8, 2026
Worsley says "I guess if I were a plantation owner then and I was feeling pretty loyal to… pic.twitter.com/3uOJDXiYtM
Otele replied:
He found a colony that was extremely wealthy and that had the largest enslaved people's population in the colonies, in the 13 colonies.
But at the same time, he was lacking supplies and he didn't have reinforcement, and he was more or less forced to do—to take initiative. So what he decided to do is to issue a proclamation, and this is what the proclamation says. " And I do hereby further declare all indentured Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His Majesty's Troops as soon as may be.”
He is willing to offer freedom to any enslaved people or to indentured servants who'd be willing to join the British side.
After the pair discussed how Dunmore did not issue the proclamation out of the goodness of his heart but rather as a strictly practical measure, Worsley declared, “I guess if I were a plantation owner then and I was feeling pretty loyal to the British, not very keen on the rebellion, this might tip me over the other way.”
Otele agreed, “Yes, the colonists were absolutely outraged. They actually believed that enslaved people would be freed by the British all across the colonies, and therefore it was an assault on their livelihood, on the economy. They saw it as an attempt at, you know, stopping their right to ownership and property.”
The duo then discussed how Dunmore’s move backfired before Worsley added, “This proclamation had dramatic and far-reaching consequences. Emancipation was being used as a weapon of war. And it pushed more Southern, slave-owning colonies straight into the revolutionary camp.”
The idea that the Dunmore Proclamation helped fuel the rebellion was The 1619 Project’s key bit of evidence that the American Revolution was fought to preserve slavery before professional historians called them out on it. The main counterargument is that the Dunmore Proclamation was a response to a rebellion that was already growing and not the cause of one, which Worsley and Otele sort of alluded to but ultimately minimized with Worsley’s conclusion.
Additionally, the Dunmore Proclamation was issued in November 1775, but by that point Virginia had sent delegates to the First Continental Congress in September 1774. George Washington, a Virginian himself, was appointed to lead the Continental Army in June 1775 by the Second Continental Congress that convened a month earlier. By July of 1775, all 13 colonies would join Congress.
Human motives are not always pure, and there were probably some people who fell into the camp Worsley and Otele were describing, but Virginia joined the Revolution out of solidarity with Boston and opposition to British taxes and other offenses. No matter how much PBS or The 1619 Project tries to make slavery a key part of the revolution, it will not suddenly become true.
Here is a transcript for the April 7 show:
PBS Lucy Worsley Investigates: The American Revolution: The Break Up
4/7/2026
9:44 PM ET
LUCY WORSLEY: At the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, I'm meeting a historian to examine newspaper reports from December 1775. They tell a remarkable story about Lord Dunmore, Britain's royal governor in Virginia.
Tell me a bit about Lord Dunmore. Who was he?
OLIVETTE OTELE: He was the fourth Earl of Dunmore, known as John Murray, and he was the royal colonial governor of Virginia.
WORSLEY: And what was going on in Virginia? Was it a tough assignment? Was there rebellion?
OTELE: He found a colony that was extremely wealthy and that had the largest enslaved people's population in the colonies, in the 13 colonies.
But at the same time, he was lacking supplies and he didn't have reinforcement, and he was more or less forced to do—to take initiative. So what he decided to do is to issue a proclamation, and this is what the proclamation says. " And I do hereby further declare all indentured Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His Majesty's Troops as soon as may be.”
He is willing to offer freedom to any enslaved people or to indentured servants who'd be willing to join the British side.
WORSLEY: That's a really extraordinary statement, isn't it? He's saying, "Look, if you're enslaved, and you're on the rebel side, and if you come over to the British loyalist side, I will give you your freedom."
And do you think he was doing that because he actually believed that they deserved freedom and that slavery was a bad thing?
OTELE: No, Dunmore was calculating, it was strategic. What he wanted to do was to have more men fighting on the British side, and he was backed into a corner. That's why he made the decision.
WORSLEY: Do you know how many formerly enslaved black Virginians joined up who actually, you know, became part of the British army?
OTELE: We don't have the exact numbers, but it's between 800 and 2,000 people who joined him. And he set up a regiment, which was the Ethiopian Regiment.
WORSLEY: I guess if I were a plantation owner then and I was feeling pretty loyal to the British, not very keen on the rebellion, this might tip me over the other way.
OTELE: Yes, the colonists were absolutely outraged. They actually believed that enslaved people would be freed by the British all across the colonies, and therefore it was an assault on their livelihood, on the economy. They saw it as an attempt at, you know, stopping their right to ownership and property.
WORSLEY: So from the point of view of Lord Dunmore, this seems to me like a total own goal.
OTELE: Yes, Lord Dunmore didn't think, I think, this through. He thought about the immediate consequences, but not necessarily the long-term impact on the war after that.
WORSLEY: This proclamation had dramatic and far-reaching consequences. Emancipation was being used as a weapon of war. And it pushed more Southern, slave-owning colonies straight into the revolutionary camp.
