there was a growing discord between the British forces and the colonists. The colonists were frustrated with the massive corruption by the English Parliament who enacted imperial measures such as the Townshend Act

the Indemnity Act and the Tea Act of 1773 that infringed on the colonists’ liberty. The colonists stated that the corrupt English government had enslaved them. Black slaves paid close attention to these sentiments and used the language of the dissenting colonists as their own while appealing for the abolition of the institution of slavery. In the 1773 Freedom Petition by Felix and the 1777 Freedom Petition by Prince Hall