1773: Barely a year after the historic Somerset decision in England, planters in Virginia reported that word of the ruling had reached local enslaved communi…

1773: Barely a year after the historic Somerset decision in England, planters in Virginia reported that word of the ruling had reached local enslaved communities. Enslaved Virginians began attempting to board vessels for Great Britain under the notion that they would be free upon arrival. Masters viewed this spreading idea as a “prevalent notion” that caused great vexation and prejudice to their property interests. In 1774, another slave deserted an Augusta County plantation specifically to board a vessel because of his knowledge of the case. These events highlight how accounts of legal developments across the sea energized a culture of expectation among Afro-Americans.