In an era that was meant to signal the supposed ‘end of history’, it is perhaps worthwhile to think back to a different ‘age of revolutions’. The late 18th century was marked by profound political conflict and mass movements to radically transform society. Here the fight for universal liberal rights and the values inspired by the philosophical Enlightenment mixed with the blood of violence and armed rebellion. From the relatively comfortable vantage point of history, the events and their radical implications appear obvious and easy to discern. Yet, at the time, these revolutionary currents were as much rumours as they were facts. They were murmurs of possibilities, viral discourses of fact and fiction, hope and fear, spread within communities and across otherwise separate populations.

This retelling of history reveals surprising truths about the complex realities of these epochal social changes. The American Revolution is now retrospectively celebrated as an exemplar of the struggle for independence and liberty. Yet at the time its radical sentiments were both a source of excitement and worry for those involved. The initial seeds of rebellion, for instance against the Stamp Act in 1765, more than a decade before the Declaration of Independence, were a source of inspiration and worry for the White colonists. While they opened up, even if only briefly, the possibilities of liberty, they were just as concerned that these desires would spread to Black slaves, inspiring their own revolt (see Nash, 2005). When the actual revolution arrived, rumours continued to swirl in directions that profoundly challenge dominant narratives of today. The British promised the slaves freedom if they were to fight against the colonists, an offer that, in an age before mass communication, circulated unevenly, as much in whispers as in official pronouncements. This led those in bondage to the very revolutionaries proclaiming to be freedom fighters to make a difficult decision, as the promise of liberty for slaves ‘had reached a crossroads … with one large contingent casting their lot with the British and the others hoping against hope that white Americans would honor their founding principles by making all people free and equal’ (Nash, 2005, p 427).