Book of Negroes

E203861

historical document ledger register

The Book of Negroes is a historical ledger compiled by the British in 1783 that records the names and details of thousands of Black Loyalists who were evacuated from the United States to British territories after the American Revolutionary War.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
The Book of Negroes (TV miniseries)	6
Book of Negroes canonical	1
The Book of Negroes (novel by Lawrence Hill)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1831207 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Book of Negroes
Context triple: [Black Loyalists, documentedIn, Book of Negroes]

A. The Slave
The Slave is a novel by Nobel Prize–winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer that explores themes of faith, love, and spiritual resilience in 17th-century Poland through the story of a Jewish man enslaved after a massacre.
B. A Mercy
"A Mercy" is a historical novel by Toni Morrison that explores themes of slavery, motherhood, and identity in 17th-century America through the intertwined lives of several women.
C. Slavery Days
"Slavery Days" is a classic roots reggae song by Burning Spear that reflects on the history and suffering of enslaved Africans while calling for remembrance and consciousness.
D. Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon is a critically acclaimed novel by Toni Morrison that explores African American identity, family history, and the search for personal freedom through the life of its protagonist, Milkman Dead.
E. The Test of Freedom
The Test of Freedom is a work by American socialist leader and six-time presidential candidate Norman Thomas that reflects his political philosophy and advocacy for civil liberties and social justice.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Book of Negroes
Target entity description: The Book of Negroes is a historical ledger compiled by the British in 1783 that records the names and details of thousands of Black Loyalists who were evacuated from the United States to British territories after the American Revolutionary War.

A. The Slave
The Slave is a novel by Nobel Prize–winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer that explores themes of faith, love, and spiritual resilience in 17th-century Poland through the story of a Jewish man enslaved after a massacre.
B. A Mercy
"A Mercy" is a historical novel by Toni Morrison that explores themes of slavery, motherhood, and identity in 17th-century America through the intertwined lives of several women.
C. Slavery Days
"Slavery Days" is a classic roots reggae song by Burning Spear that reflects on the history and suffering of enslaved Africans while calling for remembrance and consciousness.
D. Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon is a critically acclaimed novel by Toni Morrison that explores African American identity, family history, and the search for personal freedom through the life of its protagonist, Milkman Dead.
E. The Test of Freedom
The Test of Freedom is a work by American socialist leader and six-time presidential candidate Norman Thomas that reflects his political philosophy and advocacy for civil liberties and social justice.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical document ⓘ ledger ⓘ register ⓘ
compiledBy	British authorities ⓘ
compiledDuring	aftermath of the American Revolutionary War ⓘ
compiledInYear	1783 ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Great Britain ⓘ
createdAsPartOf	British military administration records ⓘ
documents	formerly enslaved people who gained freedom by joining the British ⓘ free Black people leaving the United States ⓘ movement of Black Loyalists to British North America ⓘ movement of Black Loyalists to the Caribbean ⓘ
hasFormat	archival record ⓘ manuscript ⓘ
hasHistoricalContext	British evacuation of Loyalists from the United States ⓘ end of British occupation of New York ⓘ
hasSignificance	evidence of British promises of freedom to enslaved people ⓘ key document in African American and African Canadian history ⓘ primary source on Black Loyalists ⓘ
influenced	modern historical narratives about Black Loyalists ⓘ
inspired	the title of the novel "The Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
records	ages of evacuees ⓘ destinations in British territories ⓘ details of Black Loyalists ⓘ former owners of enslaved people ⓘ names of Black Loyalists ⓘ physical descriptions of evacuees ⓘ places of origin in the American colonies ⓘ
relatedTo	American Revolutionary War ⓘ Black Loyalists ⓘ British Empire ⓘ New York City ⓘ abolitionist history ⓘ evacuation of Loyalists ⓘ history of slavery ⓘ migration to Nova Scotia ⓘ
subjectOf	research on the African diaspora ⓘ scholarship on the American Revolutionary War ⓘ studies of Black Loyalists ⓘ
timePeriod	18th century ⓘ
typeOfList	evacuation list ⓘ nominal roll ⓘ
usedFor	documenting evacuation to British territories ⓘ genealogical research ⓘ historical demography ⓘ verifying claims of Black Loyalists ⓘ

How these facts were elicited