This American freedom was intended exclusively for whites, as “patriots simultaneously maintained the practice of race-based slavery in the colonies” (172). The participation of African Americans in the Revolutionary War, both slave and free, increased due to the British Army's efforts to counteract the lack of freedom in America. Lord Dunmore proclaimed that he would promise freedom to slaves fighting on the British side, creating the “Ethiopian Regiment” (172). However, the American elite, especially in the Southern states, contradicted Britain's vision of freedom by turning the Revolution into a war that defended slavery. Southern states were incredibly vocal in their belief that they maintained traditional racial mores and persecuted African Americans and enslaved blacks. Southerners “persuaded the Continental Congress to instruct General Washington until February 1776 to enlist no more African Americans, free or enslaved” (173). As the Thirteen Colonies created the Continental Congress and newly formed states emerged, the hesitancy to grant this racial minority increased freedom expanded. The American elite refrained from increasing the democracy of enslaved and free blacks during the Revolutionary War, ultimately forcing these people to shift support from patriots to loyalists. However, in 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reflected British notions of equality and liberty, stated that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist in the United States”