Final answer:
The statement that is not true about the relationship between African Americans and the Loyalist Cause is C, as it simplifies the complexities of African American loyalties during the war and suggests a unanimous support not supported by historical evidence.
Step-by-step explanation:
C. Free Blacks overwhelmingly supported the Loyalists because that gave them opportunities elsewhere in the British empire.
This statement is not true because the decision for free Blacks to support either the Loyalists or the Patriots varied and was not as straightforward as the option suggests. Many enslaved and free African Americans were motivated by the prospect of freedom, rather than the opportunity to live elsewhere in the British Empire. Options A, B, and D have elements that are historically accurate. Many Loyalists did indeed rely on slave labor and were reluctant to embrace the idea of freeing their slaves. Enslaved people did escape to join the British, and at the conclusion of the war, many African American Loyalists did indeed receive transportation to Nova Scotia and other places within the British Empire, where they hoped to start their lives as free individuals.
Throughout the war, African Americans, both enslaved and free, had to navigate a landscape marked by the competing interests of both the British and American revolutionaries. While the British, especially through Lord Dunmore's Proclamation and offers by other British commanders, proclaimed offers of freedom to those willing to join their forces, those offers were not always made with the best interests of African Americans in mind and did not guarantee a supportive or equal standing in the empire afterwards.