Slave Revolts

1
Slave Revolts
2
Day to Day Resistance

• Through song dance they celebrated their dreams
  for freedom
• Music showed solidarity and identity
• Those who defied the whites were given great
  respect

3
Maroons

• Runaway slaves from Spanish colonies of the
  Americas
• Lived in settlements in the jungles and forests

4
Revolution in the Caribbean

• 1791, the Marrons, led by Toussaint LOuverture,
  successfully revolted on the island of St.
  Dominque.
• St. Dominque was one of the greatest wealth
  producing colonies in the New World
• By 1800, St. Dominque was free from colonial rule
  and was renamed Haiti, with LOuverture as its
  ruler
• Word of this revolt got back to the USA and it
  frightened slave owners, but encouraged the
  abolitionist movement

5
Gabriel Prosser

• 1st major slave revolt in the south
• Led by a 24 year old slave named Gabriel Prosser
• He was deeply religious
• In 1800, he began to plot his plan to take the
  city of Richmond, Virginia by force
• He wanted to arm his rebel slaves by attacking
  the armory
• By August 1800, he had 1000s of slaves enlisted
  and a storage of weapons.

6
Gabriel Prosser

• The bridges of Richmond were destroyed in a
  flood, which caused a delay and 2 followers
  betrayed him and on the day of the revolt
• The state militia attacked him the next day and
  his followers were hanged.
• His revolt was the closest America came to a
  revolution on the same scale as that in Haiti.
• This terrified slave owners in the south. Slaves
  were subjected to harsher rules.
• This was a cause of the American Civil War.

7
The Nat Turner Rebellion

• Born in Southampton, Virginia in 1800
• He was a slave and the property of Benjamin
  Turner, a prosperous plantation owner.
• Nats mother and grandmother had been brought to
  America from Africa and had a deep hatred of
  slavery. His mother even tried to kill him at
  birth to prevent him from becoming a slave.
• He developed deep religious beliefs and gradually
  began to believe that God had chosen him to lead
  his people out of slavery
• In 1831, he was sold to Joseph Travis

8
The Nat Turner Rebellion

• In February of that year, an eclipse of the sun
  convinced Turner that this was a supernatural
  sign from God to start an insurrection.
• On August 21st, Turner and about 7 other slaves
  (his disciples) killed Travis and his family in
  their sleep to launch his rebellion.
• They went from plantation to plantation killing
  other slave owners.
• Within the next few days, 55 whites were
  murdered.
• They were met by a regiment and Turner dug a cave
  and went into hiding.

9
The Nat Turner Rebellion

• Many innocent slaves were killed by the town
  militia (100s)
• He had hoped that his action would cause a
  massive slave uprising, but only 75 joined his
  rebellion.
• They were eventually caught and were found guilty
  of insurrection and plotting to kill white
  people. (it took 2 months to catch Nat Turner)
• They were hung on November 11th, 1831.
• This caused harsher and stricter rules to be
  imposed on the slaves
• It was a cause of the American Civil War.

10
John Brown Rebellion

• A white abolitionist
• Wanted to form a freedom army with the slaves
• In 1859, he tried to seize the government arsenal
  at Harpers Ferry in Virginia.
• He and 21 men (4 of whom were his sons) were
  successful in getting the weapons, but took
  hostages

11
John Brown Rebellion

• One hostage they took was Colonel Lewis
  Washington, the great-grandnephew of the 1st
  president.
• They were surrounded by the towns people and
  were held there until 90 US marines stormed in.
• The rebels were hung slaves were subjected to
  harsher rules.
• This was a cause of the American Civil War.

12
John Anderson

• Born a slave about 1830.
• He was sold and separated from his family
• He decided to runaway
• He stabbed a slave catcher called Seneca Diggs,
  who was trying to capture him
• Anderson fled to Canada, but was arrested in 1860
  and put on trial for the murder.

13
John Anderson

• Canada ruled that he was to be sent back to the
  USA as a slave
• Britain asked the Government General not to send
  him back to the USA. Canada agreed
• In 1861, Anderson was invited to go to London,
  which he did
• His trial was in American, Canadian and British
  newspapers.
• This showed that Canada was going to protect
  slaves.

14
The Fugitive Slave Laws

• Passed in 1793
• Made it illegal to hide runaways
• 1850 the police were given power to recapture
  runaways
• Many slaves escaped to Canada
• If you were caught helping the runaways, you were
  fined 2000 and given a sentence of 6 months of
  prison time.

15
The Vesey Conspiracy

• In 1799, Denmark Vesey bought his freedom for
  600. He was a carpenter.
• He joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church
  in 1817.
• White Charlestonians constantly monitored the
  church, disrupting services and arresting
  members. They planned to build to a hearse house
  in a black grave yard.
• Vesey started to preach the Old Testament and
  taught followers that they were the chosen people
  and those who enslaved them would be punished.
• 1822, leaders from the church plotted a rebellion.

16
The Vesey Conspiracy

• The Chief Lieutenant was an East African priest
  named Gullah Jack
• They had planned to seize Charlestons arsenals
  and guard houses, kill the governor, set fire to
  the city and kill every white man they saw.
• George Wilson, a former slave, informed his
  master of a planned insurrection that involved
  thousands of free and enslaved blacks who lived
  and around Charleston. George was granted his
  freedom, but committed suicide.
• Vesey and conspirators were arrested and put on
  trial

17
The Vesey Conspiracy

• Despite torture and threat of execution, the men
  refused to give up their followers
• 35 of them were executed.
• The church was burned down and laws were passed
  down restricting slaves.
• This was a cause of the American Civil War.