History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol 1: Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as CitizensWilliams, George Washington
History
History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol 1: Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens
Williams, George Washington
African Americans -- History; Liberia; Sierra Leone
fallen upon their own pates." He advised them to consider the
tenderness and humanity with which they had been treated; that they
were the most abject wretches, the very outcasts of the nations of the
earth; and, therefore, they should look to their souls, for as to
their bodies, they would be burnt.
These poor fellows were accordingly chained to the stake the next
Sunday; but, before the fuel was lighted, Deputy Sheriff More and Mr.
Rosevelt again questioned Quack and Cuffee, and reduced their
confessions to paper, for they had stoutly protested their innocence
while in court, in hope of being saved they confessed, in substance,
that Hughson contrived to burn the town, and kill the people; that a
company of Negroes voted Quack the proper person to burn the fort,
because his wife lived there; that he did set the chapel on fire with
a lighted stick; that Mary Burton had told the truth, and that she
could implicate many more if she would, etc. All this general lying
was done with the understanding that the confessors were to be
reprieved until the governor could be heard from. But a large crowd
had gathered to witness the burning of these poor Negroes, and they
compelled the sheriff to proceed with the ceremonies. The convicted
slaves were burned.
On the 1st of June the boy Sawney was again put upon the
witness-stand. His testimony led to the arrest of more Negroes. He
charged them with having been sworn to the plot, and with having sharp
penknives with which to kill white men. One Fortune testified that he
never knew of houses where conspirators met, nor did he know Hughson,
but accuses Sawney, and Quack who had been burnt. The next witness was
a Negro girl named Sarah. She was frightened out of her senses. She
foamed at the mouth, uttered the bitterest imprecations, and denied
all knowledge of a conspiracy. But the benevolent gentlemen who
conducted the trial told her that others had said certain things in
proof of the existence of a conspiracy, that the only way to save her
life was to acknowledge that there had been a conspiracy to burn the
town and kill the inhabitants. She then assented to all that was told
her, and thereby implicated quite a number of Negroes; but, when her
testimony was read to her, she again denied all. She was without doubt
a fit subject for an insane-asylum rather than for the witness-stand,
in a cause that involved so many human lives.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account