The penitentiary held several thousand stand of arms; the powder-house was well stocked; the capitol contained the State Treasury; the mills would give them bread; the control of the bridge across the James river would keep off enemies from beyond. Thus secured and provided, they planned to issue proclamations, summoning to their standard "their fellow negroes and the friends of humanity throughout the continent." In a week they estimated they would have 50,000 men on their side, when they would possess themselves of other towns.[440] A formidable insurrection was attempted in 1822 by Denmark Vesey. The slaves involved in this plot were distributed over a territory of forty-five to fifty miles in extent around Charleston, South Carolina. Vesey's plan of revolt contemplated the wholesale slaughter of the white population and the occupation of the country by the blacks. "Every slave enlisted was sworn to secrecy. Household servants were rarely trusted. Talkative and intemperate persons were not enlisted. Women were excluded from participation in the affair that they might take care of the children. Peter Poyas, it is said, had enlisted six hundred without assistance. "During the excitement and the trial of the supposed conspirators, rumor proclaimed all, and doubtless more than all the horrors of the plot. The city was to be fired in every quarter. The arsenal, in the immediate vicinity, was to be broken open, and the arms distributed to the insurgents and an universal massacre of the white inhabitants was to take place. Nor did there seem to be any doubt in the minds of the people that such would actually have been the result, had not the plot, fortunately, been detected before the time appointed for the outbreak. It was believed, as a matter of course, that every black in the city would join in the insurrection, and that, if the original design had been attempted and the city taken by surprise, the negroes would have achieved an easy victory, nor does it seem at all impossible that such might have been, or yet may be the case, if any well arranged and resolute rising should take place." The plot failed because a negro, William Paul, "made enlistments without authority, and revealed the scheme to a house servant. The leaders of this attempt at insurrection died as bravely as they had lived; and it is one of the marvels of the remarkable affair, that none of this class divulged any of the secrets to the court. The men who did the talking were those who knew but little."[441]