The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His AchievementsBrown, William Wells
History
The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements
Brown, William Wells
African Americans -- Biography
opportunity of showing that they were opposed to chattel-slavery. He
spoke freely with the slaves upon the subject, and often with whites,
where he found he could do so without risk to his own liberty. After
resolving to incite the slaves to rebellion, he began taking into his
confidence such persons as he could trust, and instructing them to
gain adherents from among the more reliable of both bond and free.
Peter Poyas, a slave of more than ordinary foresight and ability, was
selected by Vesey as his lieutenant; and to him was committed the
arduous duty of arranging the mode of attack, and of acting as the
military leader.
"His plans showed some natural generalship; he arranged the night
attack; he planned the enrolment of a mounted troop to scour the
streets; and he had a list of all the shops where arms and ammunition
were kept for sale. He voluntarily undertook the management of the
most difficult part of the enterprise,--the capture of the main
guard-house,--and had pledged himself to advance alone and surprise
the sentinel. He was said to have a magnetism in his eye, of which his
confederates stood in great awe; if he once got his eye upon a man,
there was no resisting it."
Gullah Jack, Tom Russell, and Ned Bennett. The last two were not less
valuable than Peter Poyas; for Tom was an ingenious mechanic, and made
battle-axes, pikes, and other instruments of death, with which to carry
on the war. All of the above were to be generals of brigades, and were
let into all the secrets of the intended rising. It has long been
the custom in Charleston for the country slaves to visit the city in
great numbers on Sunday, and return to their homes in time to commence
work on the following morning. It was therefore determined by Denmark
to have the rising take place on Sunday. The slaves of nearly every
plantation in the vicinity were enlisted, and were to take part.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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