And what of the Negro himself in all this period of turmoil and tumult?
The inner life of the race was one of furious ferment. Already were
there sharp cries for vengeance, for economic freedom, and for the
immediate granting of the full privileges of citizenship; and on the
other hand there were those who tried to look far into the future with
an air of conservatism and philosophy. Naturally there was the appeal
to force; the only wonder is that there was not more of this. As early
as 1687 a conspiracy among the Negroes in the Northern Neck in Virginia
was detected just in time to prevent slaughter. In Surry County in 1710
there was a similar plot, betrayed by one of the conspirators. An
attempt in New York in 1712 resulted in the execution of many Negroes.
In 1740 some slaves on the coast of South Carolina, under the lead of
one of their number named Cato, began an indiscriminate slaughter of
the white people in which many lives were lost. Somewhat more ambitious
was the effort made in Richmond in 1800 and known as Gabriel's
Insurrection. In 1822 an unusually intelligent Negro, Denmark Vesey,
the deepest thinker of all Negro insurrectionists, conceived a plan
that contemplated nothing less than the total annihilation of the
people of Charleston. His plot was divulged, and as a result
thirty-five men were executed and thirty-seven banished. For the
magnitude of its plan, the care with which it was matured, and the
faithfulness of the leaders to one another, Vesey's insurrection was
never equaled by a similar attempt for freedom in the United States.
Nine years later, however, Nat Turner, the type of the emotional
insurrectionist, with the assistance of five other men, actually killed
fifty-seven white people before he was stopped. The effect of this
revolt upon legislation was immediate. Virginia, Maryland, North
Carolina, and other states at once passed harshly repressive measures.
Less direct than open revolt, but more effective sometimes, was escape
by running away. In general the slaves directed their way to the North
or to the swamps such as those in Virginia and Florida. The Dismal
Swamp became a famous hiding-place. Soldiers never ventured into the
colony, and bloodhounds sent thither did not return. The first
Seminole War was very largely caused by fugitives who had been
befriended by the Indians, and the second was even more directly so
caused than the first.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account