Slave Insurrection Research Articles

An Event in Community Organization: The Mississippi Slave Insurrection Scare of 1835

An Event in Community Organization: The Mississippi Slave Insurrection Scare of 1835

Class, Conflict, and Consensus: Antebellum Southern Community Studies.

Each the work of a specialist on the antebellum South, these essays address broad issues such as the slavery system, the growth of the cotton industry, and the growing sectional self-consciousness of the South. The authors' local, microcosmic approaches permit examination of subjects such as local justice, economic failure, slave marriages, and slave insurrection with an in-depth attention rarely possible in general works.

Captive Black Union Soldiers in Charleston—What to Do?

CAPTIVE BLACK UNION SOLDIERS IN CHARLESTON—WHAT TO DO? Howard C. Westwood "Thirteen prisoners Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, black. What shall I do with them?" That message, hastily penned by Confederate General Johnson Hagood on the night of July 16, 1863, near the beginning of the Union attack on Fort Wagner, also noted that two of the blacks were "refugee" slaves, the rest free.1 The general's question posed a conundrum. The Confederacy had been struggling with it for months and would continue to struggle with it until the war was dwindling to an end. By mid-1863, the Union, after long hesitation, was taking blacks into its army by the thousands. Inevitably some had become Confederate captives. In time there were many more. Some had been slaves in the state where captured. Some had been slaves in another of the Confederate states. Some had been slaves in a Union slave state. Some had been free, residents of a Union state or even of the Confederacy (notably Louisiana). Many blacks had donned the Union uniform voluntarily; but not a few, especially among slaves of Confederate states, had been forced into the army, either by formal conscription or by irregular means. Nearly all would be in the ranks, and eventually some would be commissioned. Captive, too, would be some of their white officers. Finally, among captives there would be officers and men of white units operating in conjunction with black units. The law of every Confederate statemade slave insurrection or aiding such insurrection a crime; and, as viewed by the Confederates, slaves in arms as Union soldiers were engaged in insurrection. The conundrum: were all these captives regular prisoners of war or were they all common criminals; or were some the former and some the I am most indebted to a numbernians for generous help in giving me information and leads, notably Willia1 of the S.C. Department of Archives and History, N. Louise Bailey of the s rlouse of Representatives Committee on Historical Research, David Moltke-riansen u· »ie South Carolina Historical Society, Armand Derfner of the Charleston bar, and Rebecca Meriwether of Columbia. 1 Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ser. 2, 6:123; Papers of F. W. Pickens and M. L. Bonham, Library ofCongress, 3:519. Hereafter, citation to theORA will be to series 2 except where otherwise indicated, and citation to the Pickens/Bonham Papers will be to volume 3. Civil War History, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1 Copyright©1982by TheKent State University Press 0009-8078/82/2801-0002 $01.00/0 BLACK UNION CAPTIVES29 latter? Or were some captives something in between, in some new, unprecedented status? Or were some simply to be slain, without ceremony? Confederate statesmen, politicians, military commanders, judges, lawyers, and ordinary soldiers and civilians were to face this puzzle. Nowhere in the Confederacy was it posed more starkly than in Charleston. For, from late 1862 until almost the end of the war, in Charleston and its near regions there was repeated conflict with Union forces that included slaves of the local citizenry and, by 1863, slaves from elsewhere as well as free blacks. General Hagood's query, after receipt at district headquarters, was forwarded at once to General Beauregard, commander of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, headquartered in Charleston. With it went word that the captive blacks had been ordered to the city under a strong guard and "without their uniforms."2 On the next day, July 17, the department sent a copy of Hagood's note to South Carolina Governor M. L. Bonham. At the same time, Beauregard informed Richmond that he had black prisoners from the Union forces, several of whom "claim to be free, from Massachusetts." He asked, "Shall they be turned over to State authorities with the other negroes?"3 It reflected the confusion in the Confederacy at that time—the time of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Port Hudson—that neither General Beauregard nor Governor Bonham yet knew that on May 1, 1863, President Davis had approved a joint resolution of the Confederate Congress that, as we shall see, answered Beauregard's question. The general and governor both thought that President Davis's proclamation...

Slave Rebelliousness and Social Conflict in North Carolina, 1775 to 1802

Q UILLO, a slave of James Hunt of Granville County, North Carolina, has not been remembered as a Revolutionary patriot or prominent political figure, but to local whites he must surely have seemed a troublesome symbol of the American Revolution gone awry. In April I794, Granville County authorities accused Quillo of plotting a slave insurrection. Slaves who testified against him disclosed some striking attitudes and ideas among blacks. Quillo, they said, had to give a large treat at Craggs Branch to the black people. While serving cider and brandy, he planned to hold an which slaves would choose burgesses, justices of the peace, and sheriffs in order to have equalJustice distributed so that a weak person might collect debts, as well as a Strong one. Not only had Quillo asked several slaves to stand as candidates, but the bondsmen expected these black representatives to employ force in collecting the monies due them. In defense Quillo asserted that the idea for an election had come from Tom, a mulatto slave. The election had been called off or postponed because someone had broken into a white man's cellar and stolen liquor. If the election had been held, the slaves who attended could have been charged with the theft of that liquor. According to the slave deponents, Quillo had also been touch with a Negro neighboring Person County who had heard that a band of Negroes intended to march toward Granville. One slave charged that after the election Quillo and his associates were to proceed to inlist what forces they could to join the said party from Person and with them to force their way wherever they choosed, and to murder all who stood their way, or opposed them. Quillo had supposedly vowed to clear ... out the whites if they tried to interfere.' Quillo's may have been a ruse for some deeper scheme, but

Dr. Stephen Graham's Narration of the “ Duplin Insurrection ”: Additional Evidence of the Impact of Nat Turner

When Liberty Hall, as it came to be called, the ancestral home of the Kenan family, was being restored some years ago in Kenansville (Duplin County), North Carolina, among the many books left in the library was discovered an accounts ledger used by two members of the Chauncey Graham family. The most significant feature of this complex book is the obscurely-entered, first-hand account of a supposed slave insurrection and its consequences. The author is Dr. Stephen Graham, and the uprising that he depicts in Kenansville can be linked to the furor unleashed by the Nat Turner rebellion.The ledger is approximately fifteen inches long and six inches wide. Its dark binding remains intact; but the front and back, both of which contain longhand notations and arithmetical calculations, are practically illegible now.Inside, the owner is identified as Chauncey Graham [Jr.]; and the book is said to have been started in January 1800 in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. Dr. Graham recorded his patients' names, the work he did for them (e.g., extracting teeth), and prescriptions he gave them, as well as the ways by which he was paid (e.g., four pounds of butter; one cord of wood; or, less frequently, by cash).

The case of missionary Smith: A crucial incident in the rhetoric of the British anti‐slavery movement

News of a slave insurrection in Demerara ignited public opinion against the recently formed Anti‐Slavery Society. By February 1824, the anti‐slavery movement appeared in grave danger of falling apart. Yet, when the true story about the alleged perpetrator of the insurrection, Rev. John Smith, became public, the tide turned once again in favor of the Anti‐Slavery Society, and their proponents rescued the movement by their masterly handling of the Smith Case in the House of Commons.

The Jamaican Slave Insurrection Scare of 1776 and the American Revolution

The Jamaican Slave Insurrection Scare of 1776 and the American Revolution

Spartacus's Rebellion In Soviet Historiography

The slave insurrection led by Spartacus, which occurred over 2,000 years ago, does not cease to interest and excite progressively thinking people. Soviet scholars have paid a great deal of attention to this outstanding event in the history of ancient Rome. The slave rebellion and selfless struggle for freedom led by Spartacus, which could not be more in harmony with the revolutionary epoch whose opening was marked by the triumph of the Great October Socialist Revolution, evoked a lively response in the literature of the first post-October years. (1) However, at that time the leading role in the history of antiquity still belonged to scholars of the old prerevolutionary school, who for the most part regarded ancient Roman society as capitalist. R. Iu. Vipper held, however, that the characteristic phenomenon of "Roman capitalism" was mass slavery, particularly in the second and first centuries B.C. In Vipper's opinion Spartacus's rebellion, which held the Roman state in fear for three years, expressed the high point of the political and revolutionary consciousness of the slaves. (2) V. S. Sergeev wrote about the great importance of slavery and the struggle of the slaves in antiquity. Regarding Rome as a society of "speculative-usury ancient capital with elements of feudalism," and therefore of complex makeup, he at the same time referred to it as slave-holding ("ancient society rested totally on slavery"). He saw in the slave rebellions one of the causes "that placed the economy and ruling Roman society in a state of permanent economic crisis and eternal social ferment and disorders." (3) The slave movement attained its apogee, he emphasized, during "the insurrection of the slaves led by the Thracian gladiator Spartacus." (4) Examining the reasons for his defeat, Sergeev was one of the first to make such arguments as the lack of a unified plan, poorly expressed consciousness of their general goal, lack of organization, and differences among the leaders. On the results of the revolutionary struggle in antiquity as a whole, he wrote: "No matter how weak the people's movements of antiquity were in terms of their results for their participants and organizers, nonetheless their significance for the life of the entire social organism must not in any way be underestimated." (5) S. A. Zhebelev and S.I. Kovalev (6) wrote about the major role of slavery in the ancient world and the significance of the slave insurrection led by Spartacus in their first major studies on the history of ancient Rome.

Black Ironworkers and the Slave Insurrection Panic of 1856

Black Ironworkers and the Slave Insurrection Panic of 1856

The Mississippi Slave Insurrection Scare of 1835

The Mississippi Slave Insurrection Scare of 1835

Slave Insurrections in Texas

Slave Insurrections in Texas

Negro Slave Insurrections in Mississippi, 1800-1865.

Previous articleNext article No AccessNegro Slave Insurrections in Mississippi, 1800-1865.Davidson Burns McKibbenDavidson Burns McKibben Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 34, Number 1January 1949 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2715628 Views: 9Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in The Journal of Negro History (1916-2001), which is continued by The Journal of African American History (2002-present). Copyright 1949, 1969 The Association for the Study of African American Life and HistoryPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Jamaica Slave Insurrection Loan, 1832-1863

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Jamaica Slave Insurrection Loan, 1832-1863Ronald V. SiresRonald V. Sires Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 27, Number 3July 1942 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2715327 Views: 1Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in The Journal of Negro History (1916-2001), which is continued by The Journal of African American History (2002-present). Copyright 1942, 1969 The Association for the Study of African American Life and HistoryPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Slave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865.Joseph C. Carroll

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsSlave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865. Joseph C. Carroll Edgar T. ThompsonEdgar T. Thompson Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 48, Number 1Jun., 1942 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/219114 Views: 1Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Story of the Negro. The Rise of the Race from Slavery.

VOLUME I PART I. THE NEGRO IN AFRICA Chapter 1. First Notions of Africa Chapter 2. The American Negro and the Native African Chapter 3. The African at Home Chapter 4. The West Coast Background of the American Negro PART II. THE NEGRO AS A SLAVE Chapter 5. The First and Last Slave Ship Chapter 6. The First Slaves Chapter 7. The Indian and the Negro Chapter 8. The Negro's Life in Slavery Chapter 9. Slave Insurrections and the Negro Peril Chapter 10. The Free Negro in Slavery Days Chapter 11. Fugitive Slaves Chapter 12. Negro Settlements in Ohio and the Northwest Territory Chapter 13. The Negro Preacher and the Negro Church Chapter 14. The Negro Abolitionists Chapter 15. The Negro Soldier's Fight for Freedom VOLUME II PART III. THE NEGRO AS A FREEMAN Chapter 1. The Early Days of Freedom Chapter 2. The Rise of the Negro Land-owner Chapter 3. The Negro Labourer and the Mechanic in Slavery and Freedom Chapter 4. Negro Crime and Racial Self-help Chapter 5. The Negro Teacher and the Negro School Chapter 6. The Negro Secret Societies Chapter 7. The Negro Doctor and the Negro Professional Man Chapter 8. The Negro Disfranchisement and the Negro in Business Chapter 9. The Negro Bank and the Moral Uplift Chapter 10. Negro Communities and Negro Homes Chapter 11. Negro Poetry, Music and Art Chapter 12. Negro Women and Their Work Chapter 13. The Social and Mission Work of the Negro Church Chapter 14. Law and Order and the Negro Chapter 15. The Negro's Place in American Life Index

Slave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865

Slave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865

Slave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865.

Slave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865.

The Slave Insurrection Panic of 1856

The Slave Insurrection Panic of 1856

Joseph C. Carroll, Slave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsJoseph C. Carroll, Slave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865J. D. JeromeJ. D. Jerome Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 24, Number 2April 1939 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/2714451 Journal History This article was published in The Journal of Negro History (1916-2001), which is continued by The Journal of African American History (2002-present). Copyright 1939, 1967, 1969 The Association for the Study of African American Life and HistoryPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

American Slave Insurrections Before 1861

American Slave Insurrections Before 1861