Slave Revolts North and South
By the time of the eruption that Nat Turner instigated in 1831, slave revolt was nothing new to the South. In fact, during the eighteenth-century the North also experienced these revolts along with the South. Such was revolts in New York City, involving 30 slaves, and in Stono, South Carolina involving 100 slaves. Even in New York, slave rebellion was not unheard of since the Leister's rebellion in 1689.
Revolt in Louisiana
St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana was the scene of an 1811 slave revolt. Although little recorded history remains today of this uprising, it holds first place as the largest slave revolt in American History. Between 300 and 500 slaves, armed with pikes, hoes, and axes, though few firearms, marched on New Orleans with flags flying and drums beating.
Prosser, Vesey, and Turner
In the nineteenth-century three slave revolts stand out in history. The first was the proposed uprise led by Gabriel Prosser, in Virginia and planned to take place on August 30, 1800. This was followed with the, also proposed, uprise that was headed by Denmark Vesey in 1822, in Charleston, South Carolina. The more famous of the three was the Nat Turner Revolt, in 1831, in Southampton County, Virginia.
All three of these men were literate and somewhat stood in social rank above their followers. Gabriel Prosser was a blacksmith. Nat Turner was a foreman and "exhorter." Denmark Vesey was a free Negro who had bought his own freedom.
The Amistad
In 1839, eight years after the Nat Turner Revolt, the most famous slave mutiny took place when rebels, led by Joseph Cinquez, aboard the slave ship Amistad, killed the ship's captain and took control of the vessel.
African American Revolts: Four Centuries of Protests continues with Blacks Free to Protest: From Rosa Parks to Doctor King.
