Summary Of Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion Of 1739
Beginning in the eighteenth century, a collection of thirteen fledgling British colonies were undergoing immense changes while struggling with the divisive institution of slavery. Their brutally enforced labor became invaluable in agricultural areas and their population grew, often becoming the majority of many counties in the south. Looking back at this barbaric practice, it would seem inevitable slaves would frequently push back against their bondage through violent protests and uprisings. Author Peter Charles Hoffer’s book, Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739 takes a closer look at such an event. He argues that despite the mainstream view of the rebellion, its origin was not one of premeditated revolt. The book also …show more content…
In 1739, a project was started on a branch of the Stono river which involved a group of slaves forced to dig drains to open up more land for rice growers. Due to the project’s urgency for completion, the slaves would be denied rest in the punishing summer heat. Instead, these slaves, “perhaps as many as two dozen, surely knew that long, hard, and unrelieved labor stretched before them” (65). The author asserts how an event unfolding is dependant on the decisions and situation that precede it, and so the Stono rebellion was surely contingent on the horrible conditions the slaves were working …show more content…
Over the course of the night the slaves, growing in numbers as other joined, covered many miles, resulting in a dozen homes being burnt to the ground and twice that number in whites killed (99). Morning found them marching to the beat of two drums down the Pon Pon road toward the freedom of Florida while crying out “liberty” (96). A small riding party that included Lieutenant Governor William Bull stumbled across the band of rebels. They fled to warn and dispatch the local militia who eventually caught the celebrating group off guard in a field. The consequent battle resulted in the end of the rebellion, but not without heavy casualties on both sides. The following weeks and months involved tracking down the slaves that escaped. Some ended up being executed, including the ones that went back to their plantations hoping their absence hadn’t been noticed. Others were awarded for defending their masters during the night of
Summary Of Forced Founders By Woody Holton
712 Words | 3 PagesThe thirteen American colonies’ revolt against the British government for the taxes that it imposed on them is typically the reason given for the resulting American Revolution. In Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia, Woody Holton demonstrates that the Independence movement involved influences from other groups who are often overlooked. He focuses on how the activities of the Indians, debtors, slaves, farmers, and merchants influenced the gentry, particularly in the Virginia colony. These groups effected the decisions of individuals like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, which is why they ought to be given some consideration in the study of History. The Indians of the Upper
Comparing Peter Bestes's Letter 'And Other Massachusetts Slave'
1160 Words | 5 PagesA group of Africans from the same province realized that the white colonists are facing a similar problem just tike the slaves. The white colonists were protesting how King George’s III policies enslaved them. African slaves asked the white colonists to grant freedom to all slaves since their fighting for the same freedom from the British. This letter hints at an injustice system by how white colonists were threatened to be slaves by the British and started protesting while they owned slaves themselves. This letter shows how just unequal African slaves were seen compared to the white colonists.
Summary Of Slave Resistance In Natchez, Mississippi By James Boler
898 Words | 4 PagesJames Boler author of “Slave Resistance in Natchez, Mississippi (1719-1861)” the website: “Mississippi History Now” from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, “Slaves often rebelled against the cruelty of their white masters, cruelties such as branding, cutting off ears, whipping, and torture. The urges for freedom, and the desire to escape inhumane treatment, were the motives for slaves to rebel against their slaveholders. Signs of this resistance caused slave owners to fear insurrection, especially when slaves outnumbered whites.”
Rebellions Of Gabriel Prosser, Nat Turner, And Denmark Vessey
609 Words | 3 PagesThe only house spared was a white family who didn’t own slaves. Within two days they were stopped. Nat was hanged, and 55 of his followers were executed by the state. It is estimated that around 120 other black people were killed by white militias and mobs, regardless of their involvement in the
Ways In Which Two Of The Following Reflected Tensions In Colonial Society
764 Words | 4 PagesIn the late seventeenth century, Bacon’s Rebellion and the Pueblo Revolt occurred, both exposing friction in colonial society. Despite the great geographic gap between the two events, the two events shared many similarities in the ways in which they showcased tensions in the colonies; however, the details concerning the ways in which such tensions were exposed do differ. Both events were revolts against authority by subordinate peoples although the backgrounds of people in each situation differ.
Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion
171 Words | 1 PagesNat Turner (October 2, 1800 – November 11, 1831) was an African-American slave who led a slave rebellion of slaves and free blacks in Southampton County, Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 60 white deaths. He led a group of other slave followers carrying farm implements on a killing spree. As they went from plantation to plantation they gathered horses, guns, freed other slaves along the way, and recruited other blacks that wanted to join their revolt. At the end of their rebellion they were accused of the deaths of fifty white people.[2]
Analysis Of John Thornton's African Dimensions Of The Stono Rebellion
1204 Words | 5 PagesIn this article “African Dimensions Of The Stono Rebellion”, John Thornton a professor of history and African American studies, who wrote about the African slaves in the Americas, and specifically the servants in South Carolina during the early eighteenth century. In his writing, the author describes the personality of Africans and their desire to escape from slavery, going through obstacles on their path to freedom. John Thornton is primarily an Africanist, with a specialty in the history of West Central Africa before 1800. His work has also carried him into the study of the African Diaspora, and from there to the history of the Atlantic Basin as a whole, also in the period before the early nineteenth century. Thornton also serves as a consultant
Laws That Affected Race And Freedoms In 1630
558 Words | 3 PagesSince the number of Africans far outweighed English servants, the English dominant sought to take advantage of this and in 1662 passed an act that racialized slavery by defining it as a status inherited “according to the condition of the mother.” In January 1639/40, Act X passed stating, “All persons except negroes to be provided with arms and ammunition or be fined at pleasure of the Governor and Council” giving us one of many documented acts of how racial freedom was affected. In this essay, I
Was The American Revolution Truly Revolutionary?
325 Words | 2 PagesThe term “Revolutionary” is an instantaneous change or shift that promotes equal rights, liberty, and freedom. So, while some may argue that the revolution was a turning point for America, The American revolution in this case is not revolutionary since slavery was still present, minority groups did not gain rights, and British ideals and tactics were still being used in the new government. One of the crucial pieces of evidence that this “revolution” could not be considered revolutionary is because of the slavery still taking place even after the war ended. Throughout the revolt against British rule in the 16th century, the American people fought under the banner of truth, justice, and liberty for all people, However, the only people that indeed
Cry Liberty By Peter C. Hoffer Summary
506 Words | 3 PagesCry Liberty: The Great Stono-River Slave Rebellion of 1739 was written by Professor Peter C. Hoffer, who taught as a historian at the University of Georgia. This novel is a brief, yet very informative piece of work that provides a re-examination of a series of incidents that occurred during the Stono Rebellion (which transpired on September 9, 1739). This rebellion manifested once a group of about 20 slaves had broken into a store alongside the Stono River, nearby Charles Town, which is now known as Charleston, South Carolina. The author did an excellent job recreating events in this book and developing the question of whether or not it was actually a rebellion.
Frederick Douglass Rebunk The Myth Of Slavery
814 Words | 4 PagesIn the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.
Frederick Douglass Negative Effects On Slaves
753 Words | 4 PagesFrederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.
Meaning Of The July Fourth For The Negro By Frederick Douglass
1110 Words | 5 PagesOne of the strategies Douglass uses to convince his audience slavery should be abolished is by “calling out American hypocrisy in his Fourth of July oration” (Mercieca 1). He shames them with no remorse. He speaks on the opposite treatments that enable whites to live in a state of freedom and liberty, while the blacks are living in a state of bondage. As the audience listens, he reminds them, there are men, women and children still held hostages to the chains of
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