Slave Insurrection of 1741

(noun)

A supposed plot by slaves and poor whites in the British colony of New York to revolt and level New York City with a series of fires.

Related Terms

Examples of Slave Insurrection of 1741 in the following topics:

  • Slavery and Empire

    • Slave labor and the African slave trade formed the backbone of the American colonial economy.
    • Every colony had slaves, from the southern rice plantations in Charles Town, South Carolina, to the northern wharves of Boston.
    • English liberty gained greater meaning and coherence for whites when they contrasted their status to that of the unfree class of black slaves in British America.
    • The transport of slaves to the American colonies accelerated in the second half of the 17th century.
    • Slaves everywhere resisted their exploitation and attempted to gain freedom through armed uprisings and rebellions, such as the Stono Rebellion and the New York Slave Insurrection of 1741.

  • Resistance to Slavery

    • The institution of slavery created a false sense of superiority in whites, while simultaneously fueling fears of slave revolt.
    • A literate slave named Jemmy led a large group of slaves in an armed insurrection against white colonists, killing several before militia stopped them.
    • These tensions burst forth in 1741.
    • After a quick series of trials at City Hall, known as the New York Conspiracy Trials of 1741, the government executed 17 New Yorkers.
    • The events of 1741 in New York City illustrate the racial divide in British America, where panic among whites spurred great violence against and repression of the feared slave population.

  • Anti-Slavery Resistance Movements

    • Numerous black slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries.
    • Numerous black slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
    • Tens of thousands of slaves joined British forces or escaped to British lines during the American Revolution, sometimes using the disruption of war to gain freedom.
    • The 1811 German Coast Uprising, which took place outside of New Orleans, involved up to 500 slaves.
    • Fears afterward led to new legislation passed by southern states prohibiting the movement, assembly, and education of slaves, and reducing the rights of free people of color.

  • Nat Turner's Rebellion

    • Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was the era's largest slave insurrection.
    • Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia during August 1831.
    • Led by Nat Turner, rebel slaves killed anywhere from 55–65 white people, the highest number of fatalities caused by slave uprisings in the South.
    • A white militia with twice the manpower of the rebels and reinforced by three companies of artillery eventually defeated the insurrection.
    • Other slave-holding states across the South enacted similar laws restricting activities of slaves and free blacks.

  • Treatment of Slaves in the United States

    • Treatment of slaves was characterized by degradation, rape, brutality, and the lack of basic freedoms.
    • After well-known rebellions, such as that by Nat Turner in 1831, some states even prohibited slaves from holding religious gatherings due to the fear that such meetings would facilitate communication and possibly lead to insurrection or escape.
    • Create a sense of personal inferiority, so slaves "know their place";
    • In the mid-nineteenth century, slaving states passed laws making education of slaves illegal.
    • In North Carolina in 1841, punishment consisted of 39 lashes to the slave and a fine of $250 to the teacher.

  • Gabriel's Rebellion

    • It also had a massive impact on the treatment of slaves in the American South.
    • Numerous black slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
    • In 1800, nearly 40 percent of the total population of Virginia were slaves, concentrated on plantations in the Tidewater area and west of Richmond.
    • This prompted an influx of both zealous slave owners and free African Americans, and the very existence of free African Americans in Richmond challenged the condition of Virginia as a slave state.
    • After plans for the rebellion were quelled, many slave holders greatly restricted the slaves' rights of travel.

  • Conclusion: Patterns of British Settlement in the Colonies

    • The 18th century witnessed the birth of Great Britain (after the union of England and Scotland in 1707) and the expansion of the British Empire.
    • By 1750, however, over a million British migrants and African slaves had established a near-continuous zone of settlement on the Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia.
    • Every colony had slaves, from the southern rice plantations in Charles Town, South Carolina, to the northern wharves of Boston.
    • English liberty gained greater meaning and coherence for whites when they contrasted their status to that of the unfree class of black slaves in British America.
    • Isaac Royall and his family, seen here in a 1741 portrait by Robert Feke, moved to Medford, Massachusetts, from the West Indian island of Antigua, bringing their slaves with them.

  • Forms of Resistance

    • African slaves engaged in many forms of resistance, from organized uprisings to the practice of their own native culture.
    • Numerous black slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
    • As a direct result of the fear the rebellion inspired among slave owners and supporters of the institution of slavery, Southern states passed legislation prohibiting the movement, assembly, and education of slaves, and reduced the rights of free people of color.
    • One of the largest slave rebellions in U.S. history took place in 1811.
    • Due to the role of drums in signaling the Stono Rebellion of 1739, slave owners and state governments tried to prevent slaves from making or playing musical instruments.

  • The First Emancipation

    • The 1776 Declaration of Independence refers obliquely to the Proclamation by citing, as one of its grievances, that King George III had "excited domestic Insurrections among us."
    • During the war, tens of thousands of slaves escaped, causing a substantial economic effect on the American South.
    • An estimated 25,000 slaves escaped in South Carolina; 30,000 in Virginia, and one-quarter of the almost total slave population in Georgia.
    • Besides fighting for the Patriots, tens of thousands of slaves joined British forces or escaped to British lines during the American Revolution, sometimes using the disruption of war to gain freedom.
    • The Earl of Dunmore issued a proclamation offering freedom to all slaves who would leave their masters and fight on behalf of Britain during the Revolutionary War.

  • In the South: The Haitian Revolution

    • The success of the Haitian Revolution caused widespread anxiety in the U.S. that slaves elsewhere would be similarly inspired to revolt.
    • The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) began as a slave insurrection in French colony of Saint-Domingue and culminated in the abolition of slavery in the French Antilles and the founding of the Haitian republic.
    • On August 14 1791 Dutty Boukman, a high priest of vodou and leader of the Maroon slaves, signaled the beginning of a revolt during a religious ceremony at Bois Caïman .
    • Over the next ten days, slaves took control of the entire Northern Province and within weeks, the number of slaves involved in the revolt reached 100,000.
    • The emancipation of slaves served as an example of liberty, much as the American Revolution was served as the first of many liberation movements.