The Stono Rebellion of 1739 in many ways can be classified as a mini American Revolution. Instead of Royalists versus Patriots, we have rebellious slaves versus just about everyone else. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact causes but through different accounts and documents we can deduce what or who may have caused the revolt. Based on my previous analysis, I suspected that Spanish influence was at fault but after discovering more accounts I believe it was a combination of outside influence along with lenient regulations that helped raise awareness from slaves. The incident at Stono holds a significant place in American history, just like the American Revolution, there were victims being oppressed, obstacles in obtaining equality and triumph that led to a contemporary way of handling the situation.
Document ten appears in the form of Legislation. Written to enforce stricter laws in order to prevent any Stono like events from reoccurring. The document is referred to as the “Slave Code,” and it regulated the behaviors of not only slaves but also those in possession of slaves. Not all of the legislation is included inside document ten. Only the most important provisions are listed and are written with the revolt specifically in mind.
The beginning of the provisions goes into great detail regarding slave usage and consent which includes freedom limitations such as having proper documents to prove slave ownership. It also defines how slaves must be accompanied by their masters when entering certain premises in public. Other provisions consist of denying slaves suspicious assemblies and the legal search and seizure of incriminating evidence. It also attempts to protect slave owners from withholding crimes committed by their slaves. Essent...
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.... Eventually, after celebrating their recent victories, the rebellion was caught off guard and the Bull commanded militia was able to strategically dissemble most of the insurgence. The document also highlights the importance of plantation men bearing arms to Church and how that single law helped quickly end Stono’s Revolt (Hewatt, 34).
All in all, my inclinations on Spanish influence have gone unchanged but through exploring these new sources it’s important to understand the society that slaves were subjected and that it laid a foundation for rebellion. Even though slavery was legal, the conditions and regulations during that time were not perfect. Large populations of slavery would overwhelm the south and push the limits on capitalistic colonial 18th century America. This movement would then be exploited by the Spanish and pave way for new way of handling slavery.
A black slave had entered the State of South Carolina earlier and had incited a small but effective rebellion ...
10. Richmond, Douglas. “The Legacy of African Slavery in Colonial Mexico, 1519-1810.” Journal of Popular Culture 35, no. 2 (2001): 1-17.
South Carolina was one of the only states in which the black slaves and abolitionists outnumbered their oppressors. Denmark Vesey’s slave revolt consisted of over nine-thousand armed slaves, free blacks, and abolitionists, that would have absolutely devastated society in South Carolina for slave owners, and could have quite possibly been a major step towards the abolishment of slavery in the United states. Robertson succeeded in describing the harsh conditions of slaves in pre-civil war Charleston, South Carolina. This book also helped me to understand the distinctions between the different groups. These groups including the black slaves, free blacks, extreme abolitionists, and the pro-slavery communities.
It should be noted that the Declaration of Independence made it clear that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Although this progressive view was shared by many of the members of the Constitutional Convention, it is clear that the original text of the American Constitution is rather pro-slavery and up to a certain point protects the slave-owners. It is of utmost importance to note that the words slavery/slave are not used in the text of the Constitution.
Slavery was present preceding the European discovery of the Americas. It was limited to the conquered people of the indigenous nations and it was not widespread. This situation changed with the arrival of Europeans, as they possessed modern weapons with which they were able to overtake the most formidable segments of native tribes. Sickness introduced to the indigenous tribes by the Europeans reduced the enslaved population to the point that new workers were needed. A slave trade was brought into existence by this need. Slaves were still gathered from indigenous tribes, but they were supplemented with African slaves brought by ship. These events helped to forge the Americas into the prosperous cultures they eventually became. Slavery influenced culture during the revolutionary period with the beginnings of racism, this culture change initiated lawmaking concerning race, which started with the first emancipation around 1780. How these two topics were molded until the 1850's, and have remained present in the modern era of our lives will be proven in the following essay.
Post, D. G. (2001, 07 02). Temple Universtiy. Retrieved 07 07, 2010, from Words Fitly Spoken: http://www.temple.edu/lawschool/dpost/slavery.PDF
The similarities that present Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, Nathaniel Bacon, The Stonos Rebellion, and James Davenport are based mostly in an attitude against of the system of the government or rules of the society.
This suggests that they had negative relations with the government and authorities because their voices were not being listened to and they weren’t equally represented in the government’s policy decisions. Riot was a tactic employed to get their voices heard but there was a fine line between being listened to and retribution for their actions. For example, before the Oxfordshire rising in 1596, the people of Oxfordshire appealed to Lord Norris and other members of authority to help resolve the issue of dearth in the area. However, Lord Norris did little to help improve the situation and further appeals took place until the rebels resulted to riot in the hope of change. However, the rising against enclosure largely failed due to the lack of support, as only a handful of men turned up to support the rebels cause. Additionally, what gave rebellions the scale and force they had, such as the Pilgrimage of Grace, was the combination of supressed local grievances which had built up over time as they had not been effectively dealt with. For example, if someone heard a rumour about a potential uprising they may have become involved to express their personal grievances which may have been repressed in the past but had not achieved the outcome the rebels wanted. The Pilgrimage of Grace was caused by a combination of factors,
The Causes of the Rebellion of 1837-1838. The rebellions of Upper and Lower Canada were in the interests of self-government but were doomed to failure from their beginning. Each of these two colonies encountered a great deal of problems right from the institution of the Constitution Act of 1791 and the problems continually got worse until the only choice for some seemed to be rebellion. There were several problems that led to the rebellions of 1837-38.
The colonies did not initially desire to succeed and become independent from the British, at first they were very proud of being British. Throughout the years of being a British Colony, The mother country of Britain committed actions that the colonists could not stand much longer. From taxation without representation to quartering British soldiers unwillingly, the tension built up until the colonists eventually rebelled. Some colonists remained loyal to the crown, while others joined the rebellion. These rebellious forces grew in strength and number, when the rebellion grew too big, the Revolution sparked. No longer would the colonist be forced to the British law, the colonists were willing to fight and die for their freedom. This event was
Both the Slaves and Virginian farmers were able to orchestrate precise blows to their oppressors in an effort to gain their rights. The Virginian farmers did this by attacking the seat of government in the region while the African slaves forged a path towards the free Spanish Florida. These pushes towards a future with more rights were not possible without the unifying of numerous slaves, and farmers alike. As one the farmers and slaves could do nothing, but under the leadership of men such as Nathaniel Bacon and Jemmy (leader of the Stono Rebellion), they were able to make a lasting impact on their governments. Unified as one force these groups were able to seize the capital of Virginia and stand face to face with their enemy who denied them basic human
All in all the American Revolution had a contradictory effect on the conceptions of freedom and slavery within American life. Colonial peoples desired universal freedom for all, however they did not understand how this new notion of freedom would apply to African-Americans slaves, in which they perceived as “property”. With the language of freedom changing, along with the uprising of petitions and the mobilization of slaves during the 18th century we began to see a glimpse of abolition, for the first time in American
On September 9, 1739, as many as one hundred African and African American slaves were living within twenty miles of Charleston, South Carolina. This rebellious group of slaves joined forces to strike down white plantation and business owners in an attempt to march in numbers towards St. Augustine, Florida where the Spanish could hopefully grant their freedom. During the violent march toward Florida, the Stono Rebellion took the lives of more than sixty whites and thirty slaves. Ranking as South Carolina’s largest slave revolt in colonial America, Peter Charles Hoffer, a historian at the University of Georgia and author of Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739 tries to reinterpret the Stono Rebellion and challenges the reader to visualize what really went on to be a bloody uprising story in American History.
"The Colonial Period: South Carolina Slave Code." Gale Encyclopedia of American Law. Ed. Donna Batten. 3rd ed. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale, 2011. 52-55. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
The term slave is defined as a person held in servitude as the chattel of another, or one that is completely passive to a dominating influence. The most well known cases of slavery occurred during the settling of the United States of America. From 1619 until July 1st 1928 slavery was allowed within our country. Slavery abolitionists attempted to end slavery, which at some point; they were successful at doing so. This paper will take the reader a lot of different directions, it will look at slavery in a legal aspect along the lines of the constitution and the thirteenth amendment, and it will also discuss how abolitionists tried to end slavery. This paper will also discuss how slaves were being taken away from their families and how their lives were affected after.