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The Africans and the Making of the Americas

 

Africans have been central to the shaping and the making of the Americas. From the beginning to the present day, our Nation has been consumed with the idea and the reality of race.   This chapter will explore this shaping and making or, more formally, the racial triangulation that has attempted to keep the Africans in their places. Racial triangulation, the intended outcomes of racial imperialism, has been associated with centuries of forced servitude, followed by the Civil War and Jim Crow laws, forced segregation, racial intimidation, and terror,  redlining, differential access to education and training, and finally, the cradle to prison pipeline. The Africans have repeatedly and consistently fought against each of these attempts to contain, restrain, and pervert their very being. 

It would be inaccurate to reduce the various responses of the Africans as mere reactions to racial imperialism. In this chapter, I will demonstrate how the Africans creatively restructured racial imperialism. Therefore, the various aspects of racial triangulation developed to control the Africans by the imperial state have been responses to the continuous, organized, and deliberate acts of resistance, rebellion, and revolts orchestrated by the Africans. Consequently, shaping the Americas reflects the imperial state's reaction to the African's agency in their assertion of identity, liberty, and justice.  

At the onset, we must clarify that there were hundreds of large-scale rebellions across the Americas. There were also innumerable individual acts of rebellion, from the destruction of equipment and crops, work stoppages and slowdowns, escapes, and even suicide. The day-to-day acts of rebellions were a constant part of the continual response of the Africans to racial imperialism. With this understanding, we begin by examining the impact of the Haitian rebellion upon the United States. 

African Rebellions in the United States 

The Haitian Revolution, as the only successful slave rebellion in the Americas, also catalyzed several slave rebellions within the United States. The four most significant rebellions were Gabriel's Conspiracy, which took place in Richmond in 1800, the German Coast Uprising in 1811, Vesey's Rebellion in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1822, and the 1831 Rebellion of Nat Turner. These rebellions ultimately led to our Nation's most costly war - both in terms of lives and money- the Civil War. Of interest is that all the rebellions were orchestrated by highly educated, skilled Blacks in slave states. None of these rebellions were successful, but collectively, they represented the biggest threat to slavocracy. And what was that threat? A highly organized, educated, and determined group of Africans "yearning to breathe free." Examining these rebellions and their aftermath shows Africans' contributions to the Making of the Americas. 

 Gabriel's Conspiracy

 The spring of 1800 found the United States in an existential moment as the Federalists and Republicans contested the Nation's future. The period, marked by political unrest, chaos, and conflict, provided an enslaved man ironically named Gabriel the impetus for the most elaborate and extensive slave rebellion in Southern history. (Egerton 1993) Historians believe that if Gabriel's conspiracy had been successful, it would have significantly altered our political history and race relations. But what made this, of all preceding and later rebellions, so significant?

 Richmond, in 1800, was a slave town with more enslaved people than free whites. The city held a community whipping post where the enslaved were punished in the public square. Here, we find an enslaved person called Gabriel, just two decades after the American Revolution was trumpeted. Black refugees and the success of the Haitian Revolution fueled their efforts. (Nichols 2020)

 Gabriel's conspiracy originated in an urban environment where many conspirators were free, highly skilled, and educated. Gabriel, a skilled blacksmith, enjoyed many freedoms, such as the ability to "decide where and for whom" he would work. So, while still legally an enslaved person, his role as a skilled bondman allowed him to have a portion of his earnings. Black artisans, carpenters, coopers, shoemakers, tanners, weavers, and Blacksmiths enjoyed these special liberties. They also often worked in small shops within the city alongside white skilled laborers. However, skilled labor worked within an economic system controlled by merchants. These merchants often took advantage of black skilled labor and failed to pay the agreed-upon labor cost. Black artisans, like Gabriel, were left in a capricious position. The merchants, therefore, not the owners, were often seen as the principal enemy. For Gabriel, the cause of his problems was greed and deceit. Thus, his goals were freedom and the right to control the fruits of his labor -his earnings. (Egerton ibid)

 Gabriel and fellow conspirators planned to seize the political crises gripping Virginia and the Nation. Thus, the plot unfolded as the Nation was embroiled in the War with Europe following the French Revolution and the conflict between the Federalists led by incumbent President John Adams and the Republican challenger Thomas Jefferson. The actual conspiracy involved hundreds of enslaved people throughout central Virginia who were counted on to rebel, enter Richmond, capture the Capital and State Armory, take Governor James Monroe hostage, and bargain for the freedom of Virginia's enslaved population. Two unplanned events, a terrible storm, and the confessions of a few enslaved people to their masters of the plot foiled the conspiracy. Gabriel and 25 conspirators were arrested, tried, convicted, and executed. The two informants were granted their freedom. (Nichols ibid.)      

 German Coast Uprisings

 The Haitian Rebellion convinced Napoleon of the Africans' determination, ingenuity, and grit. This Rebellion ultimately led to his decision in 1803 to sell his territories in Louisiana. Thomas Jefferson consequently purchased the entire territory of Louisiana for approximately 15 million dollars (about 3 cents an acre). The U.S. acquired a total of 828,000 square miles, doubling its size. Then, seven years later, Louisiana erupted into violence as the largest slave revolt in United States history unfolded. (Thompson 1992)

 The fear of a Black insurrection was a constant concern of Whites living in Louisiana. The Rebellion on the evening of January 8, 1811, was their worst nightmare. It was the largest slave uprising in our Nation's history. (Buman 2012) Perhaps one of the most startling uprisings occurred in parts of the Territory of Orleans on January 8-10, 1811. Charles Deslondes, a Haitian-born mulatto enslaved person, served as an overseer on the plantation of Col. Manuel Andry. He organized and enlisted the support of several fellow enslaved people and maroons from adjacent colonies. After wounding the plantation owner and killing his son, the rebels seized weapons and gunpowder and began their insurrection. Deslondes organized the rebels into companies, appointing officers, flagmen, and drummers. Then, arming them with guns, swords, and farm implements, he led them toward New Orleans. Starting with an initial group of 64 to 125 enslaved men, they marched toward New Orleans. As they marched, another 200 to 500 enslaved persons joined the procession. En route, they burned five plantation houses and destroyed storage facilities and crops.    (Thompson ibid)

The Rebellion was short-lived as, on the second day, Deslondes and the rebels engaged two separate local militias organized to suppress the revolt. Deslondes's rebels, with limited arms, nevertheless marched to the beat of drums, waving flags and wearing stolen military apparel. The militias killed approximately sixty of the insurgents and wounded even more. In three separate sets of tribunals, eighteen rebels were found guilty. They were all executed by firing squads. But killing them was not enough to intimidate other enslaved; in a gruesome display of barbarity and outright fear, their heads were decapitated and placed on spikes and displayed on poles that stretched 60 miles. (Waters 2023) Although it lasted only a few days, its effects across the Country demonstrated its significance. The revolt caused several states to reorganize their militias, prompting new laws to control the enslaved. (Thompson ibid)

Vesey's Rebellion

 Denmark Vasey, a self-educated and formerly enslaved carpenter, contemplated the most sophisticated, encompassing, and detailed Rebellion before and possibly after. Inspired by the Haitian revolution, he planned a rebellion that may have involved as many as 9,000 enslaved and free Blacks in Charleston, South Carolina. Vesey's audacity alone merits a special place in American history. But who was this man, and what was his plan?

 Denmark Vesey, born into slavery, was also apparently quite lucky. 1799, after winning $1,500 in a street lottery, Vessey purchased his freedom for $600, and the rest he used to train to become a carpenter and rented a house on

Bull Street, which he used for his carpentry shop.   An avid reader, he was fascinated by the Haitian revolution and read antislavery literature. His continual frustration with the plight of the Africans, either freed or enslaved, caused him to begin organizing. Vesey's Rebellion involved "skilled, literate, and privileged slaves." (Paquette and Egerton 2004) The local African Methodist Episcopal Church provided the location for organizing and meetings with several of his co-conspirators.   With the Bible as his reference point, Denmark challenged the institution of slavery. His plan was simple: to attack the guardhouses, seize arms from the arsenals, and kill as many whites as they could while burning down the city and freeing all enslaved. An estimated 9,000 Blacks may have been involved in this plot. Denmark's plan also called for the assistance of free black sailors, who, after the Rebellion, would facilitate the formerly enslaved people to sail to the newly independent Haiti for refuge. (National Park Service, n.d.)    Egerton (1999) concluded it was "one of the most sophisticated acts of collective slave resistance in the history of the United States."  

 The plot was foiled when two conspirators reported the plan to their owners. Immediately, the Mayor alerted the city militia and captured the insurgents. Vesey, along with thirty-five other enslaved people, were arrested, tried, and executed by a special court. According to the testimony of several at his trial, Vesey utilized several biblical texts that compared the Africans to enslaved Israelites in the Bible. And so, while plantation owners used the Bible to subvert and control the Africans, Vesey used it to encourage and challenge the Africans to fight for their freedom. As Vesey was being sentenced to death, the magistrate of the trial accused him of "attempting to pervert the sacred words of God into a sanction for crimes of the blackest hue." (Schipper 2022) Ironically, after Vesey and fellow insurrectionists were tried and executed, white Charlestonians destroyed the church where they had met and, with local funds, built "a Citadel" to house a local militia consisting of 150 men. In 1843, that structure became home to the South Carolina Military Academy. (National Park Service n.d.)   

 

The Charleston community, recognizing the impact of education among free Blacks, immediately passed laws prohibiting teaching African Americans to read, to freely assemble, and to migrate into the state. A permanent militia comprising 150 guardsmen was established at an annual cost of $24,000. And finally, in December of 1822 passed, the Negro Seamen Act placed restrictions on any vessel from another "state or a foreign port, having on board any free negroes or persons of color." (quoted in National Park Service n.d.) This final act recognized the importance of these men as they circulated information about other slave insurrections across the Atlantic. Therefore, it was an attempt to control what information was available to the Blacks (free and enslaved).

 NatTurner

 Nat Turner's Rebellion of 1831 drove the wedge between Southern White enslavers and Northern White abolitionists. It convinced Southern whites that their biggest threat was not the freed Africans but the rebellious ones. They feared that the enslaved would bring about anarchy as they sought vengeance, blood, and retribution. As Jefferson, a slaveholder, wrote regarding slaves, "… we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go." (Quoted by Shaffer 2011)

 The timing of Turner's Rebellion, almost four decades to the day of the Haitian Rebellion, resulted in many Southern whites fearing "similar scenes of bloodshed and murder might our brethren at the South expect to witness, were the disaffected Slaves of that section of the country . . .gain the ascendancy". (quoted by Horne 2015)

 The conditions for a rebellion could not have been better, as the North and South were in a persistent state of agitation regarding the issue of slavery. The seminal event that sparked the flames was associated with the proposed admission of Missouri as a slave state. The 1820 Compromise, where Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, preserved the balance between free and slave states. Further, with the prohibition of slavery west of the Mississippi, the southern boundary of Missouri), Congress aimed to preserve the balance. The uneasy truce was upset in 1831 with the Nat Turner slave rebellion in Virginia. The White Southerners were convinced that Northern abolitionists had facilitated the Rebellion. 

 Much like Vessey, Nat Turner also utilized religion and the idea of salvation to convince the enslaved that their freedom was not only promised but necessary. Viewed as a prophet by the enslaved, his impact was tremendous. As a prophet of a vengeful God, he characterized slavery as evil and White enslavers as instruments of Satan.    Turner repudiated the image of the smiling, grinning, happy enslaved person. Instead, he presented an African willing to do whatever was necessary, even shed blood, to ensure freedom. The Rebellion, in just one day, resulted in the bloodiest single day of violence perpetrated by enslaved people. In the end, at least 55 White people, including children, were killed, 30 enslaved men were tried and executed, and White mobs killed dozens more.