Insurrections

This pamphlet features accounts of two slave insurrections. The first account, published by Charleston authorities, describes the massive but unsuccessful slave insurrection in Charleston, South Carolina. The insurrection was led by the freed slave Denmark Vesey in 1822, and was foiled by a slave.

The second account tells the story of the Virginian slave Nat Turner, who, led by divine visions, planned and carried out a bloody and far-reaching uprising. Turner and his “army” of about 75 other slaves murdered at least 57 whites before they were stopped by a mob of about 3,000, who either killed or arrested the rebellious slaves. Those captured, including Turner himself, were later tried and hanged.

Samuel J. May Antislavery Collection.

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• The Underground Railroad
• William Wells Brown
• Henry Highland Garnet
• Samuel Ringgold Ward
• Slave Purchased and Freed by her Mother
• Runaway Slave Notice
• The Amistad
• Insurrections
• Douglass' Monthly