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1712 New York Slave Revolt |
The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 was an uprising in New York City of 23 enslaved African Americans who killed nine whites and injured another six. Nearly three times that number of blacks, 70, were arrested and jailed. Of these, 27 were put on trial, and 21 convicted and executed.
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Events
Conditions in New York were ripe for rebellion. Enslaved Africans lived within close proximity of each other, making communication easy. They also often worked among free blacks, a situation that did not exist on most plantations. Slaves in the city could communicate and plan a conspiracy more easily than among those on plantations. They were kept under abusive and harsh conditions, and naturally resented their treatment.[1]
The men gathered on the night of April 6, 1712 and set fire to a building on Maiden Lane near Broadway.[2][3] While the white colonists tried to put out the fire, the enslaved African Americans attacked them and ran off.
Aftermath
Seventy blacks were arrested and put in jail. Six are reported to have committed suicide. Twenty-seven were put on trial, twenty-one of whom were convicted and sentenced to death. Twenty were burned to death and one was executed on a breaking wheel. This was a form of punishment no longer used on whites at the time. The severity of punishment was in proportion to white fears of insurrection.
After the revolt, laws governing the lives of blacks in New York were made more restrictive. African Americans were not permitted to gather in groups of more than three, they were not permitted to carry firearms, and gambling was outlawed. Other crimes, such as property damage, rape, and conspiracy to kill, were made punishable by death. Free blacks were no longer allowed to own land. Slave owners who decided to free their slaves were required to pay a tax of £200, a price much higher than the price of a slave.
Footnotes
- ^ Africans in America/Part 1/New York's Revolt of 1712 accessed January 5, 2008.
- ^ Africans in America/Part 1/New York's Revolt of 1712 accessed January 5, 2008.
- ^ Rethinking Schools, accessed January 5, 2008.
References
- Berlin, Ira and Harris, Leslie, Slavery in New York, 2005 (New Press)
- Horton, James and Lois, Slavery and the Making of America, 2005, (Oxford)
- Katz, William Loren, Black Legacy, A History of New York's African Americans, 1997 (Atheneum)
Additional reading (fiction)
- Johnson, Mat, The Great Negro Plot, 2007, ISBN 1582340994
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