greater the amazement felt that he should not have appreciated the
extreme felicity of his position as a slave. In all insurrections, the
standing wonder seems to be that the slaves most trusted and best used
should be most deeply involved. So in this case, as usual, men resorted
to the most astonishing theories of the origin of the affair. One
attributed it to Free-Masonry, and another to free whiskey,--liberty
appearing dangerous, even in these forms. The poor whites charged it upon
the free colored people, and urged their expulsion; forgetting that in
North Carolina the plot was betrayed by one of this class, and that in
Virginia there were but two engaged, both of whom had slave wives. The
slaveholding clergymen traced it to want of knowledge of the Bible,
forgetting that Nat Turner knew scarcely any thing else. On the other
hand, "a distinguished citizen of Virginia" combined in one sweeping
denunciation "Northern incendiaries, tracts, Sunday schools, religion,
reading, and writing."
But whether the theories of its origin were wise or foolish, the
insurrection made its mark; and the famous band of Virginia
emancipationists, who all that winter made the House of Delegates ring
with unavailing eloquence,--till the rise of slave-exportation to new
cotton regions stopped their voices,--were but the unconscious
mouthpieces of Nat Turner. In January, 1832, in reply to a member who had
called the outbreak a "petty affair," the eloquent James McDowell thus
described the impression it left behind:--
"Now, sir, I ask you, I ask gentlemen in conscience to say, was
that a 'petty affair' which startled the feelings of your whole
population; which threw a portion of it into alarm, a portion of
it into panic; which wrung out from an affrighted people the
thrilling cry, day after day, conveyed to your executive, '_We
are in peril of our lives; send us an army for defence_'? Was
that a 'petty affair' which drove families from their
homes,--which assembled women and children in crowds, without
shelter, at places of common refuge, in every condition of
weakness and infirmity, under every suffering which want and
terror could inflict, yet willing to endure all, willing to meet
death from famine, death from climate, death from hardships,
preferring any thing rather than the horrors of meeting it from a
domestic assassin? Was that a 'petty affair' which erected a
peaceful and confiding portion of the State into a military camp;
which outlawed from pity the unfortunate beings whose brothers
had offended; which barred every door, penetrated every bosom
with fear or suspicion; which so banished every sense of security
from every man's dwelling, that, let but a hoof or horn break
upon the silence of the night, and an aching throb would be
driven to the heart, the husband would look to his weapon, and
the mother would shudder and weep upon her cradle? Was it the
fear of Nat Turner, and his deluded, drunken handful of
followers, which produced such effects? Was it this that induced
distant counties, where the very name of Southampton was strange,
to arm and equip for a struggle? No, sir: it was the suspicion
eternally attached to the slave himself,--the suspicion that a
Nat Turner might be in every family; that the same bloody deed
might be acted over at any time and in any place; that the
materials for it were spread through the land, and were always
ready for a like explosion. Nothing but the force of this
withering apprehension,--nothing but the paralyzing and deadening
weight with which it falls upon and prostrates the heart of every
man who has helpless dependants to protect,--nothing but this
could have thrown a brave people into consternation, or could
have made any portion of this powerful Commonwealth, for a single
instant, to have quailed and trembled."
While these things were going on, the enthusiasm for the Polish
Revolution was rising to its height. The nation was ringing with a peal
of joy, on hearing that at Frankfort the Poles had killed fourteen
thousand Russians. The _Southern Religious Telegraph_ was publishing an
impassioned address to Kosciuszko; standards were being consecrated for
Poland in the larger cities; heroes like Skrzynecki, Czartoryski,
Rozyski, Raminski, were choking the trump of Fame with their complicated
patronymics. These are all forgotten now; and this poor negro, who did
not even possess a name, beyond one abrupt monosyllable,--for even the
name of Turner was the master's property,--still lives, a memory of
terror, and a symbol of wild retribution.
APPENDIX OF AUTHORITIES
THE MAROONS OF JAMAICA
1. Dallas, R. C. "The History of the Maroons, from their origin to the
establishment of their chief tribe at Sierra Leone: including the
expedition to Cuba, for the purpose of procuring Spanish chasseurs; and
the state of the Island of Jamaica for the last ten years, with a
succinct history of the island previous to that period." In two volumes.
London, 1803. [8vo.]
2. Edwards, Bryan. "The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British
Colonies in the West Indies. To which is added a general description of
the Bahama Islands, by Daniel M'Kinnen, Esq." In four volumes.
Philadelphia, 1806. [8vo.]
3. Edwards, Bryan. "Proceedings of the Governor and Associates of Jamaica
in regard to the Maroon Negroes, with an account of the Maroons." London,
1796. 8vo.
4. Edwards, Bryan. "Historical Survey of St. Domingo, with an account of
the Maroon Negroes, a history of the war in the West Indies, 1793-94"
[etc.]. London, 1801. 4to.
5. _Edinburgh Review_, ii. 376. [Review of Dallas and Edwards, by Henry
Lord Brougham.]
Also Annual Register, Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, etc.
[There appeared in _Once a Week_ (1865) a paper entitled "The Maroons of
Jamaica," and reprinted in _Every Saturday_ (i. 50, Jan. 31, 1866), in
which Gov. Eyre is quoted as having said, in the London _Times_, "To the
fidelity and loyalty of the Maroons it is due that the negroes did not
commit greater devastation" in the recent insurrection; thus curiously
repeating the encomium given by Lord Balcarres seventy years before.]
* * * * *
THE MAROONS OF SURINAM
1. "Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition against the revolted negroes of
Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South America, from the year
1772 to 1777 ... by Capt. J. G. Stedman." London. Printed for J. Johnson,
St. Paul's Churchyard, and J. Edwards, Pall Mall. 1790. [2 vols. 4to.]
2. "Transatlantic Sketches, comprising visits to the most interesting
scenes in North and South America and the West Indies. With notes on
negro slavery and Canadian emigration. By Capt. J. E. Alexander, 42 Royal
Highlanders." London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington St., 1833. [2 vols.
8vo.]
Also Annual Register, etc.
[The best account of the present condition of the Maroons, or, as they
are now called, bush-negroes, of Surinam, is to be found in a graphic
narrative of a visit to Dutch Guiana, by W. G. Palgrave, in the
_Fortnightly Review_, xxiv. 801; xxv. 194, 536. These papers are
reprinted in _Littell's Living Age_, cxxviii. 154, cxxix. 409. He
estimates the present numbers of these people as approaching thirty
thousand. The "Encyclopaedia Britannica" gives the names of several
publications relating to their peculiar dialect, popularly known as
Negro-English, but including many Dutch words.]
* * * * *
GABRIEL'S DEFEAT
The materials for the history of Gabriel's revolt are still very
fragmentary, and must be sought in the contemporary newspapers. No
continuous file of Southern newspapers for the year 1800 was to be found,
when this narrative was written, in any Boston or New-York library,
though the Harvard-College Library contained a few numbers of the
Baltimore _Telegraphe_ and the Norfolk _Epitome of the Times_. My chief
reliance has therefore been the Southern correspondence of the Northern
newspapers, with the copious extracts there given from Virginian
journals. I am chiefly indebted to the Philadelphia _United-States
Gazette_, the Boston _Independent Chronicle_, the Salem _Gazette_ and
_Register_, the New-York _Daily Advertiser_, and the Connecticut
_Courant_. The best continuous narratives that I have found are in the
_Courant_ of Sept. 29, 1800, and the Salem _Gazette_ of Oct. 7, 1800; but
even these are very incomplete. Several important documents I have been
unable to discover,--the official proclamation of the governor, the
description of Gabriel's person, and the original confession of the
slaves as given to Mr. Sheppard. The discovery of these would no doubt
have enlarged, and very probably corrected, my narrative.
* * * * *
DENMARK VESEY
1. "Negro Plot. An Account of the late intended insurrection among a
portion of the blacks of the city of Charleston, S.C. Published by the
Authority of the Corporation of Charleston." Second edition. Boston:
printed and published by Joseph W. Ingraham. 1822. 8vo, pp. 50.
[A third edition was printed at Boston during the same year, a copy of
which is in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The
first and fourth editions, which were printed at Charleston, S.C., I have
never seen.]
2. "An Official Report of the trials of sundry negroes, charged with an
attempt to raise an insurrection in the State of South Carolina: preceded
by an introduction and narrative; and in an appendix, a report of the
trials of four white persons, on indictments for attempting to excite the
slaves to insurrection. Prepared and published at the request of the
court. By Lionel H. Kennedy and Thomas Parker, members of the Charleston
bar, and the presiding magistrates of the court." Charleston: printed by
James R. Schenck, 23 Broad St. 1822. 8vo, pp. 188x4.
3. "Reflections occasioned by the late disturbances in Charleston, by
Achates." Charleston: printed and sold by A. E. Miller, No. 4 Broad St.
1822. 8vo, pp. 30.
4. "A Refutation of the Calumnies circulated against the Southern and
Western States, respecting the institution and existence of slavery among
them. To which is added a minute and particular account of the actual
state and condition of their Negro Population, together with Historical
Notices of all the Insurrections that have taken place since the
settlement of the country.--Facts are stubborn things.--_Shakspeare_. By
a South Carolinian." [Edwin C. Holland.] Charleston: printed by A. E.
Miller, No. 4 Broad St. 1822. 8vo, pp. 86.
5. "Rev. Dr. Richard Furman's Exposition of the views of the Baptists
relative to the colored population in the United States, in a
communication to the Governor of South Carolina." Second edition.
Charleston: printed by A. E. Miller, No. 4 Broad St. 1833. 8vo, pp. 16.
[The first edition appeared in 1823. It relates to a petition offered by
a Baptist Convention for a day of thanksgiving and humiliation, in
reference to the insurrection, and to a violent hurricane which had just
occurred.]
6. "Practical Considerations, founded on the Scriptures, relative to the
Slave Population of South Carolina. Respectfully dedicated to the South
Carolina Association. By a South Carolinian." Charleston: printed and
sold by A. E. Miller, No. 4 Broad St. 1823. 8vo, pp. 38.
7. [The letter of Gov. Bennett, dated Aug. 10, 1822, was evidently
printed originally as a pamphlet or circular, though I have not been able
to find it in that form. It may be found reprinted in the _Columbian
Centinel_ (Aug. 31, 1822), _Connecticut Courant_ (Sept. 3), and Worcester
_Spy_ (Sept. 18). It is also printed in Lundy's _Genius of Universal
Emancipation_ for September, 1822 (ii. 42), and reviewed in subsequent
numbers (pp. 81, 131, 142).]
8. "The Liberty Bell, by Friends of Freedom. Boston: Anti-Slavery Bazaar.
1841. 12mo." [This contains an article on p. 158, entitled "Servile
Insurrections," by Edmund Jackson, including brief personal reminiscences
of the Charleston insurrection, during which he resided in that city.]
[Of the above-named pamphlets, all now rare, Nos. 1 and 2 are in my own
possession. Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, are in the Wendell Phillips collection of
pamphlets in the Boston Public Library.]
* * * * *
NAT TURNER'S INSURRECTION
1. "The Confessions of Nat Turner, the leader of the late Insurrection in
Southampton, Va., as fully and voluntarily made to Thomas R. Gray, in the
prison where he was confined, and acknowledged by him to be such when
read before the Court of Southampton, with the certificate under seal of
the court convened at Jerusalem, Nov. 5, 1831, for this trial. Also an
authentic account of the whole insurrection, with lists of the whites who
were murdered, and of the negroes brought before the Court of
Southampton, and there sentenced, etc." New York: printed and published
by C. Brown, 211 Water Street, 1831.
[This pamphlet was reprinted in the _Anglo-African Magazine_ (New York),
December, 1859. Whether it is identical with the work said by the
newspapers of the period to have been published at Baltimore, I have been
unable to ascertain. But if, as was alleged, forty thousand copies of the
Baltimore pamphlet were issued, it seems impossible that they should have
become so scarce. The first reprint of the Confession, so far as I know,
was a partial one in Abdy's "Journal in the United States." London. 1835.
3 vols. 8vo.]
2. "Authentic and Impartial Narrative of the Tragical Scene which was
witnessed in Southhampton County (Va.), on Monday, the 22d of August
last, when Fifty-five of its inhabitants (mostly women and children) were
inhumanly massacred by the blacks! Communicated by those who were
eye-witnesses of the bloody scene, and confirmed by the confessions of
several of the Blacks, while under Sentence of Death." [By Samuel Warner,
New York.] Printed for Warner & West. 1831. 12mo, pp. 36 [or more, copy
incomplete. With a frontispiece]. Among the Wendell Phillips tracts in
the Boston Public Library.
3. "Slave Insurrection in 1831, in Southampton County, Va., headed by Nat
Turner. Also a conspiracy of slaves in Charleston, S.C., in 1822." New
York: compiled and published by Henry Bibb, 9 Spruce St. 1849. 12mo, pp.
12.
[The contemporary newspaper narratives may be found largely quoted in the
first volume of the _Liberator_ (1831), and in Lundy's _Genius of
Universal Emancipation_ (September, 1831). The files of the Richmond
_Enquirer_ have also much information on the subject.]
End of Project Gutenberg's Black Rebellion, by Thomas Wentworth Higginson