Historical Marker for 1739 Stono Rebellion
The events that set the history-making revolt into motion
Updated
April 08, 2016.
The Stono Rebellion was the largest rebellion mounted by slaves against slave owners in colonial America.
The Stono Rebellion's location took place near the Stono River in South
Carolina. The details of the 1739 event are uncertain, as documentation
for the incident comes from only one firsthand report and several
secondhand reports. White Carolinians wrote these records, and
historians have had to reconstruct the causes of the Stono River
Rebellion and the motives of the slaves participating from biased
descriptions.
The Rebellion
On Sept. 9,
1739, early on a Sunday morning, about 20 slaves gathered at a spot near
the Stono River. They had pre-planned their rebellion for this day.
Stopping first at a firearms shop, they killed the owner and supplied
themselves with guns.
Now well-armed, the group then marched down a
main road in St. Paul's Parish, located nearly 20 miles from
Charlestown (today Charleston). Bearing signs reading "Liberty," beating
drums and singing, the group headed south for Florida.
Who led the group is unclear; it might have been a slave named Cato or Jemmy.
The
band of rebels hit a series of businesses and homes, recruiting more
slaves and killing the masters and their families. They burned the
houses as they went. The original rebels may have forced some of their
recruits to join the rebellion. The men allowed the innkeeper at
Wallace's Tavern to live because he was known to treat his slaves with
more kindness than other slaveholders.
The End of the Rebellion
After
journeying for about 10 miles, the group of roughly 60 to 100 people
rested, and the militia found them. A firefight ensued, and some of the
rebels escaped. The militia rounded up the escapees, decapitating them
and setting their heads on posts as a lesson to other slaves. The tally
of the dead was 21 whites and 44 slaves killed. South Carolinians spared
the lives of slaves they believed were forced to participate against
their will by the original band of rebels.
Causes
The rebelling slaves were headed for Florida. Great Britain and Spain were at war (the War of Jenkin's Ear),
and Spain, hoping to cause problems for Britain, promised freedom and
land to any British colonial slaves who made their way to Florida.
Reports in local newspapers
of impending legislation may have also prompted the rebellion. South
Carolinians were contemplating passing the Security Act, which would
have required all white men to take their firearms with them to church
on Sunday, presumably in case unrest among a group of slaves broke out.
Sunday had been traditionally a day when the slave owners set aside
their weapons for church attendance and allowed their slaves to work for
themselves.
The Negro Act
The rebels fought well, which, as historian John K. Thornton speculates, may have been because they had a military background
in their homeland. The areas of Africa where they had been sold into
slavery were experiencing intense civil wars, and a number of
ex-soldiers found themselves enslaved after surrendering to their
enemies.
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