The Stono Rebellion: The Atlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic Slave Trade lasted some 300 years and with it brought about 12.5 million slaves out of Africa. Out of that 12.5 million, about 10.7 million were shipped to the Americas. Although there were only about 6 percent of African captives who were sent directly to British North America, by 1825, the United States already had a quarter of blacks in the New World (Gilder Lehrman Institute). Revolts almost always ended in casualties or torture carried out by the ship crew. (Marcum and Skarbek, 2014). The Middle Passage was its own form of torture. The conditions on the boats were almost unlivable, with the slaves packed closely together and kept naked. On each trip, about 12% of the slaves who embarked did not survive (Gilder Lehrman Institute).
On September 9, 1739, a man called Jemmy led 20 slaves—many of whom held prior experience with combat and weaponry—in a gathering at Stono River. They raided a warehouse store called Hutchenson’s. They beheaded the white owners of the store and left their bloody heads in front of the store for everyone to see. Jemmy led them through the neighborhood where they targeted homes, killing the people inside and burning the structures. Their destination was St. Augustine, Florida, where they would be free under Spanish law
It was the beginning of 1741 and Fort George in New York had burned down. Fires began erupting in other places throughout the city, four in one day, and then in New Jersey and Long Island. It was rumored by several white people that they had heard the slaves bragging about the fires and what they had planned next. It was concluded that black gangs and secret societies were planning a revolt (Gates).
Although it is still a mystery who these conspiracy groups were, there have been several theories as to where they originated. Henry Louis Gates Jr. writes in his PBS article titled, “Did African-American Slaves Rebel”, “Among [groups that might have led a resistance were] the Papa, from the Slave Coast near Whydah (Ouidah) in Benin; the Igbo, from the area around the Niger River; and the Malagasy, from Madagascar.” He identifies another suspect group as the Cuba People. These were negroes and mulattoes who had been captured in the spring of 1740 from Cuba. Most likely, they had been exported to New York from Havana, home to free black people. Their motive would have been clear: having been free men all their lives, they wanted to get back at the Americans for enslaving them