“nothing could be done without fire.” (p.59)
Stars: 4/5
The Denmark Vesey story is a remarkable one; in today’s context it would be a crime drama. Nine years before Nat Turner’s bloody slave insurrection, Denmark Vesey, a free man, was the mastermind behind what would unfold to be the largest slave rebellion in South Carolina’s history. The major difference between the insurrections of Vesey and Turner is the latter actually took place; Vesey’s plan was never carried out. The lack of physical evidence makes the whole ordeal a little suspicious. Robertson and other historians point to the political aspirations of one individual, James Hamilton, Jr., Charleston’s Intendant, as the reason behind Vesey’s demise:
“Bennett and his brother-in-law were both of the opinion that Hamilton had exaggerated the seriousness of the rumoured slave revolt.” (p.91)
“The ‘plot’ was probably never more than loose talk by aggrieved and bitter men.” - Richard C. Wade (p. 94)
The summer of 1822 was Charleston’s darkest hour. The arrest, trial and execution of Denmark Vesey and some 30-plus co-conspirators was an overt display of superiority to slaves and black freemen alike, eradicating any thought of future rebellion; and to the frightened white people of Charleston that, “there were to be no more Denmark Veseys.” (p.122)
video source: excerpt from Africans in America: Brotherly Love (1791-1831)
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