Black Rebellion: Five Slave Revolts - Softcover

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0306808676 ISBN 13: 9780306808678

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 1998

Synopsis

Black Rebellion, a fascinating account of five slave insurrections, among them the story of the Maroons, escaped slaves in the West Indies and South America who successfully resisted larger British armies while living an independent existence for generations in the mountains and jungles of Jamaica and Surinam; of Gabriel Prosser, who recruited about 1,000 fellow slaves in 1800 to launch a rebellion throughout Virginia; of Denmark Vesey, an ex-slave, seaman, and artisan, fluent in several languages, who conspired in 1822 to kill the white citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, and take over the city; and of the revolutionary mystic Nat Turner, who in 1831 organized and led the most successful and dramatic slave revolt in North America. The author also describes how whites responded with panic, sweeping arrests, mass executions, and more repressive laws in a futile effort to crush the slaves' insatiable desire to be free.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Fired with an abolitionist's passion, these five true accounts of slave uprisings in Latin America and the United States are among the best writings we have of the struggle to end slavery in the Western hemisphere.

Written by a dedicated antislavery crusader and first published in the Atlantic Monthly in the 1850s and 1860s, these highly readable essays combine in-depth research with assured, absorbing prose to tell fascinating and important stories: of black warrior societies of the "Maroons," descendents of escaped slaves who lived in the jungles of the West Indies and South America; of Gabriel, whose dedication to throwing off the shackles of oppression turned him into a figure with an almost mystical aura; and Nat Turner's furious insurrection; and more.

About the Author:

Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823–1911) was a militant abolitionist, member of the Underground Railroad, outspoken financial backer of John Brown's raid, commander of the first regiment of freed slaves to fight in the Civil War, Emily Dickinson's friend and editor, and one of the best American essayists of the nineteenth century.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0306808676
• ISBN 13: 9780306808678
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240