The Stono Rebellion

Words: 1069
Pages: 5

A cumulative effect produced when one event sets off a chain of similar events: the Domino Effect (Domino Effect). One thought, one action, one feeling, one emotion could possibly change a certain course of events. One slave who was disgusted with the status quo. The iconic Angolan slave in history who was exhausted and outraged with the brutal regime. Jemmy, also referred to as Cato, unaware that this one revolt could subsequently alter the lives of thousands of slaves to come. As the largest slave revolt in colonial America, The Stono Rebellion changed history. A much feared event arose on Sunday morning in the new Autumn season. September 9, 1739, the beginning of what was thought to be a successful harvest season for many plantation …show more content…
“Written by an unidentified white official, the account begins with a summary of Spain’s proclamation of protection and freedom to slaves in the British colonies, then proceeds to relate the events of the uprising…’Colonel Bull, Lieutenant Governour of South Carolina, who was then riding along the Road, discovered them, was pursued, and with much difficulty escaped & raised the Country’” (Another Point of View). After the stunning encounter with the rebels, the governor was pursued by the impassioned and heated slaves. He then rode to sound the alarm to surrounding whites in the area. After marching over ten miles, the exhausted slaves had settled in a large field that afternoon, just before approaching the Edisto River. By this time the slaves had been responsible for over 20 whites. “Around four in the afternoon, somewhere between twenty and 100 whites had set out in armed pursuit. When they approached the rebels, the slaves fired two shots. The whites returned fire, bringing down fourteen of the slaves. By dusk, about thirty slaves were dead and at least thirty had escaped. Most were captured over the next month, then executed; the rest were captured over the following six months -- all except one who remained a fugitive for three years” (The Stono Rebellion). The majority of the slaves that were involved in the rebellion were decapitated, having their heads impaled by poles and placing them along what is now US 17. This was a warning and a threat to whomever tried to resist the hold of their white possessors. Those who weren’t executed escaped into swamps that were quite abundant in that particular