Stono Rebellion Research Paper

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The Stono Rebellion demonstrates a challenge to the system of slavery in the south as it was the largest slave uprising lasting only for a short amount of days. Sadly, about 20 whites and 40 slaves were killed during this rebellion. This rebellion took place in South Carolina and was led by an Angolan slave named Jemmy. The slaves marched together for 10 miles burning buildings or houses, killing those who belittled them. This rebellion caused a distrust among slaves and their slave owner, and much harsher conditions were added to the slaves along with many restrictions. There are multiple theories about why the stono rebellion happen, Edward A. Pearson believes it was the ignorance of gender roles while Peter Woods believe it was inevitable. John K. Thornton attributes the cause of the rebellion to the African military background of the slaves. For the …show more content…
Since there was such a large amount of slaves, the colonist had to take drastic measures in order to ensure their power over the slaves, by mistreating the slaves. The slaves knowledge to fight so aggressively during the rebellion hints that these slaves were part of a previous war before their arrival to South Carolina. The majority of these slaves that were imported came from the kingdom of Kongo which consisted of multiple lengthy civil wars, inevitably leading “..in the capture and sale of many people, no small number of whom would have been soldiers with military” (Thornton 47). This explains how the slaves were able to handle weapons so efficiently during the stono rebellion. The rebels also marched down under banners, used drums to encourage the rebels to fight and danced, similar actions that the African armies do.(Thornton 49). This concludes that having a history of military training and being exposed to violent conditions, contributes to how the slaves were able to carry the rebellion so
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Stono Rebellion Research Paper

Another factor that was very influential in starting the Stono rebellion was Spain’s offer of freedom for any slaves who made it to Florida. Spain offered freedom and land to any slave that could escape to saint Augustine from the British colonies. This was Spain’s attempt to destabilize the British colonies. In many ways this was successful because once African American slaves heard the story of Fort Mose, which was a free black colonization in Spanish Florida, they began to runaway in attempt to…

Words 465 - Pages 2