Fifty documented slave conspiracies occurred in the mainland colonies alone

Evidence

Even so, these efforts proved insufficient. In the colonial era alone, fifty documented conspiracies against slavery were identified in the mainland British colonies and nearly fifty more in the British Caribbean. On April 6, 1712, for example, approximately two dozen enslaved men and women gathered in New York City in the early morning hours. Armed with guns, axes, clubs, and knives, they set a building ablaze, hoping to inspire panic. When unsuspecting white people arrived to douse the flames, the rebels ambushed them, killing nine and wounding seven others. The rebellion was quickly quashed. Twenty-one people were executed: some were burned at the stake, while others were hanged in chains or had their necks snapped. One rebel was strapped to a large stone wheel, each of his bones broken with a wooden mallet while he screamed in agony, and then he was left to die painfully. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 354

Categorization

• SHARE: The 1712 New York rebellion and its execution-by-wheel detail is perfect for a friend interested in early American slave resistance.