The revolt’s most favored slaves often led it against their masters

Evidence

One account lamented that it was the slaves “which had been most kindly treated by their masters” that were “the soul of the Insurrection.” “It was they who betrayed and delivered their human masters to the assassins’ sword: it was they who seduced and stirred up to revolt the gangs disposed to fidelity.” It was a “heart-breaking discovery” to the planters, who would see nothing but despair in the future were it not for certain acts of “invinci-ble fidelity” by certain slaves. Such loyal slaves had received their liberty in thanks, but—and this was crucial—this liberty was “the gift of their masters.” Seeking to hold onto a world that was burning all around them, white masters sought relief in stories of fidelity that provided the consoling mirage that their world could once again be as it had been. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 385

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors the pattern seen in Spartacus and other slave revolts where household/trusted slaves led uprisings; connects to comparative slave-rebellion historiography.