Gabriel Prosser :: essays research papers

The sky flushed as they put him in the cart,and suddenly Gabriel thought of others, the ones who wereto follow him, the ones who waited in their cells because ofhis leadership, these and others, others, and still others, aworld of others who were to follow( Gabriels Rebellion).Gabriel Prosser was a slave leader who in 1800 proposed aplan to liberate slaves. Gabriel drew up a plan to free hisfellow slaves in Richmond, Virginia and the surroundingcountryside. Gabriel was a blacksmith, working inBrookfield and in Richmond, who had learned to read andwrite. He was inspired by the declarations of freedom duringthe Revolutionary War. During the late spring and earlysummer of 1800 he made a plan of revolt and had hundredsof followers to back him up, including his two brothers,Martin and Solomon. His plan called for a band of armedslaves, mainly black and white laborers and artisans, to enterRichmond, Virginia and burn down the business district, takethe governor as hostage and seize som e(prenominal) arms they could.Then the black slaves would win there freedom. However,on August 13, 1800, the day planned for the revolt, anunusually violent storm broke stunned, washing out bridges androads and stopping all travel. They could not reachRichmond. Also, slaves Tom and Pharoah informed theremaster. He brought the news to the governor, JamesMonroe, who had a guard lay at every marked spot forattack, called out state militia, and ordered a series ofarrests. By September fifteenth, ten people included in theopen revolt were hanged. Gabriel was captured onSeptember twenty fourth and hanged on October seventh,his execution having been delayed twice in hopes that hewould make a confession. In all thirty six people were caughtand hanged. Many other uprisings followed this one.Although, the carefully planned uprising never took place itleft fear in the wagon of whites and pride in the hearts ofblacks. As a result of Gabriels uprising whites who hadpreviously spoken on behalf of the slaves found themselvessilenced in the stop number South. White Southerners whofavored the colonization of blacks, sending them to Africa,received more widespread support. The plot revealed therisks that blacks were prepared to take to have their