Gabriel's Conspiracy
1799 - 1800
Gabriel was born in 1776, on Thomas Prosser's tobacco plantation in Henrico
County, Virginia. When he was about ten, Gabriel and his brother Solomon began
training as blacksmiths. Although almost nothing is known about Gabriel's
parents, it is likely that his father was a blacksmith, because skills were
typically passed from generation to generation in Virginia slave families. As a
child, Gabriel was also taught to read and write.
Gabriel was unusually intelligent, and unusually large; by the age of 20 he was
six feet, two or three inches tall, and was enormously strong from his years of
smithing. Even older slaves saw him as a leader.
Prosser died in 1798, and his son Thomas Henry Prosser, at the age of 22, became
the new master of the Brookfield Plantation. Thomas Henry was a cruel and
economically ambitious master, and it is likely that he pushed his slaves too
hard. He also hired out some of his skilled slaves, including Gabriel and
Solomon, a practice that was common in Virginia at the time -- and one that
allowed slaves more freedom than some Virginians were comfortable with. Although
the state legislature made laws attempting to curtail hiring out, they were not
enforced, largely because local merchants and artisans relied heavily on the
cheap labor that they could get from hiring slaves, as opposed to white
tradesmen.
Thomas Henry allowed Gabriel to hire himself out to masters in and around
Richmond, giving him access to a certain amount of freedom, as well as money.
Gabriel also met fellow hired slaves, free blacks, and white laborers, with whom
he shared work and leisure time.
Many free blacks, though they faced overwhelming discrimination, managed to
prosper as small business owners in the Richmond economy. Even more threatening
to city authorities were the bonds that were formed among slaves, free blacks
and working class whites, who worked and socialized together, especially in a
city in which whites, and especially wealthy whites, were in the minority. Laws
were passed curtailing socializing between slaves and free blacks, and
interracial grog shops were raided.
Gabriel experienced several strong influences: the rhetoric of the American
Revolution; the uprising in Saint Domingue, the radical words of white artisans
who championed the working class; the success exhibited by free blacks; his own
hatred of the merchants who routinely cheated the slaves they hired; his desire
to be free and to prosper. He was moving toward a revolutionary stance that
Solomon described in his court confession: "My brother Gabriel was the person
who influenced me to join him and others in order that (as he said) we might
conquer the white people and possess ourselves of their property."
In September of 1799, Gabriel, Solomon, and a fellow slave named Jupiter stole a
pig. When caught by white overseer Absalom Johnson, Gabriel wrestled him to the
ground and bit off most of his ear. In court, he was found guilty of maiming a
white man, a capital offense, but Gabriel escaped execution through a loophole
called "benefit of clergy," that allowed him to choose public branding over
execution, if he could recite a verse from the Bible. Gabriel recited his verse,
and then was branded in his left hand in open court. The branding, as well as
the month he spent in jail, was the last in a long chain of offenses that pushed
him toward open rebellion.
Inspired by Saint Domingue and spurred on by working-class talk of a truly
egalitarian society, Gabriel decided it was time to act. He believed that if the
slaves rose and fought for their rights, the poor white people would join them.
His plan involved seizing Capitol Square in Richmond and taking Governor James
Monroe as a hostage, in order to bargain with city authorities. According to
later testimony, one of the conspirators also "was to go to the nation of
Indians called Catawbas to persuade them to join the negroes to fight the white
people." It was also believed that a French "army was landed at South Key, which
they hoped would assist them." Their banner would bear the motto "death or
Liberty," the battle cry of Saint Domingue.
Gabriel conveyed his plan to Solomon and Ben, another of Prosser's slaves, and
the men began recruiting soldiers. They were later joined by other recruiters,
most notably Jack Ditcher and Ben Woolfolk. The rebels did not include women in
their army. While the majority of the men were slaves, the conspirators also
drew free blacks and a few white workers to their cause, especially as they
began recruiting in Richmond. Two Frenchmen and militant abolitionists, Charles
Quersey and Alexander Beddenhurst, joined the ranks as leaders. A slave recruit
named King, when told of the plot, said, "I was never so glad to hear anything
in my life. I am ready to join them at any moment. I could slay the white people
like sheep."
The conspirators continued recruiting from Richmond and other Virginia towns,
including Petersburg, Norfolk and Albemarle, and from the counties of Caroline
and Louisa. After some difficulty, they were also successful in recruiting
slaves from the Henrico County countryside. In this way they were preparing for
the most far-reaching slave revolt ever planned in U.S. history. They also
amassed weapons and began hammering swords out of scythes and molding bullets.
By August of 1800, Gabriel's army was ready. Their plan, necessarily more
elaborate now, included the taking of Norfolk and Petersburg by the men living
there. Gabriel announced that they would move on the night of Saturday, August
30. As the lieutenants delivered news of the date to the outlying areas, a rumor
of insurrection surfaced among Richmond whites, who reported it to Governor
Monroe, who ignored it.
On August 30, a torrential rain began, described by James Callender, a person in
jail for violating the sedition law, as "the most terrible thunder Storm... that
I ever witnessed in this State." A handful of men gathered at the appointed
meeting spot, but it soon became clear that the quickly rising water would make
key roads and bridges impassable.
The conspirators decided to postpone until Sunday evening, August 31. But before
they had a chance to carry out their plan, slaves in two different locations
cracked under the pressure and told their masters. Soon Governor Monroe was
alerted, and white patrols, later joined by the state militia, began roaming the
countryside searching for rebels. Gabriel and Jack Ditcher disappeared. Others
eluded capture for several days, but by September 9, almost 30 slaves were in
jail awaiting trial in the court of "Oyer and Terminer," a special court in
which slaves were tried without benefit of jury.
When the trials began on September 11, Gabriel and Ditcher were still at large,
and white authorities had no idea of how extensive the insurrection had been.
But white Virginians were terrified at the thought of how close the danger had
come. One white fear, typical in times of black rebellion, was that black men
were out to get white women.
One strategy that the white authorities used was to offer a full pardon to a
handful of slaves who were willing to give testimony against the other
conspirators. Gervas Storrs and Joseph Seldon, two of the court magistrates,
found two key witnesses in this way: Ben, one of Prosser's slaves, and Ben
Woolfolk. Prosser's Ben came forward first, and his testimony sent a number of
slaves from his area to the gallows, including Gabriel's brothers Solomon and
Martin. But Prosser's Ben did not have enough contact with slaves from the
outlying areas, and so the court looked to Ben Woolfolk to give the damning
evidence. Other slaves provided further testimony.
On September 14, Gabriel swam to a schooner called Mary on the James
River. He asked to see the captain, a white man named Richardson Taylor. Two
black men on board, Taylor's former slave Isham and a slave named Billy,
identified Gabriel as the leader of the plot. Though a former overseer, Taylor
had apparently had a change of heart about slavery. He attempted to take Gabriel
to freedom. However, when the ship docked in Norfolk, Billy alerted white
authorities to Gabriel's presence on board, no doubt thinking of the $300 reward
being offered for Gabriel's capture. Gabriel and Taylor were both arrested.
Billy was rewarded, but not what he had expected. He received $50, far below
what he needed to purchase his freedom.
On October 6, Gabriel was put on trial. Several witnesses came forward, but
Gabriel himself refused to make a statement. He was sentenced to be executed the
next day, but asked that his sentence not be carried out until October 10, so
that he could be executed along with six other slaves who were to hang on that
day. The court agreed, but on October 10 they hanged the slaves in three
different locations; Gabriel was hanged alone on the town gallows.
In all, the trials lasted almost two months, and 26 slaves were executed by
hanging; one more died by hanging while in custody. At least 65 slaves were
tried; of those not hanged, some were transported to other states, some were
found not guilty, and a few were pardoned. By law, slaveholders had to be
reimbursed by the state for lost property, so in cases where slaves were
executed or transported, their masters were reimbursed for their total worth
declared by the court. Virginia paid over $8900 to slaveholders for the executed
slaves.
Although most of the suspects were tried in Richmond, blacks captured in other
counties were tried in those locations. Many of them shared the same fates as
the Richmond slaves. However, in Hanover County, two slaves escaped with the
help of blacks outside the prison and were never recovered. In Norfolk County,
the magistrates questioned slaves and working-class whites alike, trying to find
witnesses. But no one, including the accused slaves, would come forward with
evidence, and the slaves were released. In Petersburg, four free blacks were
arrested, but they too were released after the frustrated authorities could find
no viable witnesses. There were slaves willing to give condemning evidence, but
the testimony of slaves against free people was inadmissible in Virginia courts.
Confession of Solomon
Solomon, Gabriel's brother and a leader in the unsuccessful rebellion of
1800, was one of nearly 30 slaves captured near Brookfield Plantation and
imprisoned in Richmond in the week following discovery of the conspiracy.
With Gabriel and other leaders still at large, Solomon was the first to be
tried. On September 11, 1800, he was convicted on the basis of testimony offered
by Pharoah and by Ben, a young Prosser slave who become involved early in the
conspiracy.
In his confession, recorded by court magistrates Gervas Storrs and Joseph Seldon,
Solomon described the plan "conquer the white people and possess ourselves of
their property." Solomon's testimony gave indication of how ambitious the plan
was: "Gabriel informed me, in case of success, that they intended to subdue the
whole of the country where slavery was permitted, but no further."
Solomon was found guilty of conspiracy and insurrection and sentenced to be
hanged the following morning.
CONFESSION OF SOLOMON.
Communications made to the subscribers by Solomon, the property of Thomas H. Prosser, of Henrico, now under sentence of death for plotting an insurrection.
My brother Gabriel was the person who influenced me to join him and others in order that (as he said) we might conquer the white people and possess ourselves of their property. I enquired how we were to effect it. He said by falling upon them (the whites) in the dead of night, at which time they would be unguarded and unsuspicious. I then enquired who was at the head of the plan. He said Jack, alias Jack Bowler. I asked him if Jack Bowler knew anything about carrying on war. He replied he did not. I then enquired who he was going to employ. He said a man from Caroline who was at the siege of Yorktown, and who was to meet him (Gabriel) at the Brook and to proceed on to Richmond, take, and then fortify it. This man from Caroline was to be commander and manager the first day, and then, after exercising the soldiers, the command was to be resigned to Gabriel- If Richmond was taken without the loss of many men they were to continue there some time, but if they sustained any considerable loss they were to bend their course for Hanover Town or York, they were not decided to which, and continue at that place as long as they found they were able to defend it, but in the event of a defeat or loss at those places they were to endeavor to form a junction with some negroes which, they had understood from Mr. Gregory's overseer, were in rebellion in some quarter of the country. This information which they had gotten from the overseer, made Gabriel anxious, upon which he applied to me to make scythe-swords, which I did to the number of twelve. Every Sunday he came to Richmond to provide ammunition and to . find where the military stores were deposited. Gabriel informed me, in case of success that they intended to subdue the whole of the country where slavery was permitted, but no further.
The first places Gabriel intended to attack in Richmond were, the Capitol, the Magazine, the Penitentiary, the Governor's house and his person. The inhabitants were to be massacred, save those who begged for quarter and agreed to serve as soldiers with them. The reason why the insurrection was to be made at this particular time was, the discharge of the number of soldiers, one or two months ago, which induced Gabriel to believe the plan would be more easily executed.
Given under our hands this '5th day of September, 1800.
GERVAS STORRS,
JOSEPH SELDEN.
H.W. Flournoy, ed.,Calender of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts from January 1, 1799, to December 31, 1807; preserved in the Capitol at Richmond, 11 volumes (Richmond, 1890)
Rebel's statement from Gabriel's Conspiracy
9th Month, 25th. I pursued my way to Richmond in the mail stage, through a beautiful country, but clouded and debased by Negro slavery. At the house here I breakfasted, which is called the Bowling-green, I was told that the owner had in his passession [sic] 200 slaves. In one field near the house, planted with tobacco, I counted nearly 20 women and children, employed in picking grubs from the plant. In the afternoon I passed by a field in which several poor slaves had lately been executed, on the charge of having an intention to rise against their masters. A lawyer who was present at their trials at Richmond, informed me that on one of them being asked, what he had to say to the court on his defence, he replied, in a manly tone of voice: "I have nothing more to offer than what General Washington would have had to offer, had he been taken by the British and put to trial by them. I have adventured my life in endeavouring to obtain the liberty of my countrymen, and am a willing sacrifice in their cause: and I beg, as a favour, that I may be immediately led to execution. I know that you have pre-determined to shed my blood, why then all this mockery of a trial?"
Travels in some parts of North America in the years 1804, 1805, & 1806, by Robert Sutcliff, published by B. & T. Kite, Philadelphia, 1812