Stono Rebellion

The Stono Rebellion was an uprising of enslaved people that began on Sunday, September 9, 1739, near the Stono River in South Carolina, close to Charleston. It is described as the largest slave revolt in the British colonies of North America. It was put down the next day.

The uprising

The revolt was led by an enslaved man named Cato, also called Jemmy. He is described as educated, and he may have been a soldier in the Kingdom of Kongo before he was captured and sold. About 20 people began the march, and a contemporary white account says the group grew to "above Sixty, some say a hundred" as others joined.

The group raided a warehouse at Stono, killed two white men there and took guns and powder. They burned a nearby house, then marched south along the Pons Pons road toward Spanish Florida, roughly 150 miles away, where escaped slaves could gain freedom. The likely destination was Fort Mose near St. Augustine.

Armed planters and militia caught up with them in a field. They attacked on foot and broke the group apart. Many were shot on the spot, and survivors were executed later.

Casualties

Accounts disagree. A contemporary white account puts the dead at about 40 enslaved people and 20 white people. The usual modern count is 47 enslaved people and 23 to 28 white people, and some historians think that is too low. Cato's fate is unknown. He was likely killed in the militia attack, but he may have escaped to Florida.

The Negro Act of 1740

South Carolina answered with the Negro Act of 1740, which tightened control over enslaved people. It restricted their education and their right to assemble, barred them from tending their own gardens, and ended private manumission, so freeing an enslaved person required approval from the legislature. It also contained rules against overwork and excessive beatings, but these were effectively unenforceable because the testimony of enslaved people was not admitted in court.

Governor Oglethorpe of Georgia ordered rangers to patrol and offered rewards for captured enslaved people. South Carolina reportedly closed its ports to slave ships for ten years, blaming the revolt on people recently arrived from Africa.

Legacy

Stono is often linked to later acts of resistance, including Gabriel's Rebellion (1800), the German Coast Uprising (1811), Denmark Vesey's conspiracy (1822) and Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831). Today the site is a National Historic Landmark.

References

1. Stono Rebellion, World History Encyclopedia.
2. Stono Rebellion National Historic Landmark record, National Park Service.