Samba rebellion

Last updated

The Samba rebellion was a purported slave rebellion, described by the French historian Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz in his Histoire de la Louisiane. The revolt is said to have taken place in 1731, in what was then French Louisiana. Contemporary with the Natchez revolt, it was personified to its alleged leader, an enslaved man called "Samba Bambara" (a member of the Bambara people from West Africa). [1] While Le Page du Pratz gives a brief recollection of the events, which was more a conspiracy to revolt rather than an actual revolt, his information is not verified by any existent official documents. [2]

The African-born [3] Samba is reported to have participated in a number of revolts after being enslaved in Africa and during transit to Louisiana. He is also presented by Le Page du Pratz as having served the French as an interpreter and a slave overseer. The insurrection was due to take place in June 1731, but is said to have been revealed to the colonial authorities after an argument between an enslaved woman and a drunken French marine. Le Page du Pratz claimed to have participated in arresting the conspirators. While Samba refused to reveal any information even under torture, eight other slaves did confess to the conspiracy. The accused were publicly executed on the Place d'Armes, Jackson Square in New Orleans, on the orders of Gov. Étienne Perier. The sole woman involved was hanged, while the men were killed by use of a breaking wheel. [2] [4]

In 1936, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's magazine The Crisis published an article claiming that the Samba planned to kill all the whites and to keep enslaved non-Bambara Africans. [5] Later scholarship has questioned the details about the revolt, including whether Samba had participated in prior uprisings and if the Bambara were as homogenous of a group as the contemporary reports implied. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slave rebellion</span> Armed uprising by slaves

A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream of successful rebellion is often the greatest object of song, art, and culture amongst the enslaved population. These events, however, are often violently opposed and suppressed by slaveholders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Domingue</span> French colony on the isle of Hispaniola (1659–1804); present-day Haiti

Saint-Domingue was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1697 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer specifically to the Spanish-held Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, now the Dominican Republic. The borders between the two were fluid and changed over time until they were finally solidified in the Dominican War of Independence in 1844.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in the colonial history of the United States</span>

Slavery in the colonial history of the United States refers to the institution of slavery that existed in the European colonies in North America which eventually became part of the United States of America. Slavery developed due to a combination of factors, primarily the labor demands for establishing and maintaining European colonies, which had resulted in the Atlantic slave trade. Slavery existed in every European colony in the Americas during the early modern period, and both Africans and indigenous peoples were targets of enslavement by European colonists during the era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriel's Rebellion</span> Slave rebellion in Virginia, United States (1800)

Gabriel's Rebellion was a planned slave rebellion in the Richmond, Virginia, area in the summer of 1800. Information regarding the revolt was leaked before its execution, and Gabriel, an enslaved blacksmith who planned the event, and twenty-five of his followers were hanged.

The Stono Rebellion was a slave revolt that began on 9 September 1739, in the colony of South Carolina. It was the largest slave rebellion in the Southern Colonial era, with 25 colonists and 35 to 50 African slaves killed. The uprising's leaders were likely from the Central African Kingdom of Kongo, as they were Catholic and some spoke Portuguese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denmark Vesey</span> African–American anti-slavery leader (1767–1822)

Denmark Vesey was a free Black man and community leader in Charleston, South Carolina, who was accused and convicted of planning a major slave revolt in 1822. Although the alleged plot was discovered before it could be realized, its potential scale stoked the fears of the antebellum planter class that led to increased restrictions on both enslaved and free African Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Étienne Perier (governor)</span> Colonial governor of French Louisiana (1727-1733)

Étienne Perier or Étienne de Perier (1686–1766), also known as Perier the Elder, was a French naval officer and governor of French Louisiana from 1726 to 1733. His time as governor included some notable achievements, including the construction of the first levee along the Mississippi River in 1727. In response to the Natchez Revolt, he attempted to completely destroy the Natchez people, which increased Native American hostility toward the French in the territory. Because he failed to secure the safety of the colony, Perier was recalled as governor in March 1733. He later distinguished himself as a naval officer and privateer, including during the capture of HMS Northumberland in 1744.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Slave Revolt of 1712</span> Slave rebellion in New York City

The New York Slave Revolt of 1712 was an uprising in New York City, in the Province of New York, of 23 Black slaves. They killed nine whites and injured another six before they were stopped. More than 70 black people were arrested and jailed. Of these, 27 were put on trial, and 21 convicted and executed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nat Turner's Rebellion</span> 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia, US

Nat Turner's Rebellion, historically known as the Southampton Insurrection, was a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831. Led by Nat Turner, the rebels, made up of enslaved African Americans, killed between 55 and 65 white people, making it the deadliest slave revolt for the latter racial group in U.S. history. The rebellion was effectively suppressed within a few days, at Belmont Plantation on the morning of August 23, but Turner survived in hiding for more than 30 days afterward.

Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz (1695?–1775) was a French ethnographer, historian, and naturalist who is best known for his Histoire de la Louisiane. It was first published in twelve installments from 1751 to 1753 in the Journal Economique, then completely in three volumes in Paris in 1758. After their victory in the Seven Years' War, the British published part of it in translation in 1763. It has never been fully translated into English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1811 German Coast uprising</span> Slave rebellion in the Territory of Orleans (present-day Louisiana), United States

The 1811 German Coast uprising was a slave rebellion which occurred in the Territory of Orleans from January 8–10, 1811. It occurred on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the modern-day Louisiana parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and Jefferson. The rebellion was the largest of its kind in the history of the United States, but the rebels only killed two white men. Confrontations with U.S. military personnel and local militiamen who were sent to suppress the rebellion, combined with post-trial executions, resulted in the deaths of 95 rebels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invisible churches</span>

Invisible churches among enslaved African Americans in the United States were informal Christian groups where enslaved people listened to preachers that they chose without their slaveholder's knowledge. The Invisible churches taught a different message from white-controlled churches and did not emphasize obedience to slave masters. Some slaves could not contact invisible churches and others did not agree with an invisible church's message but many slaves were comforted by the invisible churches.

Jean-François-Benjamin Dumont de Montigny, or Dumont de Montigny, was a French colonial officer and farmer in French Louisiana in the 18th century. He was born in Paris, France, on July 31, 1696, and died in 1760 in Pondicherry, India. His writings about French Louisiana include a two-volume history published in 1753, as well as an epic poem and a prose memoir preserved in manuscript and published long after his death.

Coromantee, Coromantins, Coromanti or Kormantine is an English-language term for enslaved people from the Akan ethnic group, taken from the Gold Coast region in modern-day Ghana. The term was primarily used in the Caribbean and is now considered archaic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natchez revolt</span> 1729 revolt against French colonists near present-day Natchez, Mississippi

The Natchez revolt, or the Natchez massacre, was an attack by the Natchez Native American people on French colonists near present-day Natchez, Mississippi, on November 29, 1729. The Natchez and French had lived alongside each other in the Louisiana colony for more than a decade prior to the incident, mostly conducting peaceful trade and occasionally intermarrying. After a period of deteriorating relations and warring, Natchez leaders were provoked to revolt when the French colonial commandant, Sieur de Chépart, demanded land from a Natchez village for his own plantation near Fort Rosalie. The Natchez plotted their attack over several days and managed to conceal their plans from most of the French; colonists who overheard and warned Chépart of an attack were considered untruthful and were punished. In a coordinated attack on the fort and the homesteads, the Natchez killed almost all of the Frenchmen, while sparing most of the women and enslaved Africans. Approximately 230 colonists were killed overall, and the fort and homes were burned to the ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Antonio Aponte</span> Leader of Aponte Conspiracy

José Antonio Aponte, often known as "Black" José Aponte, was a Cuban political activist and military officer of Yoruba origin who organized one of the most prominent slave rebellions in Cuba, the Aponte Conspiracy of 1812. He held the rank of first corporal in Havana's black militia, and was the leader of his local Yoruba association. Aponte, a free black carpenter in Havana, was proclaimed to be the leader of a plot to rebel against the Cuban government, free the slaves and uplift free blacks, and overthrow slavery in Cuba. The movement struck several sugar plantations on the outskirts of Havana, but it was soon crushed by the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in Cuba</span>

Slavery in Cuba was a portion of the larger Atlantic Slave Trade that primarily supported Spanish plantation owners engaged in the sugarcane trade. It was practised on the island of Cuba from the 16th century until it was abolished by Spanish royal decree on October 7, 1886.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of slavery in Louisiana</span> Regional history of slavery in the USA

Following Robert Cavelier de La Salle establishing the French claim to the territory and the introduction of the name Louisiana, the first settlements in the southernmost portion of Louisiana were developed at present-day Biloxi (1699), Mobile (1702), Natchitoches (1714), and New Orleans (1718). Slavery was then established by European colonists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlota (rebel leader)</span>

Carlota Lucumí, also known as La Negra Carlota was an African-born enslaved Cuban woman of Yoruba origin. Carlota, alongside fellow enslaved Lucumí Ferminia, was known as a leader of the slave rebellion at the Triunvirato plantation in Matanzas, Cuba during the Year of the Lash in 1843–1844. Together with Ferminia Lucumí, Carlota led the slave uprising of the sugar mill "Triunvirato" in the province of Matanzas, Cuba on November 5, 1843.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pointe Coupée Slave Conspiracy of 1795</span> Slave revolt in Spanish Louisiana

The Pointe Coupée Slave Conspiracy of 1795 was an attempted slave rebellion which took place in Spanish Louisiana in 1795. It has attracted a lot of attention and been the subject of much historical research. It was preceded by the Pointe Coupée Slave Conspiracy of 1791.

References

  1. Wood, Peter H. (2003). Strange New Land: Africans in Colonial America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 96. ISBN   019-515-823-7.
  2. 1 2 Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. (2007). Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 442–443. ISBN   978-031-333-273-9.
  3. Kelley, Robin D. G.; Lewis, Earl, eds. (2000). To Make Our World Anew: A History of African Americans . Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.  616. ISBN   019-513-945-3.
  4. Finkelman, Paul, ed. (2006). Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619–1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 397. ISBN   019-516-777-5.
  5. Rappeport, Stanley (September 1936). "Slaves Struggles for Freedom". The Crisis . New York City.
  6. Caron, Peter (1997). "'Of a nation which the others do not understand': Bambara slaves and African ethnicity in colonial Louisiana, 1718–60". Slavery & Abolition. 18 (1): 98–121. doi:10.1080/01440399708575205. ISSN   0144-039X.