“Denmark Vesey: (1767?-1822) U.S. insurrectionist. Born in the West Indies, he was sold to a Bermuda slaver captain, with whom he sailed on numerous voyages. They settled in Charleston, South Carolina, and Vesey was allowed to purchase his freedom for $600 in 1800. After reading antislavery literature, he determined to relieve the oppression of slaves. He organized city and plantation blacks (up to 9,000 by some estimates) for an uprising in which they would attack arsenals, seize the arms, kill all whites, burn Charleston, and free the slaves on surrounding plantations. After a house servant warned the authorities, the insurrection was forestalled and 130 blacks were arrested; Vesey was tried and hanged with 35 others.”
Excerpted/Adapted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.
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