An Account of Some of the Principal Slave Insurrections, and Others, Which Have Occurred, or Been A | Page 8

against
their masters. The dread of the consequences of such a revolt decided

the Virginians to form a convention, in which they placed great
confidence. The governor expected, but in vain, that the people would
rise, and take arms in favor of the king. Hoping, however, that with
such force as he had, and the frigates on that station, he should make
some impression on the surrounding country, he surprised the town of
Hampton, situated on the bay of the same name, and devoted it to the
flames. He then proclaimed martial law, "declared free all slaves or
servants, black or white, belonging to rebels, provided they would take
up arms and join the royal troops." The governor again came on shore
at Norfolk, where some hundreds of loyalists and negroes joined the
governor. With this motley force, aided by two hundred soldiers of the
line, he made an unsuccessful attack on the provincials on the 9th of
December. He again repaired on board of one of the ships, and on the
first of January, 1776, the frigate Liverpool, two corvettes and the
governor's armed sloop, opened a terrible fire on the city; and at the
same time, a detachment of marines landed, and set fire to the houses.
In this manner was destroyed on of the most opulent and flourishing
cities of Virginia.
On the 4th of July, 1776, after eleven years of unavailing negotiation
and some fighting, the delegates of the thirteen Colonies, not believing
the modern dogma that, however bad the laws may be, they must be
obeyed till they are repealed, raised the standard of rebellion, and bade
defiance to the colossal power of Great Britain, declaring that they
were, and of right ought to be, free and independent, and making the
following declaration, viz.:--
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal;
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights;
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
This was an insurrection on a great scale; and as the insurgents were
white men, and were successful, they were, of course, right. Says
Jefferson, in 1814, "What an incomprehensible machine is man! who
can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment, and death itself, in
vindication of his own liberty; and the next moment be deaf to all those
motives, whose power supported him through his trials, and inflict on

his fellow-man a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more
misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose."
The insurrection of the people of France against their king, which is
generally called the French revolution, is with all its horrors too well
known to require notice.
The scenes of St. Domingo next claim our attention. The incidents are
given in the language of an author, whose name I do not recollect.
When the French Revolution, which decreed equality of rights to all
citizens, had taken place, the free people of color of St. Domingo, many
of whom were persons of large property and liberal education,
petitioned the General Assembly that they might enjoy the same
political privileges as the whites. At length, in March, 1790, the subject
of the petition was discussed, when the Assembly adopted a decree
concerning it. The decree, however, was worded so ambiguously, that
the two parties in St. Domingo--the whites and the people of
color--interpreted each in their own favor. This difference of
interpretation gave rise to animosities between them, which were
augmented by political party spirit, according as they were royalists, or
partisans of the French revolution, so that disturbances took place, and
blood was shed.
In the year 1791, the people of color petitioned the Assembly again, but
principally for an explanation of the decree in question.
On the 15th of May, the subject was taken into consideration, and the
result was another decree in more explicit terms, which determined that
the people of color in all the French islands were entitled to all the
rights of citizens, provided they were born of free parents on both sides.
The news of this decree no sooner arrived at the Cape, than it produce
an indignation almost amounting to frenzy among the whites. They
directly trampled under foot the national cockade, and with difficulty
were prevented from seizing all the merchant ships in the roads. After
this, the two parties armed against each other. Even camps began to be
formed. Horrible massacres and conflagrations followed, the reports of
which, when brought to the mother country, were so terrible that the

Assembly rescinded the decree in favor of the people of color in the
same year.
In 1792, the news of this new decree reached St. Domingo, and
produced as much irritation among the people of color, as the news