Gabriel Prosser Plans Major Slave Rebellion in Virginia

Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved blacksmith near Richmond, Virginia, organized one of the most ambitious slave revolt plots in American history, reportedly recruiting thousands of enslaved people to march on Richmond and demand freedom. The plan was betrayed before it could be executed, and Prosser and dozens of co-conspirators were hanged, but the plot demonstrated the extent of enslaved people's determination to resist and caused widespread fear among Virginia's slaveholding class.