Person · ?–1739
Jemmy (Cato)
The literate, Kongolese-born enslaved man who led the 1739 Stono Rebellion, the largest slave revolt in the British mainland colonies.
Leader of the largest mainland slave revolt; his likely Kongo origins tie the rebellion to its African roots.
Known in the records as Jemmy (and sometimes Cato), the leader of the Stono Rebellion is believed to have come from the Kingdom of Kongo, where many people were Catholic and some were trained soldiers — context that helps explain the rebels' discipline and their march toward Catholic Spanish Florida.
On September 9, 1739, Jemmy led a group that seized weapons near the Stono River outside Charleston and set out south toward the promise of freedom at Fort Mose, gathering recruits as they went. The rebellion was crushed within days, and South Carolina answered with the harsh Negro Act of 1740 — but Stono remains the largest such uprising in the mainland British colonies.
On the timeline
- September 9, 1739The Stono Rebellion
The largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies; dozens march toward Spanish Florida and freedom before being suppressed.
- May 10, 1740South Carolina's Negro Act of 1740
After the Stono Rebellion, South Carolina passes a sweeping slave code restricting movement, assembly, earning, learning to read — even drumming.
Resources
Videos·1
The web
Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.
- responded to·EventFort Mose — the first free Black town
Jemmy's rebels marched toward the freedom Spain promised at Fort Mose.