Arson as Resistance, Documented Acts

Colonial records across Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, and New York document scores of fires attributed to enslaved people. Arson targeted barns, crops, and houses, destroying wealth without direct confrontation. Fires preceded both the 1712 New York revolt and the 1741 conspiracy investigations. Planters understood arson as a form of war; many colonies made arson by enslaved people a capital offense.