Virginia Middlesex-Gloucester Conspiracy: Enslaved People Plot to Burn Towns for Freedom

In spring 1723, authorities in Middlesex and Gloucester Counties, Virginia, uncovered a conspiracy among enslaved people to burn down towns as a means of gaining their freedom. The leaders — Cooper Will (enslaved by Gabriel Throckmorton) and two men both named Sam (enslaved by Elizabeth Burwell and Elizabeth Richardson respectively) — were found guilty of 'unlawfully Assembling, meeting and Congregating themselves with other slaves and Communicating, contriving and Conspiring among themselves.' They were sentenced to three years' confinement. By resolution of the House of Burgesses on May 17, 1723, seven additional enslaved people were sentenced to sale and transportation out of Virginia. The conspiracy demonstrated that Virginia's comprehensive 1705 Slave Codes had not extinguished resistance.