April 1712

On April 6, approximately 25 enslaved Akan and Coromantee Africans set fire to a building in lower Manhattan and ambushed whites who came to extinguish it, killing 9 and wounding 6. Colonial militia suppressed the revolt. In the aftermath, 21 enslaved people were executed — some burned at the stake, broken on the wheel, or hung in chains — and 6 died by suicide before capture.

Enslaved New Yorkers set fires and fought back; brutal executions followed.