August 1800

Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved blacksmith near Richmond, Virginia, organized approximately 1,000 enslaved people to march on Richmond, seize the arsenal, take Governor James Monroe hostage, and demand freedom. A thunderstorm and betrayal by two informers foiled the plan. Gabriel and 25 co-conspirators were hanged. Monroe's correspondence with Thomas Jefferson reveals both men's terror of a Virginia equivalent of the Haitian Revolution.

Gabriel, an enslaved blacksmith owned by Thomas Prosser near Richmond, Virginia, organized a sophisticated conspiracy in 1800 involving an estimated 500–1,000 enslaved people. The plan called for marching on Richmond, seizing the state arsenal, and taking Governor James Monroe hostage to force emancipation. Gabriel modeled himself on George Washington and the language of the Revolution. On August 30, two enslaved informers named Pharoah and Tom revealed the plot; a torrential rainstorm also delayed the march. Gabriel was captured in Norfolk, tried, and hanged on October 10, 1800, along with 26 co-conspirators. Virginia and other Southern states immediately tightened restrictions on enslaved people's movement, assembly, and hiring-out.

Two enslaved men, Pharoah and Tom, enslaved by Mosby Sheppard, informed their enslaver of Gabriel's planned uprising hours before it was to begin on August 30, 1800. Governor James Monroe called out the state militia and ordered searches. The rainstorm that night washed out bridges and halted the march of conspirators toward Richmond, buying the authorities crucial time. Their informing — motivated likely by a mix of fear, loyalty to their enslaver, or hope for reward — illustrates the impossible moral terrain enslaved people navigated. Pharoah and Tom were granted freedom by the Virginia legislature. Gabriel evaded capture for weeks before being betrayed again.

An enslaved blacksmith plans a large revolt near Richmond; betrayed and executed, it terrifies Virginia.