1822

Denmark Vesey, a formerly enslaved carpenter who bought his freedom, organized what authorities claimed was a mass revolt in Charleston, SC involving up to 9,000 people. The plot was betrayed by enslaved informers Devany and Peter Prioleau in May 1822. A special court tried 131 people; 35 were hanged including Vesey on July 2. White Charleston was convulsed with terror.

After the Vesey conspiracy, South Carolina enacted sweeping repression: Black churches — including Emanuel AME where Vesey organized — were closed or placed under white supervision. Free Black seamen from northern states were jailed upon arrival in SC ports (the Negro Seamen Acts). Assemblies of Black people were banned. The state executed 35 men on evidence that would not survive modern scrutiny.

Denmark Vesey, a free Black carpenter who had purchased his freedom in 1799, organized one of the largest planned slave rebellions in American history in Charleston, South Carolina. Conspirators reportedly numbered in the thousands; plans called for seizing the city's arsenal, killing slaveholders, and potentially sailing to Haiti. The plot was betrayed before execution. Authorities arrested over 130 people; 35 were hanged including Vesey, and 37 were banished. South Carolina responded by passing laws restricting free Black people and prohibiting teaching enslaved people to read or write. The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, which Vesey had helped found, was demolished.

South Carolina passes the Negro Seamen Act requiring that free Black sailors on ships docking in SC ports be jailed for the duration of the ship's stay, with costs charged to the captain. If unpaid, the sailor could be sold into slavery. Federal officials acknowledge the law likely violates treaty obligations but decline to challenge it. Other Southern states follow with similar laws.

Passed in the aftermath of the Vesey conspiracy, South Carolina's Negro Seamen Act required that free Black sailors aboard ships docking in South Carolina ports be imprisoned for the duration of the ship's stay, with costs charged to the ship's captain. If the captain refused to pay, the sailor could be sold into slavery. The law violated federal treaties but was upheld by South Carolina. Other Deep South states passed similar laws. The U.S. Supreme Court never directly struck it down; it remained in force until the Civil War, effectively imprisoning hundreds of free Black men.

A freedman's alleged plot for a mass uprising in Charleston ends in dozens of executions.