Chesapeake rebellion
The Chesapeake Rebellion, occurring in October 1730 in Virginia, was one of the largest slave uprisings in colonial North America. Triggered by a rumor that King George II had decreed the freedom of baptized enslaved individuals, an estimated two hundred enslaved Africans gathered to demand their liberation from Governor William Gooch. The rebellion was swiftly suppressed by plantation owners and local authorities, leading to the arrest and punishment of many participants. Some enslaved individuals fled to the Great Dismal Swamp, a challenging environment that eventually became a refuge for a small number who managed to establish communities with the help of local Native American tribes.
The rebellion occurred against a backdrop of increasing restrictions on enslaved and free Black individuals in Virginia following Bacon's Rebellion in the late 17th century. This earlier uprising had prompted colonial leaders to tighten control over the Black population, exacerbating tensions between enslaved Africans and white colonists, particularly as many enslaved people sought spiritual solace in Christianity. Although the Chesapeake Rebellion did not achieve its immediate goal of emancipation, it highlighted the unresolved conflicts surrounding slavery and foreshadowed future uprisings, such as those led by Gabriel Prosser and Nat Turner. The event remains a significant point of study for understanding the complexities of resistance and survival in the context of American slavery.
Chesapeake rebellion
The Chesapeake rebellion was one of the largest slave rebellions in colonial North America. Enslaved individuals heard a rumor that those who had been baptized would be freed by order of King George II. At least two hundred enslaved Africans gathered in October 1730 to demand that Virginia’s governor free them. Plantation owners and those working for them forcibly ended the meeting. White authorities arrested many of the enslaved, though hundreds fled into the Great Dismal Swamp. There, many were recaptured or killed by white men or natives who had agreed to work with them. A few managed to evade capture and joined or formed small groups that lived together in the swamp. Some lived with or alongside native tribes who helped them survive in the swamp and eventually flourish there.
Background
The first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia in 1619 to plant and harvest tobacco, which was labor-intensive. During Bacon’s Rebellion in 1675 and 1676, Black and white people joined together to fight against the state of Virginia. They claimed that the government was not doing enough because it was limiting colonist access to land claimed by Native Americans. They wanted to start or expand tobacco farms but needed more space to do so. Many of the whites involved in Bacon’s Rebellion were indentured servants who had served their time and were free. After the rebellion, Virginia chose to cut down on the number of indentured servants brought into the colony to prevent an additional outburst. Instead, the state began to rely more heavily on slavery.
Virginia leaders also passed laws to exert more control over Black people. They did not permit free Black individuals to own or carry weapons. They prevented them from meeting together in large numbers and decreed that any Black person brought into the colony would remain enslaved for life.
This made life as a Black person in Virginia even harder than it had been before. While these laws were being passed, more and more Black people were becoming Christians. While some converted because they believed it would give them additional power or standing, others were true believers.
This created additional conflict within the colony. While many whites wanted to save enslaved Africans, they did not want to give them equality. Enslaved Africans, on the other hand, believed that, according to the Bible, baptized believers should be freed.
Over time, this conflict grew. In 1730, a rumor spread among enslaved people that King George II of England, who still ruled over Virginia, had decreed that enslaved Africans who were baptized Christian should be freed. While no one is certain where this rumor originated, it became the catalyst that set off the Chesapeake rebellion.
Overview
The actual rebellion was quashed relatively quickly. Enslaved Africans gathered in Princess Anne County, Virginia, in October 1730. They elected captains, who became their leaders and spokespeople. These captains openly demanded that Governor William Gooch, the current leader of the colony, honor King George’s decree and release them from enslavement.
White plantation owners, their indentured servants, and others grouped together to quickly end the rebellion. Many of enslaved people were captured and either imprisoned or returned to their enslavers, where they faced punishment. Others were able to escape into the Great Dismal Swamp, which is on the border between Virginia and North Carolina and was a difficult place to navigate and live.
Many local Native Americans knew the swamp well. Some, like the Cherokee, had agreed to the Fugitive Slave Clause, which required them to return enslaved individuals who were running away to their owners. Other tribes, like the Iroquois and the Haudenosaunee, did not agree to the clause and actively refused to help the government track down those who had escaped enslavement.
In 1730, Virginia relied on its treaties with the Pasquotank to return many of those who had escaped enslavement. This tribe had agreed to the laws and knew the swamp well, so they helped the white enslavers find and recapture many of those who had fled to safety in the swamp.
However, the Pasquotank did not find them all. Some of those who had escaped enslavement banded together and managed to stay safe in the swamp. They formed small communities that stayed within the swamp and made a life for themselves there. These communities grew after other rebellions, like Gabriel’s Conspiracy in 1800 and Nat Turner’s revolt in 1831.
Native Americans also fled to the swamp, and it is believed that they helped some enslaved individuals survive. The natives were there because their land had been taken and/or because they did not want to go where the white people wanted them to go. Their knowledge of hunting, fishing, trapping, and farming, as well as of tracking and hiding, may have made it possible for some of those who fled after the rebellion to live safely in the swamp.
Other enslaved Africans may have fled to Spanish Florida. They had long offered freedom for Black people willing to convert to Catholicism, though it is unclear whether enslaved individuals in Virginia would have known of this opportunity as early as 1730. When enslaved people did hear of this option, it often became a goal if they believed it would be easier to get to Florida than to travel to the North.
While the Chesapeake rebellion was not successful in that it did not result in the freeing of enslaved people, including those who had been baptized into a Christian church, it was the precursor of many other rebellions. The Chesapeake rebellion showed that the laws and rules regarding enslavement did not cement the institution into colonial life as the government had hoped they would.
Sarah Winfrey, MA
Bibliography
“1730 Cherokee Treaty with British.” Newspapers.com, 15 Mar. 1760, www.newspapers.com/clip/109106/1730-cherokee-treaty-with-british/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
Draughn, Janay. “Elsewheres: Maroons and Fugitivity in the Great Dismal Swamp.” MDC, 12 July 2022, www.mdcinc.org/2022/07/12/elsewheres-maroons-and-fugitivity-in-the-great-dismal-swamp/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
“English Settlements in America: The Chesapeake Colonies: Virginia and Maryland.” OER Commons, 2 Dec. 2021, www.oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/25883/student/?section=3. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
“Enslaving VA.” Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Publications, cwfpublications.omeka.net/files/show/173/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
Landers, Jane. “Spanish Sanctuary: Fugitives in Florida, 1687-1790.” The Florida Historical Quarterly, Jan. 1984, www.jstor.org/stable/30146288. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
Miller, Patricia. “The Great Dismal Swamp: A Mythical Place of Enslaved Resistance and Rebellion.” Encyclopedia Virginia, 26 Apr. 2022, encyclopediavirginia.org/the-great-dismal-swamp-a-mythical-place-of-enslaved-resistance-and-rebellion/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
Pope, Justin James. “Dangerous Spirit of Liberty: Slave Insurrection, Conspiracy, and the First Great Awakening, 1729-1746.” 2014, scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/concern/gw‗etds/pv63g0413. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
“The Chesapeake: Making Race: Enslaving Colonial North America.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 21 Nov. 2021, www.searchablemuseum.com/the-chesapeake-making-race. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.