Denmark Vesey

Denmark Vesey (Telemanque) was born 1767 in West Africa. As a child, he was captured by slavers and transported to the Americas. Denmark spent his early years on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas. In 1781, a slaver named Captain Joseph Vesey of Charleston, SC., purchased the young Denmark. Denmark would remain a “model” domestic slave for 20 years. Fortunately, in 1800 Denmark won a $1,500 lottery prize and used the money to purchase his own freedom. After becoming a free man, Denmark worked as a carpenter and made an honest living in the city of Charleston. Although Denmark was now "free," he was still dissatisfied with the plight of his brothers and sisters still in bondage.

In 1816, Denmark co-founded a Charleston branch (Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church) the A.M.E. Church. Vesey would continue with church activities over the next few years. The year was now 1822 and Denmark Vesey made up his mind to mobilize the masses of freed and enslaved Africans for the sake of freedom. He was inspired by the revolution that had taken place in Haiti. Vesey’s rebellion was originally scheduled for July 14, 1822. He had gathered the support of 1900 men. His plan was to slay the masters, seize Charleston, S.C., and sail to newly independent black country of Haiti to escape retaliation.

This is all the information that two of Vesey's recruits needed to tell the authorities in Charleston about Vesey’s planned revolt. Vesey soon learned of the betrayal on June 16, 1822 and attempted to launch his rebellion, but authorities would seize him on June 18, 1822 before he could carry out this bloody mission. The authorities’ decision: 12 were pardoned and 37, including Denmark Vesey, were hanged. There are some who speculate that the entire Vesey plot was a hoax; Nevertheless, there had been many slave revolts in North America, South America, and the Caribbean since the beginning of the colonies. There would be more to follow:

Nat Turner, North Hampton County, Virginia --1831; Guyana, The Demerara Rebellions of 1795 and 1823; Jamaica's Baptist War, 1831-1832, led by the Baptist preacher, Samuel Sharpe; the Black Seminole Rebellion (Maroon and Slaves combined) 1835 and Joseph Cinque, Cuban Amistad ship in 1839.

Sources: africawithin.com, and siu.edu, and wikipedia.org

John Fairfield: Freedom Blood

What is the first name that comes to mind when you think of The Underground Railroad? Harriet Tubman? Yes! This is exactly what the public school system taught many of us. History teachers rarely spoke of any other conductors in The Underground Railroad. Now, Mother Tubman will always be the beloved star of the Underground, but there were others who courageously led hundreds or maybe thousands of enslaved Africans to freedom. For instance, a white southerner by the name of John Fairfield would lead hundreds to freedom through The Underground Railroad in the 1850s. Now, there were many whites who assisted the emancipation of thousands of Africans in captivity, but John Fairfield was from a slave-holding family in Virginia. Fairfield would often use his family history to his advantage and pose as a slave holder or bounty hunter on his trips south.

Fairfield saw slavery as an evil institution and saw it first-hand as a youngster on the plantation in Virginia. He

saw husbands sold away from their wives and children sold away from their mothers. His goal during his 12 years as an Underground Railroad conductor was to unite loved ones who had been sold off. This was often profitable for white men who made a career in helping fugitives. Slaves would save money for years and give their life savings for freedom. Fairfield would often take their money. However, his ultimate goal was freedom. So, if they didn’t have money he would still ask them to join him.

John Fairfield would fight to the death to achieve freedom for the African in America and often made those he led to freedom pledge the same. He was not afraid to use the gun and often did so when it came to freedom for all. The receivers of his passionate bullets were often white and he had no remorse for those who stood in his way. He once told the Quaker abolitionist, Levi Coffin that “…Slaveholders are all devils, and it is no harm to kill the devil.” John Fairfield would go on to lead this often bloody quest for freedom until he himself was reportedly killed in the late 1850s during a slave revolt in Tennessee. This period in American history would mark the beginning of the Civil War (1861-1865). This would also mark one of the bloodiest of times in American history.

Note: The Undergound Railroad was a network of over 3,000 homes and other "stations" that assisted fugitive slaves in their quest for freedom

Sources: http://www.nationalcenter.org, http://www.freedomcenter.org, www.americaslibrary.gov and Wikipedia.org

Source and book on subject: The Creole Mutiny: A Tale of Revolt Aboard a Slave Shipby George Hendrick & Willene Hendrick (Author)