Gourt Home::Gourt :: Gabriel (rebel)
Gabriel (ca. 1775-1800), also known as Gabriel Prosser, was a slave born in Henrico County, Virginia who planned a failed slave rebellion in the summer of 1800. He was the slave of Thomas H. Prosser, but little else is known about his earlier life.
Gabriel's rebellion
Gabriel had been meticulously planning the revolt since the spring. On August 30, 1800, Gabriel led the slaves to carry out the rebellion. Torrential rain, however, postponed the rebellion. The slaves' masters had suspicion of the uprising; and before it could be carried out two days later they notified Virginia Governor 1799-1802 James Monroe, who in turn sent for the state militia, who were lawmen on horseback armed with cutlasses, shotguns, and pistols. Thus Gabriel found Richmond too heavily defended for the attack to continue, although as many as 1000 slaves had gathered on the outskirts. Gabriel tried to escape by schooner, but was spotted and betrayed by two fellow slaves. Gabriel was brought before Monroe for questioning, but would not submit. Gabriel and 34 of his followers were hanged.
Controversial research
A new perspective on Gabriel is provided in Douglas Egerton's book The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800-1802. Although the book reflects a great deal of primary research from surviving contemporary documents, his conclusions remain controversial among historians of the period. One of the first points Egerton has clarified is that Gabriel was never known by the surname "Prosser." This is an assumption made in later periods, when slaves and ex-slaves commonly adopted their owner's family names. In fact, around 1800 he might have been referred to as "Prosser's Gabriel," but his common use name was simply Gabriel.
Gabriel was a skilled blacksmith who mostly "hired out" his time in Richmond foundries, a common practice during this period when the market for tobacco was depressed, soil depleted, and cotton not yet a major cash crop. Egerton concludes that Gabriel absorbed the viewpoint of his co-workers of European, African and mixed descent, who expected Thomas Jefferson's Republicans to liberate them from domination by the wealthy merchants of the city. Thus, Gabriel did have many white co-conspirators. Documentary evidence as to who they were was sent straight to Gov. Monroe and never seen in court. The internal dynamics of Jefferson's, and Monroe's party in the 1800 elections were more complex than they appeared to an industrial worker in Richmond. A large part of the Republicans' base were themselves owners of large plantations. Any sign of white Republicans supporting Gabriel's plan could have cost Jefferson the election. Gabriel did not order his followers to kill all whites except Methodists, Quakers and Frenchmen; he rather instructed them to refrain from killing any of those three categories. In fact, he planned to take Gov. Monroe hostage, to negotiate an end to slavery and then to "drink and dine with the merchants of the city" when freedom had been agreed to.
It is notable that Gabriel initially escaped on a ship owned by a former overseer, a recently converted Methodist who repeatedly ignored information as to his passenger's identity. Gabriel was turned in by a slave "hired out" to work on the ship, who hoped to obtain a sufficient reward to purchase his own freedom. However, he was paid only $50, not the $300 he expected.
Impact
This potential slave uprising was notable not because of its actual impact — the rebellion was quelled before it could begin — but because of the potential for mass chaos. Somewhere between 1000 and 4000 (the exact number is unknown) Africans in Richmond, Virginia are said to have been involved. The rebellion was put down by state militia and Gabriel was hanged. Southern slave-owners were acutely aware of the Haitian Revolution and became fearful of another slave rebellion. Gabriel had been able to plan the rebellion so well because of relatively lax rules of movement between plantations; as a result, many owners greatly restricted the slaves' rights of travel when not working. The fear of a slave revolt would persist until the abolition of slavery in the 1860s.
Prior to this rebellion, education of slaves, and training slaves in skilled trades, had not been restricted. After the rebellion, and a second conspiracy organized among river boatmen in 1802, slave owners realized they must either begin a program of gradual emancipation, or reduce the slave population to a completely illiterate, unskilled condition useful only for common labor and field work. The latter course was adopted.
See also
External links
Slave rebellions
"Gabriel (rebel)"