Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739

Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739

by Peter Charles Hoffer
Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739

Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739

by Peter Charles Hoffer

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Overview

The story of slavery in the colonial New World is, in part, one of rebellion. In Jamaica, Hispaniola, Dutch Surinam and elsewhere, massive uprisings threatened European rule. But not in British North America. Between the founding of Jamestown in 1607 and the start of the American Revolution in 1775, the colonies experienced only one notable revolt, on South Carolina's Stono River in 1739, and it lasted a single day. Yet, writes Peter Charles Hoffer, as brief as this event was, historians have misunderstood it—and have thus overlooked its deeper significance.

In Cry Liberty, Hoffer provides a deeply researched and finely nuanced narrative of the Stono River conflict, offering uncomfortable insights into American slavery. In particular, he draws on new sources to reexamine this one dramatic day. According to conventional wisdom, recently imported African slaves-warriors in spirit and training-learned of an impending war between England and Spain. Seeking freedom from Spanish authorities, the argument runs, they launched a well-planned uprising in order to escape to Florida. But Hoffer has mined legislative and legal records, land surveys, and first-hand accounts to identify precisely where the fighting began, trace the paths taken by rebels and militia, and offer a new explanation of its causes. Far from a noble, well-crafted revolt, he reveals, the slaves were simply breaking into a store to take what they thought was their due, and chance events put them on a path no participant had originally intended. The truth is a far less heroic, but far more of a human tragedy.

Richly researched, crisply told, and unflinchingly honest, this book uncovers the grim truth about the violent wages of slavery and sheds light on why North America had so few slave rebellions.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780195386608
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 11/18/2011
Series: New Narratives in American History
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 194
Product dimensions: 4.70(w) x 6.60(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Peter Charles Hoffer is Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Georgia. He specializes in early U.S. history and legal history. He is the author of numerous books, including Past Imperfect; Seven Fires: The Urban Infernos that Reshaped American History; The Brave New World: A History of Early America; and The Supreme Court: An Essential History.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction and Acknowledgments
Prologue: The Land and the Water
Chapter One: At Hutchenson's Store
Chapter Two: Inhuman Bondage
Chapter Three: Terror in the Night
Chapter Four: On the Pon Pon Road
Chapter Five: Never Forget
Epilogue: Meanings
Explanatory Essay-Reading the Sources on Stono
Notes
Index
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