Remember Denmark Vesey of Charleston!, Charleston SC

Portrait of Denmark Vesey, Gailliard auditorium, Charleston, South Carolina
A respected free man and Methodist leader, Denmark Vesey planned one of the largest insurrections in history on Bastille Day, July 14, 1822, involving thousands of free and enslaved blacks who lived in and around Charleston. The plot called for Vesey and his group of slaves and free blacks to slay their masters and temporarily seize the city of Charleston. Shortly after the rebellion was to take place, Vesey and his followers planned to sail to Haiti to escape retaliation. The plot was leaked by two slaves opposed to Vesey’s scheme. Of the 131 men charged, 67 were convicted and 35 hanged, including Denmark Vesey. During the American Civil War, abolitionist Frederick Douglass used Vesey’s name as a battle cry (“Remember Denmark Vesey of Charleston!”) to rally African-American regiments, especially the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

Further Reading:

Denmark Vesey: The Buried Story of America’s Largest Slave Rebellion and the Man Who Led It by David M. Robertson

He Shall Go Out Free: The Lives of Denmark Vesey by Douglas R. Egerton

Designs against Charleston : The Trial Record of the Denmark Slave Conspiracy of 1822 by Edward A. Pearson

This Far by Faith, Denmark Vesey, PBS Series