American Uprising (19 page)

57 “oppressive and degrading” . . . “enjoy it with safety”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:59.

57 “who neither” . . . “could personally communicate”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:63.

58 “to whose conversation . . . devoted”: N. H. Claiborne,
Notes on the War
, 97.

58 “We were among . . . composed it”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:60.

58 “Annexed to your country . . . allegiance of citizens”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:64.

58 “The people . . . better ascertained”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:67.

59 “a hazardous experiment”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:68.

59 “the lowest Indian tribes . . . lower Louisiana”: Harvey, Roger, and D’Oliveira,
To Reach Afar
, 42.

59 “Renegadoes . . . subject of accusation”: N. H. Claiborne,
Notes on the War
, 110.

60 “pecuniary difficulty” . . . “graves of Louisiana”: Hatfield,
William Claiborne
, 156–57.

5. Conquering the Frontier

61 “We should have . . . self government”: Jefferson,
Life and Writings
, 185.

62 “intruder king”: Weber,
The Spanish Frontier in North America
, 296.

64 “It would be . . .
such a request?
”: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 31.

64 “friendly disposition . . . decided measures”: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 32.

64 “lose no time . . . right direction”: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 32.

64 “Endowed . . . bone and muscle”: Kennedy,
Mr. Jefferson’s Lost Cause
, 218.

65 “more satisfactory” . . . “to the palate of the administration”: Kennedy,
Mr. Jefferson’s Lost Cause
, 224.

65 Before dawn . . . Louis de Grand Pré: Arthur,
The Story of the West Florida Rebellion
, 103.

66 “Hurrah Washington!”: Arthur,
The Story of the West Florida Rebellion
, 105–6.

66 “Betrayed . . . independent State”: Kennedy,
Mr. Jefferson’s Lost Cause
, 225.

67 “the intrigues . . . and fortunes”: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 35.

67 “protect them . . . and religion”: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 49.

68 “the association of the Individuals” . . . “towards Spain”: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 61.

69 “absolute anarchy”: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 85.

69 A gentleman . . . the territory: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 91.

69 Reports . . . of Carnival: W. C. C. Claiborne,
Official Letter Books
, 88.

6. Masks and Motives

71 “For it is the same . . . and advise them”: Robert Paquette, “The Drivers Shall Lead Them: Image and Reality in Slave Resistance,” in Paquette and Ferleger,
Slavery, Secession, and Southern History
, 31.

71 set back a short distance . . . summer sun: Bernhard,
Travels Through North America
, 2:80.

72 thirty to forty yards . . . travelers and traders: Brackenridge,
Views of Louisiana
, 176–77.

72 Docks . . . transportation systems: Hall,
Africans in Colonial Louisiana
, 120.

72 Property lines . . . swamps: Hall,
Africans in Colonial Louisiana
, 120.

72 Irrigation ditches . . . rectangles: Rehder,
Delta Sugar
, 158.

72 The Mississippi . . . vegetable mold: Sitterson,
Sugar Country
, 14.

73 As was standard . . . survive and work: Kane,
Plantation Parade
, 160–61.

73 “whether actually in the field . . . on the watch”: Northup/Eakin and Logsdon,
Twelve Years a Slave
, 172.

73 By keeping constant watch . . . over their actions: “Thanks to the techniques of surveillance, the ‘physics’ of power, the hold over the body, operate according to the laws of optics and mechanics, according to a whole play of spaces, lines, screens, beams, degrees and without recourse, in principle at least, to excess, force or violence.” Foucault,
Discipline and Punish
, 177.

74 “It is fair to say . . . insolence of their authority”: Quoted in Robert Paquette, “The Drivers Shall Lead Them: Image and Reality in Slave Resistance,” in Paquette and Ferleger,
Slavery, Secession, and Southern History
, 33.

74 “human bloodhounds”: Robert Paquette, “The Drivers Shall Lead Them: Image and Reality in Slave Resistance,” in Paquette and Ferleger,
Slavery, Secession, and Southern History
, 37.

75 industrial expertise on a level with that of Northern factories: Mintz,
Sweetness and Power
, 47.

76 sixteen or more hours per day, seven days a week: McDonald,
Economy and Material Culture of Slaves
, 14–15.

76 sweet, juicy stalks . . . fifteen feet: Mintz,
Sweetness and Power
, 21.

76 Working round the clock . . . into January: Moody,
Slavery on Louisiana Sugar Plantations
, 48–49.

77 “by a wise distribution . . . any of them”: Colonial prefect Clement de Laussat, quoted in Follett,
The Sugar Masters
, 18.

77 tropical disease: Sitterson,
Sugar Country
, 92.

77 “From June to the beginning of October . . . in the country”: Latrobe,
Impressions Respecting New Orleans
, 141–42.

78 “More than once . . . voice against it”: Northup,
Twelve Years a Slave
, 104–5.

78 The complexity . . . management styles: Follett,
The Sugar Masters
, 92.

78 “The feelings of humanity . . . whips in hand”: de Laussat,
Memoirs of My Life
, 54.

78 A first punishment . . . recalcitrant slaves”: Sitterson,
Sugar Country
, 89.

79 “Three stakes . . . every stroke”: Rothman,
Slave Country
, 95–96.

80 Sugar work was too grueling . . . natural reproduction: “A perception prevailed, true or not, that it was cheaper to work field slaves to death in five years or so and replace them by purchase than to see to their long-term maintenance and reproduction,” wrote historian Robert Paquette about Cuban sugar plantations. Paquette,
Sugar Is Made with Blood
, 55.

80 In 1800 . . . less important: Sitterson,
Sugar Country
, 158.

80 first on the Atlantic slave trade and then on the internal slave trade: An illegal Atlantic slave trade did continue. “Like elsewhere throughout South and Central America and the Caribbean, in Jamaica slaves put to cultivating sugar died faster than they bore progeny,” wrote historian Roderick McDonald. “Only the slave trade, the Black Mother, could maintain and increase the size of slave populations. While Jamaica relied on slave traffic across the Atlantic, for Louisiana the Black Mother was interstate traffic, the slave states of the Old South supplying the men, women and children the sugar planters needed.” McDonald,
Economy and Material Culture of Slaves
, 15.

80 Those who complied . . . extra food: Robert Paquette, “The Drivers Shall Lead Them: Image and Reality in Slave Resistance,” in Paquette and Ferleger,
Slavery, Secession, and Southern History
, 33.

7. The Rebels’ Pact

84 take up with a woman: Kaye,
Joining Places
, 60.

84 he was the son of a white planter: Unlike most slaves, who bore only a first name, Charles used his deceased master’s name, Deslondes. This likely indicates that Deslondes was his father.

84 “one great brothel”: W. Phillips,
Speeches, Lectures, and Letters
, 108.

86 As the white planters . . . on the German Coast: Conrad,
The German Coast
, 108.

86 to kill all the whites: Conrad,
The German Coast
, 106.

87 Posting a spy . . . organize the uprising: Thrasher,
On to New Orleans!
, 3.

87 A twenty-five-year-old carpenter . . . closest to New Orleans: Harry was a “rough carpenter” who was “well-acquainted with the business of a sugar plantation.” “Sound and healthy” at the age of twenty-five, he was valued at $800. He was executed after being tried at the St. Charles Parish Tribunal. American Uprising Slave Database.

87 During their free time . . . in the marketplaces: McDonald,
Economy and Material Culture of Slaves
, 69.

89 “Woe to the white” . . . for the German Coast slaves: Hall,
Africans in Colonial Louisiana
, 213, 220, 230, 232.

89 In 1795, the Spanish discovered . . . in the marketplaces: Hall,
Africans in Colonial Louisiana
, 358.

89 “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression”: Declaration of the Rights of Man.

89 The plot was discovered . . . Puerto Rico, and Cuba: Hall,
Africans in Colonial Louisiana
, 344.

90 The residents . . . relief to the planters: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:118.

90 20,000 African slaves: Berlin,
Many Thousands Gone
, 344.

90 Kongo had been . . . warrior knowledge: Thornton, “African Dimensions of the Stono Rebellion,” 1108–9.

90 The Kongolese had developed . . . their abilities: Dubois,
Avengers of the New World
, 109.

90 They used flags . . . the field of battle: Thornton, “African Dimensions of the Stono Rebellion,” 1111.

8. Revolt

97 a powerful rainstorm: “The wind being from the Northward and westward blowing at the same time fresh with considerable rain would have been directly ahead for vessels attempting to ascend the river.” John Shaw to Paul Hamilton, New Orleans, 18 January 1811.

97 “half leg deep in Mud”: Wade Hampton to the Secretary of War, New Orleans, January 16, 1811, in Thrasher,
On to New Orleans!
, 269.

97 Rain meant . . . from the swamps: Sitterson,
Sugar Country
, 19.

98 “This is how . . . stomachs of the whites”: Childs,
1812 Aponte Rebellion in Cuba
, 117.

99 A high roof . . . gallery from the rain: Bernhard,
Travels Through North America
, 2:80.

99 three long cuts: Bernhard,
Travels Through North America
, 2:81.

100 the stores in the basement of Andry’s mansion: The
Louisiana
Gazette
reported that the slaves seized “the public arms that was in one of Mr. Andry’s stores.”
Louisiana
Gazette
(New Orleans)
,
January 17, 1811.

101 “On to New Orleans!”: Thrasher,
On to New Orleans!
, 51.

102 Live oaks . . . marshy cypress swamps: Bernhard,
Travels Through North America
, 2:54.

103 knee-deep in mud: Wade Hampton to the Secretary of War, New Orleans, January 16, 1811, in Thrasher,
On to New Orleans!
, 269.

103 A group of ten slaves: One of these slaves, Theodore, was tried in the court at New Orleans, where he received mercy for “having made important discoveries, touching the late insurrection.” American Uprising Slave Database; Yoes,
Louisiana’s German Coast
, 67.

103 Waving his saber in the air: Denunciations.

103 Achille Trouard . . .to hide: Perret to Fontaine, January 13, 1811,
Moniteur de la Louisiane
(New Orleans), January 17, 1811, translated by Robert Paquette and Seymour Drescher, in Engerman, Drescher, and Paquette,
Slavery
, 324–26.

104 The slave Pierre . . . his life: Labranche recognized the dual nature of these slaves’ presence in the swamps, adding a note of distrust to his reporting of his slave driver Pierre’s sources. “These slaves having fled into the swamp back of the Labranche place to save themselves from the rebels, or so they told Pierre,” he emphasized. Labranche was well aware that this was an information network not entirely under his control, and that the information he received through it must be necessarily understood as colored by the intentions and motives of those creating it. Conrad,
The German Coast
, 107.