American History Tellers - Rebellion in the Early Republic - Gabriel’s Rebellion | 5

Episode Date: April 15, 2020

As a new century dawned on the United States, an enslaved blacksmith named Gabriel began planning a bold plot to overthrow slavery in Virginia’s capital. The uprising would change the future of slavery in the South.In the spring and summer of 1800, the charismatic Gabriel recruited an army of enslaved artisans, freedmen, and white laborers in Richmond and the surrounding countryside. They fashioned homemade weapons out of farming tools and scrap metal. They planned to attack white merchants, storm Richmond’s treasury, and kidnap Governor James Monroe. By August, hundreds of men had joined Gabriel’s Rebellion, making it the most extensive slave plot the South had seen yet.But when the day finally came to seize Richmond, a late summer storm threatened to doom Gabriel’s plans.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's October 1799. Order in the court. You and your four fellow justices of the peace are at the Henrico County Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia, and you're about to read out a death sentence. Court will announce the verdict for the slave Gabriel, the property of Thomas Henry Prosser, on the charge of maiming Absalom Johnson by biting off a considerable part of his left ear.

Jailer, bring the accused. Maiming a white man is a capital crime for slaves in Virginia, and the evidence against Gabriel is overwhelming. You look at Gabriel's accuser, the overseer of his plantation. His head is heavily bandaged. Gabriel stole a pig. When his overseer wrestled him to the ground, Gabriel did something highly unusual. He fought back. While the jailer fetches Gabriel, your fellow judge turns to you. It'll cost the state a pretty penny to reimburse Prosser after he sent his slave to the gallows. Yeah, personally, I'd rather the state do away with this vile institution of slavery altogether, but as long as it exists, it is our duty to enforce the law.

Well, then we must set an example for his crime. I don't see we have a choice in the matter. Gabriel shuffles into the court, hands bound. Then all of a sudden it dawns on you, it's an ancient clause in the state penal code. Only slaves who have no previous convictions are entitled to it. What about benefit of clergy? What? The accused standing before me will be allowed this What about benefit of clergy? What? The accused standing before me will be

allowed this right, benefit of clergy. We will stay the execution if he can recite a Bible verse from memory. You lock eyes with the overseer. He looks outraged and begins to stand. Order, order, jailer, prepare the brand. Will the accused stand? It is the unanimous opinion of the court that the slave Gabriel is guilty of the crime with which he stands accused, but that he is entitled to the benefit of clergy. Gabriel pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts, then speaks clearly. Psalm 27, verse 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? In accordance with the statute, the court orders Gabriel to be burnt in

the left hand. You look over at the jailer and nod your head. He approaches Gabriel with a red hot iron and presses it into his left thumb. The smell of singed flesh fills the courtroom. You notice the muscles tighten in Gabriel's face, but he doesn't make a sound. It is ordered that Gabriel be remanded to jail until his owner claims him. The jailer leads Gabriel out of the courthouse in chains as the overseer rises and protests. And you, sir, can sit down. Justice has been served. You hope you've done enough to teach Gabriel a lesson. But deep down, you know you've made Gabriel a marked man in more than one way. Should he ever rebel again, a death sentence will be guaranteed.

Your fellow judge leans to you. That saw on the slave chose, you know what the next line is, right? Yes, I do. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, come upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. You can't help but think that the state of Virginia will hear from this Gabriel again. This is Jack, and we just launched a brand new podcast called The Best Idea Yet. You may have heard of it. It's all about the untold origin stories of the products you're obsessed with.

Listen to The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery comes a new series about a lawyer who broke all the rules. Need to launder some money? Broker a deal with a drug cartel? Take out a witness? Paul can do it. I'm your host, Brandon Jinks Jenkins. Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers.

Our history, Your story. In 1799, an enslaved blacksmith known simply as Gabriel defied white authorities and narrowly escaped the gallows, but he had a much bigger vision in store. For two decades, the United States had weathered revolts over economic fairness and political representation. But as a new century dawned, a different rebellion would erupt, this time over the basic human right to be free from bondage. In Richmond, Virginia, the charismatic Gabriel recruited hundreds into a bold plot to attack the capital and end slavery in the state. It threatened to be the largest slave uprising the South had seen to date, and it exposed the

contradiction between freedom and slavery at the heart of the American experiment. This is Episode 5, Gabriel's Rebellion. Gabriel, sometimes called Gabriel Prosser after his master's last name, was born in 1776 just as America broke free from Britain and founded a new nation dedicated to the ideals of liberty and equality. At the time, enslaved men and women made up 20% of the new United States, with most slaves living in the South. Their labor powered the wealth of American elites and became the backbone of the U.S. economy. But during the Revolution, slaveholders were caught up in the turmoil of war, and restrictions on enslaved people's lives loosened.

Enslaved men fought on both sides of the war for the chance to win their freedom, and many more used the confusion of wartime to emancipate themselves. During the eight years of fighting, as many as 100,000 Southern slaves fled north to seek freedom. Still, the revolution did not lead to the total emancipation of enslaved Americans, as many slaves had hoped. It did, however, sow the seeds of black resistance and protest. The rhetoric of inalienable rights and the notion that all men are created equal had permeated every corner of society,

including those in bondage. In the aftermath of the Revolution, it was impossible for Black Americans not to see hypocrisy in the new republic's defense of slavery. After the war, slavery's future was hotly contested. Many northern states adopted programs for gradual emancipation. In the South, where large commercial farming relied on slave labor to drive the economy, slavery was far more entrenched. Nowhere was the issue of slavery more pressing than in Virginia, which had the largest enslaved population of any state. And nowhere was the tension between slavery and freedom clearer. The state was home to Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. The planters who

dominated Virginia's economy and politics, like Jefferson, George Washington, and James Moreau, all owned slaves. Despite this, revolutionary rhetoric about freedom and Christian anti-slavery activism led Virginia and some other southern states to pass laws weakening slavery. In 1782, Virginia authorized slaveholders to privately emancipate their slaves if they wished to. Over the following decade, about 10,000 Virginia slaves were emancipated or given the chance to purchase their own freedom. By the end of the century, nearly 10% of Virginia's black population was free, giving those who remained enslaved a tangible model of life outside slavery. A few Virginia politicians even proposed schemes to rid the state of the institution for good. These included proposals for gradually phasing out slavery and sending emancipated slaves to a colony in Africa, but none were successful.

So those still enslaved resisted their bondage on their own. They created a sense of independence from whites by marrying, having children, and building communities. They slowed down their work, faked illnesses, disobeyed orders, destroyed crops and machinery, and ran away. They also, on occasion, directly challenged the plantation owners. By the turn of the century, there had been a handful of organized slave rebellions in America, but none were as ambitious as the one envisioned by a literate Virginia blacksmith named Gabriel. Gabriel was born on Brookfield, a tobacco plantation in Henrico County, Virginia, about six miles north of Richmond, the capital. Gabriel was one of more than 50 slaves on the

plantation, but unlike most, Gabriel was taught to read and write as a child. He began training as a blacksmith when he was about 10 years old. His literacy and position as a craftsman gave Gabriel a degree of status in his community. One observer characterized him as a fellow of courage and intellect above his rank in life. And by the time Gabriel was in his early twenties, he was also more than six feet tall, and his years of blacksmithing had made him strong. He had short hair and a long, striking face that was marred by scars and missing teeth. In 1798, Gabriel's owner Thomas Prosser died, leaving the Brookfield plantation to his 22-year-old son, Thomas Henry Prosser. The new

master was determined to maximize profits, so he hired out some of his skilled slaves. Both Gabriel and his older brother Solomon spent a few days each month blacksmithing in Richmond, contracting out their own labor, and paying Prosser a share of their wages. This practice was common in Virginia, although it was technically illegal. Laws passed to curb the practice were rarely enforced, though. Merchants and artisans depended on the cheap labor they got by hiring slaves, as opposed to white craftsmen, and it allowed slave owners like Prosser to earn extra income from their slaves' labor. Slaves themselves sometimes stood to benefit, too. By hiring himself out, Gabriel was able to gain not only money, but a sense of independence.

His labor often took him into Virginia's capital, Richmond, the center of the state's politics and manufacturing. It had been a thriving port where tobacco and manufactured goods were shipped to market on the James River. By the turn of the century, free and enslaved Blacks made up more than half of the city's population. They carved out independent lives, laboring alongside white workers in the city's wharves and warehouses. Gabriel worked and socialized with other hired slaves, free Blacks, and white laborers and artisans in Richmond. These groups forged close ties across racial lines,

especially as they shared their frustrations about the white merchants they labored under. But white Virginians felt threatened by the growing solidarity and visibility of their workers. Richmond police often raided the back alley taverns and grocery stores where black and white laborers mingled in an effort to keep them in check. In this environment, Gabriel developed a strong working-class identity. He grew frustrated with wealthy white merchants who cheated the laborers they profited off of. He wanted the right to all of his earnings, and he wanted to be free. In September 1799, Gabriel carried out his first major act of defiance.

He stole a pig. When his overseer at the Brookfield plantation caught him, he wrestled Gabriel to the ground, and Gabriel bit off the man's ear. Gabriel was jailed, put on trial, and found guilty of maiming a white man. He managed to escape the gallows through the legal loophole known as benefit of clergy, which granted release to any slave found guilty of a capital crime who could recite a Bible verse from memory. Gabriel thereby avoided execution, but he was jailed and publicly branded. The experience only intensified his hatred of Richmond whites and pushed him closer to violence.

Growing up in late 18th century Virginia, Gabriel was immersed in the language of liberty and natural rights. The famous patriot Patrick Henry was immersed in the language of liberty and natural rights. The famous patriot Patrick Henry was a close family friend of Gabriel's owner, and Gabriel took inspiration from Henry's passionate cry, Give me liberty or give me death. Eventually, he would fashion it into his own battle slogan, Death or Liberty. But models for black freedom went beyond mere words. Revolutions and unrest across the continent and in Europe

also loomed large in Gabriel's imagination. In 1791, slaves launched a revolt in Haiti, then a French colony known as Saint-Domingue. They killed thousands of whites on the island and burned plantations to the ground. They ultimately founded the world's first black republic. American newspapers covered the Haitian Revolution in detail, and it wasn't long before French plantation owners fleeing the violence arrived on U.S. shores. White Americans were terrified the rebellion would prove contagious,

sparking a similar mass slave insurrection in the United States. But for black Americans like Gabriel, the Haitian Revolution served as proof that enslaved people could overthrow their oppressors. Three years later, he drew inspiration from the new French Republic, which had been established following a bloody overthrow of France's absolute monarchy. In 1794, the new republic abolished slavery. In Richmond, Gabriel met French abolitionists who had aligned themselves with local artisans and the Democratic Republican Party in Virginia. Their bold ideas about black freedom radicalized Gabriel. In the decades following the American Revolution, Richmond's elite planter class had been gradually

replaced by merchants. These new wealthy merchants were mostly Federalists who advocated a strong national government and distrusted popular democracy. Middle and working-class artisans, in contrast, supported the Democratic-Republicans. This artisan class included master craftsmen as well as poorer apprentices and even slaves. They championed a more fair distribution of wealth and attacked Federalists for profiting off other men's labor. As he learned about these political debates among whites, Gabriel became more and more convinced that black freedom depended on taking down the ruling merchants. In the spring of 1800, Gabriel saw his opportunity, as Virginia's divisive political climate came to a head. It was an election year. The Federalists were battling against

the Democratic-Republicans for control of the Virginia General Assembly. On the national level, the looming presidential contest pitted Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson against the Federalist Vice President John Adams. The upcoming election sparked an intense rivalry among Richmond's white elites. The atmosphere got so heated that many thought Virginia was hurtling toward civil war. Gabriel aligned himself with the artisan Democratic-Republicans, but his true goal was to exploit the political divisions between whites. He hoped to take advantage of the rumored civil war to launch a rebellion that would end slavery and topple the Federalist merchant elite. Gabriel's brother Solomon later explained that the goals of the rebellion were to conquer the white people and possess ourselves of their property. This would

be a class revolt, as well as a racial one. All signs pointed to the upcoming election sparking chaos and division among white elites, creating the ideal climate for revolt. Gabriel revealed his plan to his brother Solomon and Ben, another enslaved man on the Brookfield plantation. Together, they began recruiting more men to Gabriel's cause. The time to fight for freedom, Gabriel felt, was finally near. Imagine it's May 1800.

You're standing in a blacksmith shop in Richmond, late at night. There's nothing but a single lantern to illuminate the darkness. You listen intently for passersby. You're expecting an apprentice carpenter to meet you at any moment. You're hoping to bring him into Gabriel's army. But you first have to make sure no one sees you. You can't risk getting caught. Hello?

Shh, keep your voice down. Did anyone follow you here? Not that I know of. You look the man up and down. He can't be older than 18 or 19. You wonder if he's ready for this. Can you keep a secret? He gives you a nervous glance, and his voice is shaky. Yes? You take a deep breath. This is the risk you have to take if

you're going to build out your army. The slaves are about to join together and fight white people for our freedom. The man's eyes widen in fear. He looks around to make sure no one is eavesdropping. Are you crazy? Even just saying those words could get us both killed. You shake your head. He's just an apprentice. He hasn't struggled under the merchants as long as you have. Aren't you sick of being cheated and underpaid by white people? And then when you don't bring your full wages to your master,

it's your word against the merchants. Just imagine if we could bring them all down and keep all of the money we earn ourselves. Well, of course I want the right to all my wages, but could it really work? Think about Saint-Domingue. The slaves there rose up against their masters and won. If it could work there, why not here? Don't we deserve to be free?

The young man looks uncertain. Think about what it was like to be his age, just wanting to prove you're not a coward. Maybe you're just not man enough. Bit of a scrawny thing, aren't you? I bet you couldn't wield a weapon anyway. He squares his shoulder and puffs out his chest. Oh, I can too. I'm stronger than I look. Tell me more. You smile. First, I have to swear you to an oath of silence. Do you promise not to reveal the secret to any man, woman, or child? I promise. We're meeting at Sam Byrd's house on Saturday night.

Remember, tell absolutely no one. Our lives depend on it. Your new recruit nods and leaves the shop. But as you watch him fade into the darkness, I wonder if you really can trust him to stay silent. Gabriel developed a detailed plan for his rebellion. First, he would kill his master, Thomas Henry Prosser. Then the rebels would arm themselves with swords and converge on the Brook Bridge

in between the Brookfield Plantation and Richmond. He predicted 1,000 men would join together to storm the capital square where they would acquire guns. Then, the rebels would take Governor James Monroe hostage to press their demands. One group would set a fire in the city's warehouse district as a diversion, while another stormed the Treasury. They would divide the money inside among the rebels. Gabriel was confident about his plot. Richmond was a majority black city, and Gabriel figured that once the rebels stormed the capital, other slaves and freedmen would be inspired to join them. He

believed the rebels would kill enough whites to force Richmond authorities to yield to them. But Gabriel didn't limit his rebel army to just black men. He told his fellow slaves that he expected the city's poor white people to join them as well. They, too, had something to gain by taking down the white ruling class. Gabriel outlined the rules of engagement. He warned that Quakers, Methodists, and Frenchmen were to be spared on account of those groups being friendly to liberty. Poor white women who owned those slaves would also go unharmed. By the spring of 1800, Gabriel was busy recruiting allies to his cause. Around the same time, word of a potential slave insurrection began spreading among whites in Richmond.

The rumors made their way as far as the governor's mansion. And in April, Governor James Monroe even mentioned these fears in a letter to Thomas Jefferson. But whisperings of slave revolts were common in Virginia society. Monroe was preoccupied with the spring elections. He ignored the rumors. His inaction would clear the way for a looming crisis.

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Governor James Monroe was a founding father, a slave owner, and a close friend and political ally of Thomas Jefferson. In the spring of 1800, Monroe was wrapped up with concern over the fate of the Democratic-Republican Party and Jefferson's candidacy for president. But that wasn't the only challenge confronting Monroe. That summer, he dealt with a severe yellow fever epidemic in Norfolk. He was also facing a family crisis. His infant son was seriously ill with whooping cough, and Monroe spent many hours traveling back and forth from the governor's mansion in Richmond to his home 70 miles away. The beleaguered governor had more pressing problems than what seemed to be paranoid talk of slave uprisings.

Meanwhile, Gabriel's rebellion was gaining steam. His work gave him the freedom to largely come and go as he pleased, and so Gabriel spent the spring of 1800 traveling around the Richmond area recruiting more followers. The first men he had told about his plan were his older brother Solomon and Ben, an 18-year-old slave on the Brookfield plantation. Both worked as blacksmiths alongside Gabriel, and they became his closest confidants. From there, Gabriel built out his inner circle, focusing on men who were skilled and had weak ties to their owners. Sam Bird Jr. was young, mixed race, intelligent, and valued for being more independent than

most enslaved men. He was owned by a widow who allowed him to hire out his time for most of the summer. Another Ben, Ben Woolfolk, was also an important rebel leader. The 18-year-old mixed-race slave was often hired out in Richmond, but Woolfolk's owner was so hands-off with him that he effectively moved through the world as a freedman. Gabriel was also attracted to Woolfolk because he was from Caroline County, more than 30 miles north of Richmond. To extend the reach of his plot, Gabriel needed recruiters with connections beyond Richmond and Henrico County. Jack Ditcher stood six foot five

inches tall, had a large scar over his eye, and was said to be as strong as any man in the state. Ditcher was an illiterate laborer, not a skilled craftsman like the others, but Gabriel valued him for his strength and his independence. Ditcher's owner had recently died, and he had been inherited by two infants. The lack of supervision gave Ditcher plenty of time to devote to Gabriel's plot. Gabriel and his deputies sought out potential recruits at all kinds of gatherings, from back alley taverns to Baptist religious services. State patrols were sporadic, and when law enforcement officers were on duty, the rebels avoided them by traveling through the woods. While most of these recruits were enslaved men, the rebel leaders also brought freedmen and a handful of trusted white Richmond

laborers into the conspiracy. Two Frenchmen who were radical abolitionists became leaders. No women were brought into the plot. Gabriel and his lieutenants were especially interested in slaves and freedmen who had access to weapons. But because very few men would be able to steal their master's swords and rifles, Gabriel and his brother Solomon put their blacksmithing skills to use, hammering swords out of scythes and other farm tools. Enslaved men who chose to join Gabriel's cause were taking an enormous risk. Rebellious activity was a capital crime for slaves, and as word spread, the high stakes prompted a divided response among the local enslaved population. Some eagerly joined the conspiracy. Gabriel enlisted two men near his plantation who

enthusiastically signed up, telling him, we will wade to our knees in blood sooner than fail in the attempt. Others were reluctant to endanger their lives, or they refused to talk to recruiters so they could later deny knowledge of the plot. Secrecy was a top concern. The recruiters took care to bring in men they felt they could trust. New rebels were sworn to oaths of secrecy, but as the rebel ranks grew, so did the danger that someone would reveal the plot. The recruiters focused their search on men like them, urban, skilled, independent, and largely unsupervised. These men had the most to gain from a revolt against white merchants. Enslaved men on plantations were much harder to reach. They were heavily supervised and cut off from city life. The rebel leaders, lacking connections to the countryside, struggled to bring their rural counterparts into the plot. Nevertheless, Gabriel

pushed for an ambitious plan, sending his men on clandestine missions throughout central Virginia towns. Sam Bird traveled to Petersburg, about 25 miles south of Richmond, where he successfully recruited numerous slaves and freedmen. One of the Petersburg conspirators then spread word east to Norfolk on the Virginia coast by relying on black boatmen who carried cargo up and down the James River. The recruiters also passed word north to Hanover and Carolyn counties and west to Louisa and Albemarle counties. Byrd recruited a black mail carrier to ferry messages between Richmond and Charlottesville, 65 miles to the northwest.

But Gabriel still felt the rebellion lacked manpower. They needed to be bolder. At the end of July, the conspirators started to recruit more openly. At a Sunday barbecue near the Brookfield plantation, Gabriel persuaded a number of illiterate fieldhands to join the fight for their liberty. Three weeks later, on August 10th, Gabriel and his men brought their message to a funeral for an enslaved child. At the end of the service,

they invited several of the attendees to join him for a drink at a nearby spring. Holding two of his homemade weapons, he explained his detailed plan for storming Richmond. He announced the rebels would take the city on the night of Saturday, August 30th. Some men expressed their doubts. Byrd tried to reassure them by informing him that he had committed 500 men to the cause. Gabriel added that the rebellion had hands enough to execute the project. He told the crowd that they would be joined by every freedman in Richmond, and many poor white people too. Gabriel then made his last pitch, asking all who wished to join him to stand up. As men rose, the recruiters made their way through the crowd, collecting signatures and marks on a piece of paper. Jack Ditcher whipped up support for the plan, shouting to the crowd,

We have as much right to fight for our liberty as any men. In the last few days of August, the rebel leaders finalized their plans, and Gabriel began secretly distributing the homemade swords he and his brother had fashioned. By then, some 500 to 1,000 men had joined the conspiracy and were ready to take up arms. Gabriel's rebellion would become the most far-reaching slave revolt in American history. But in mid-August, word again surfaced of a planned slave conspiracy. Richmond whites passed the information on to Governor Monroe. Once again confronted with impending elections and a personal crisis, Monroe ignored the warning.

When August 30th finally came, Gabriel and his followers were ready. But storm clouds were gathering over Richmond. Imagine it's August 30th, 1800. It's in the middle of the afternoon and you're out cutting hay on Meadow Farm, a few miles outside of Richmond. The air is humid and thick, and ominous clouds are gathering low in the sky. You spend your 27 years enslaved to the Shepherd family. Every day brings the same back-breaking routine. You cut row after row under Shepherd's watchful eye, the sun burning down on you. Today is different, though.

A few weeks ago, you were recruited into a plot to take over the capital. You've kept the plan secret, but now that the day has come, you have a gnawing feeling it will go terribly wrong. You turn to the man working beside you, a fellow slave named Tom. Hey, Tom, you heard about Gabriel's plan, haven't you? Tom gives you a surprised look. I thought that was just a rumor. You shake your head. Oh, it's more than a rumor. Those men are going to get themselves killed. You don't tell him that you're supposed to be one of them. It must seem easy for the men in town. They can read and write and roam through life unsupervised. They barely even see their masters. No doubt about that, Pharaoh. There's no hiding from the master on a farm this size. You think about the danger of this plot. What if you

get caught? You'll surely be killed. You hate to give up Gabriel, your neighbor, a man you've known your whole life. But you also hate the thought that your own son will never know freedom. Maybe there's another way. The choice is suddenly plain to you, your community, or your family. You feel a raindrop on your brow. Pause to look up at the darkening sky, praying for a sign. This doesn't look good. Nothing like a late summer storm in Virginia. Looks like the heavens are about to crack open. That's it. You've seen too many men get punished for disobedience. You know that if you die, there won't be anyone left to protect your wife and son. I'm going to see Shepard. I'll go with you.

You drop your scythe to the ground. A pair of you walk toward the house. Rain falls down your face as you think over your decision. A few years back, Shepard allowed one of the other hands to buy his freedom. Maybe he'll reward you, too. Then you could finally give your family the life they deserve. You're soaking wet by the time you enter the house. On the afternoon of August 30th, a violent rainstorm descended on the Richmond area. As the conspirators made their way to the rendezvous point at Brook Bridge, it soon became obvious that the downpour would make roads and bridges impassable. Only a handful of rebels who lived near the bridge had arrived. Gabriel and a few of his fellow leaders quickly talked things over. They had nowhere near enough men to launch the uprising,

yet a delay heightened the risk that authorities would discover the plot. They decided to postpone their plans until the next day, but they wouldn't get the chance. Two enslaved men named Pharaoh and Tom revealed the plot to their master, a farmer named Shepard. Shepard rushed off to the home of his neighbor, William Mosby, one of the men the rebels planned to kill. Mosby went off to spread word and gather reinforcements. He and a contingent of men roamed the area but saw nothing. Deciding Shepard must have been wrong, Mosby went home to bed.

But then, late at night, one of Mosby's own slaves entered his room and divulged the plot, revealing that the rebellion had been postponed until the next day. Now Mosby knew for sure that what Shepard had told him wasn't just a rumor. By noon on Sunday, Governor Monroe received word of the planned rebellion for a third time. This time, he knew he had to act. He immediately ordered that all weapons be removed from the Capitol and placed in Richmond's prison for safekeeping. Meanwhile, several Henrico County whites took matters into their own hands,

arming themselves and riding through the countryside in search of rebels. Ben, the enslaved blacksmith and co-conspirator on the Brookfield plantation, received word that the insurrection had blown. He rushed off to warn Gabriel and Jack Ditcher. So by the time a patrol of white men descended on Brookfield, Gabriel and Ditcher were nowhere to be found. In the coming days, Richmond's whites roamed the countryside in a mad rush to round up suspects and reassert control. The rebellion was over before it began, and Gabriel had vanished.

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One Richmond lawyer wrote a letter describing a strange sort of alarm that had transpired over the weekend, but he put it down to one or two restless villains, and not a general or even an extensive conspiracy. But as more information came to light, the true extent of the planned rebellion became clear and panic spread through Virginia's white population. It wasn't just the threat of murder that alarmed whites. Many falsely believed that rebel slaves sought to rape white women. These baseless fears inflamed white anger and drove local leaders to punish the rebels harshly. By September 9th, nearly 30 suspect rebels were locked in a Richmond jail where they awaited trial. The jailed rebels knew the punishment they faced was execution. Fear of certain death weighed heavily on them during those long days behind bars. And as trials began,

authorities offered a full pardon to a few slaves in exchange for testimony against others. In a choice between the gallows and becoming outcasts in their community, some chose the latter. Ben Woolfolk and Brookfield's Ben, both just 18 years old, provided key testimony that led to several convictions. Gabriel's brother Solomon was the first to be tried. His confession revealed the rebellion's scale. He told the court that Gabriel intended to subdue the whole of the country where slavery was permitted, but no further. Solomon was quickly convicted and sentenced to be hanged. These convicted rebels were hanged at the city gallows.

Public hangings were designed to entertain whites and terrorize blacks, demonstrating the fatal consequences of disobedience. Authorities also hanged some slaves on trees outside town, a crueler and slower death by asphyxiation. By mid-December, ten rebels had been executed, with dozens more waiting to be tried. The rising body count, though, troubled Monroe. He wrote to Thomas Jefferson to ask his opinion on whether mercy or severity was the best course. Jefferson advised the governor that there had been hanging enough, telling him, the other states and the world at large will forever condemn us if we indulge in a principle of revenge or go one step beyond absolute necessity. These founding fathers and former

revolutionaries were fully aware of the hypocrisy of the state executing men who sought their freedom. But in the end, restoring order was their primary concern. They decided to focus on making an example of the leaders of the planned revolt. Monroe had announced a $300 reward for Gabriel's capture. But as trials continued in Richmond, the man authorities wanted most remained elusive. Imagine it's September 14, 1800. You're the captain of the schooner Mary on the James River. There's nowhere you'd rather be.

You used to be an overseer on a plantation, but that feels like a lifetime ago. Now you try your best to follow the word of God and the Methodist church. Plus you love the freedom and independence of a life on the water. But today you haven't been feeling well. You've just retired to your quarters to get some rest. Ah, what is it? One of your crewmen, a slave for hire named Billy, enters the room. Captain, we just brought a man aboard. He wants passage to Norfolk. He claims to be a freedman, but I think he's lying. What do you mean he's lying? I think he's actually Gabriel,

the slave the authorities are after. How can you be sure? I recognized him from my time in Richmond. He's the man the reward was offered for, $300. Hmm, show him to me. You follow Billy out of your quarters and up the ladder to the main deck. You set your eyes on a tall, dark-skinned man wearing filthy cotton breeches and a coarse woven shirt, both soaking wet.

He must have swam aboard. He looks exhausted and nervous all at once. You there, what's your name? Daniel, sir. I'm a freedman bound from Norfolk. Is that so? Show me your freedom papers. The man shifts his gaze. My papers? I left them in town. That's hard to believe. It's illegal for freedmen to travel without their papers. Look at the man standing before you, who's just put his life in your hands. Billy steps forward. What are you going to do, sir? You suspect that Billy is right, that this is the rebel ringleader. Sir, we need to turn him in. You think about the words of John Weasley, the founder of your church. Give liberty to whom liberty is due, to every child of man. Away with all whips, all chains, all compulsion.

Be gentle toward all men. You know this is a risk, but you have to do what you believe is right. You nod at the fugitive and turn toward your first mate. Set sail, downriver. On September 14th, Gabriel boarded a schooner on the James River bound for Norfolk. The captain of the ship permitted him to stay aboard even though one of his crewmen, a slave named Billy, identified Gabriel. The fugitive passed the next nine days in relative safety. But the $300 reward Governor Monroe had promised for Gabriel's capture was still up for

grabs. For an enslaved man like Billy, the amount would be life-changing, enough to secure his own freedom. So when the ship docked in Norfolk, Billy alerted the authorities to Gabriel's presence himself. Gabriel was promptly arrested. The Norfolk Herald reported that Gabriel manifested the greatest affirmness of composure, showing not the least disposition to equivocate or screen himself from justice.

Norfolk constables escorted Gabriel back to Richmond. Billy's cooperation, however, failed to earn him the reward he'd been hoping for. Even though his actions led to Gabriel's capture, the authorities only granted him $50, far less than what he needed to buy his freedom. When Gabriel arrived in Richmond, he was paraded through town before massive crowds. He was put in solitary confinement for more than a week and then tried on October 6th of charges of conspiracy and insurrection. Several witnesses attested to Gabriel's responsibility

in organizing the plot. Gabriel himself refused to speak. He was quickly declared guilty and sentenced to be executed. Gabriel asked for a three-day delay to October 10th so that he could have the small comfort of being hanged alongside four of his friends. The justices agreed, but when the day came, authorities broke their promise. Gabriel was hanged alone.

In total, 65 men were tried over two months. Ultimately, 26 were executed and one man committed suicide in jail. Eventually, unease over the executions and the hefty cost of compensating the slave owners for their lost property led the state to transport the remaining conviction slaves to other states. Jack Ditcher was one of them. He turned himself in after hearing of Gabriel's capture. Most of the remaining conspirators were likely sold far away to the harsher plantations of Spanish Louisiana. Only a very few men were pardoned, including Ben Wolfeck, the young recruiter who had testified against several rebels.

And for Farrow and Tom, who had first tipped off authorities to the plot, the state rewarded them with their freedom. Gabriel's failed rebellion stunned the nation and left a long shadow over Virginia. Forty percent of the state's population was enslaved at the turn of the century. Prominent leaders, including Monroe and Jefferson, believed the presence of a large, oppressed population posed a major risk. They knew that slaves were capable of mounting an elaborate and violent revolt like the one in Haiti. They were terrified it could happen in the U.S. John Randolph, a powerful congressman and Virginia plantation owner,

summed up white fears about the danger lurking in their midst, writing in a letter, White fears reinvigorated old arguments over slavery. Between 1801 and 1805, the Virginia Assembly secretly debated options to gradually emancipate slaves and return them to Africa. President Jefferson even got involved making inquiries abroad to try to establish a colony, but these efforts failed due to a lack of money and popular support. Many freedmen also strongly opposed the idea. A writer in the Virginia Herald summarized the problem, asking readers, Shall we abolish slavery or shall we continue it? There is no middle course to steer.

So, faced with the difficulty of ending slavery outright, state lawmakers instead chose to continue and expand it. Their changes after Gabriel's rebellion helped to transform slavery into a formidable institution that dominated Southern society. The legislature beefed up the state militia, and Richmond authorities established a guard to police Blacks back in the Capitol. Virginia prohibited nighttime slave gatherings, Black churches became subject to strict oversight,

and the state cracked down on hiring out, the practice that had made Gabriel and his collaborators so independent. Lawmakers also restricted the activities of freedmen. Hoping to cut off communication within the black community, the state banned freedmen from working on boats, and in 1806, Virginia passed a law requiring all new freedmen to leave the state within a year of being emancipated to prevent freedmen from posing a dangerous model to those still in captivity. At the turn of the century, many white politicians called slavery an evil institution,

but they failed to end it and often put in place policies to expand and protect it. Increasingly, whites across the South convinced themselves that slavery was a positive good for society and worked hard to secure it. Though no whites were killed in Gabriel's rebellion, Southerners were haunted by nightmarish visions of a successful slave insurrection for decades to come.

But enslaved men and women would never forget Gabriel's daring fight for freedom. A week before Gabriel was hanged, another slave was born, 70 miles away in the isolated backwater of Southampton County, Virginia. Reclusive and deeply religious, he was visited by strange visions that convinced him he had to act out against slavery. He would go on to launch a deadly rebellion, one that would shake Virginia's ruling class to its core. Next on American History Tellers, a preacher named Nat Turner organizes the bloodiest slave revolt in U.S. history, launching brutal reprisals and deepening national divisions over slavery.

From Wondering, this is American History Tellers. If you'd like to learn more about Gabriel's Rebellion, we can recommend a book we drew on for this episode, Gabriel's Rebellion, The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800 and 1802 by Douglas Eagerton. If you like American history tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship.

Sound design by Derek Behrens. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton, edited by Dorian Marina. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marshall Louis. Created by Hernán López for Wondery. I'm Tristan Redman, and as a journalist, I've never believed in ghosts. But when I discovered that my wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next door to where I grew up, I started wondering about the inexplicable things that happened in my childhood bedroom. When I tried to find out more, I discovered that someone who slept in my room after me, someone I'd never met, was visited by the ghost of a faceless woman. So I started digging into the murder in my wife's

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