Colonial Era

The last great colonial power in "the New World" was the British. The Fife & Drum corps symbolized their presence. During the Revolutionary War, under Lord Cornwallis, they occupied Camden, South Carolina with fortifications along Flat Rock Road.

After being pushed back by the Colonials at Virginia, Britain's Lord Cornwallis moved his forces to Yorktown. After heavy fighting, the British surrendered on October 19, 1781.

Colonial re-enactment _ Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia 2010 

Within our community, the British occupation gave rise to legendary tales about "the Little coloured drummer boys" who marched behind the fife players into battle: 

 In 1972,or so, my mother gave me this photo of the little drummer boy as a college graduation present. She said that little mama(Amelia Evans Greene) told her of the legend, and that she supposed that someone must have told her.

I've held on to it ever since. 

the Negro in the 20th Century_revisited

  I had been staring at this Gibson Crockett cartoon for nearly a decade before I realized that it wasn't Nixon, but Johnson who controlled the "silent majority".

In the "emotionalism" of the 60s we had overlooked the man in charge; the straw that stirred the political pot.

His decision to not seek re-election in February of 68' had created somewhat of a "mental block"; causing us to disassociate the subsequent chain of events with his presidency.

Political Satire: Back in the Day

    

Aside from appearing in the Washington Post, the cartoon appeared in one of my under-grad texts:

The Negro in 20th Century America_ by John Hope Franklin and Isidore Starr, published by Vintage Books(1967).

Now satirist are suppose to be funny; but their cartoons often took on sinister overtones, particularly when presented in the classroom setting:

This one got my attention quick; recognizing that many a truths are spoken in jest.  

Within the Numerican Nation, the Church was considered sanctuary; beyond Master Jack's grasp. 

Black History Month / the Denmark Vesey Conspiracy_ 1822

According to Yates Snowden, LL.D. , editor of five volumes on the History of South Carolina; in June of 1822 Denmark Vesey, and 34 co-conspirators, were arrested in Charlestown, S.C. and charged with "attempting to raise an insurrection among the blacks against the whites":

...Two courts were formed for the trial of the conspirators,... Of about 150 cases brought before the first court for trial, 34 were condemned to death and 37 to transportation beyond the limits of the State. Among those who received the death sentence were Denmark Vesey,...Peter Poyas,...and Gullah Jack...

 In the 2nd court one (1) was sentenced to death, 7 to transportation, and the remaining accused were dismissed.

The trials lasted from the 17th of June to the 8th of August, 1822. And of the negroes convicted, 35 received the death sentence, and 34 were banished from the State.

Of those hanged,... three were Governor Bennett's slaves...Vesey and Poyas met their death with firmness, refusing to make any statement whatsoever.

                                                  (Volume I, page 557)

What makes Denmark Vesey a hero is the fact that he was a "Free" man who dared speak of freedom, irrespective of color, during a period of institutionalized slavery.

How wide spread his message was, we do not know: Not much beyond the Charleston Harbor area would be an educated guess.

The State Legislature approved the manumission of one Peter Desverneys for  disclosing the Denmark Vesey Conspiracy (1 man freed, 35 hanged).

Further evidence that the conspiracy, to the extent that there was one, was not very wide.

The nature of slavery was such that a slave would sell-out his own mother, if it meant freedom. The fact that only one individual was set free, further speaks to a limited conspiracy; if any.

Compare/Contrast this to the "conclusions" of John Napp & Wayne King in their book United States History, published in 1998 by American Guidance Services,                Inc. and used in traditional Middle School classrooms:

...Having heard of a possible revolt by the slaves of that city, the authorities prepared for trouble. A group of 9,000 people led by freed slave Denmark Vesey had planned to attack several South Carolina cities...

Update on Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 11:37AM by [JL Harris]

For a  little more indepth treatment of "the Denmark Vesey Conspiracy" see Larry Koger's Black Slaveowners, Chapter 9.

The disappointing aspect of this account (Koger's) is that, like Professor Snowden, it starts with a false premise (that a conspiracy existed), and projects from there:

It ask you to believe that an ignorant(no common language) enslaved people was capable of striking fear in the hearts and minds of a well armed militia.

The hanging of Denmark Vesey and his alleged co-conspirators was a shocking reminder, to the colored people, of what happens to anybody dreaming of freedom:

The third step in the training of slaves was to awe them with a sense of their master's enormous power.

 The only principle upon which slavery could be maintained, reported a group of Charlestonians, was the "principle of fear".

[See Chapter 4: To Make Them Stand in Fear, of Professor Stampp's book The Peculiar Institution]

Now revisit the Sixties and take an objective look at the implications of the death of Martin Luther King.

Port of Charleston, S. C. (revisited)

While coaching Wrestling afforded many teachable moments;  history just seemed to come alive, whenever we visited the harbor area of Charleston:

_Charleston was known as Charles Town, and/or Charlestown, during the Colonial Era (the major slave trading port of the Carolinas).

_Beginning about 1783 the old name (Charles Town) disappears from the geographical nomenclature of South Carolina, and shortly thereafter Columbia was designated as the state capitol.

_Charleston was/is located in the "low country", while Columbia is "up-country".

_The "Denmark Vesey Conspiracy" occurred just south of the city:

   Denmark Vesey, Gullah Jack, Peter Poyas, Monday Gell, and 30 others were hanged, 1822, for conspiring against "massur jac"...ie. they wanted to walk free.

The captioned photo was taken at the Charleston harbor during a visit in the Summer of 2001:

We were in town for a wrestling camp hosted by the Citadel. Rather than drive the 140 miles (each way) from Kershaw, we stayed at local hotels, and toured Charleston during our spare time.