The Stono Rebellion: Crash Course Black American History #6 - Free Educational videos for Students in K-12

The Stono Rebellion: Crash Course Black American History #6 - By CrashCourse

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00:0-1	Hi , I'm Clint smith and this is crash course
00:02	black american history , as we mentioned before , enslaved
00:05	people resisted their condition in a range of different ways
00:09	. Oftentimes those ways were small and personal , slowing
00:13	down the pace of work , pretending to be sick
00:16	, purposefully misplacing your tools , things that might slow
00:19	down the efficiency of the system and give back to
00:22	the enslave some small sense of agency . There were
00:25	also times when that resistance took on larger , more
00:29	dramatic forms mike with slave uprisings and rebellions . We
00:33	should note that notions of what constitutes as a successful
00:36	versus an unsuccessful rebellion are often subjective , unhelpful ,
00:41	gendered and can really obfuscate the significance of the fact
00:44	that such a rebellion took place at all . Still
00:48	some of these uprisings have taken on notable historical significance
00:52	and today we're going to talk about one of those
00:55	and that's the stone of rebellion . Large plantations where
01:07	black people outnumbered the white people who enslaved them .
01:10	We're not at all uncommon to slavery in the Americas
01:13	. This was especially true in south Carolina , where
01:15	the colony was built on the demands of cash crop
01:17	production , raising cash crops like tobacco and rice gave
01:21	rise to plantations that were designed to grow as much
01:23	of that valuable crop as possible and what those plantations
01:27	needed more than anything was labour . The heavy reliance
01:31	on slavery in the southern colonial economy resulted in a
01:34	vast expansion of the practice in south Carolina . The
01:37	high demand for enslaved labor led to a black majority
01:40	in the colony and by the year 17 40 slavery
01:44	in the colonies was no longer characterized only by african
01:47	captives , but had grown to include black people who
01:50	were born on american soil . The population of black
01:52	people in south Carolina had risen to approximately 40,000 compared
01:57	to 20,000 white people , making black people . About
02:00	two thirds of the colonies , entire population . Moreover
02:04	, ships were still bringing large numbers of african captives
02:06	into south Carolina , adding to the growing enslaved population
02:10	there and its demographics of the colony continued to change
02:14	. My planters began to worry about being so outnumbered
02:17	and about the potential of violent resistance , but instead
02:20	of , I don't know , deciding that slavery was
02:23	an unethical and morally unsustainable enterprise , they just decided
02:26	to fight potential fire with fire . In response to
02:30	the growing numbers of enslaved black people in the colony
02:32	. In August of 1739 , South Carolina passed the
02:36	Security Act requiring all white men to carry firearms to
02:39	church . Each sunday before this act , it wasn't
02:42	customary for white men in south Carolina to take their
02:45	weapons to church , and also on Sundays , black
02:48	people regularly worked unsupervised , but these planters wanted to
02:52	be ready at a moment's notice anywhere they went to
02:55	protect themselves from the enslaved people who they were worried
02:58	might turn on them . But notably , this act
03:01	was passed before the Stone of Rebellion took place and
03:04	it wouldn't go into effect for another few weeks ,
03:06	estan or rebellion took place in that interim period .
03:09	Also heightening the generalized sense of white fear in south
03:12	Carolina was the spanish threat brewing . Nearby spanish control
03:16	of florida . And although they also practiced slavery ,
03:19	the spanish were intent on disrupting colonial life in the
03:22	english territory . So the spanish further disrupted the racial
03:26	dynamics in the english colony by issuing a proclamation that
03:29	with only a few stipulations , including converting to Catholicism
03:33	, spain would grant freedom to any black person who
03:35	can make it to ST Augustine florida . Many captives
03:38	coming to Charlestown , which is present day charleston came
03:41	from areas in west central africa , where the Portuguese
03:44	had spread their language and religious beliefs and many of
03:47	them Would have been aware of . The 1733 offer
03:50	a growing black population , including some African natives not
03:53	yet fully accustomed to plantation culture . In combination with
03:56	the Spanish offer created the perfect storm for the stone
03:59	oh rebellion to take place . This insurrection would become
04:03	the largest the colony would ever face and one of
04:06	the bloodiest in the United States history . Let's go
04:09	to the thought bubble stone . No rebellion which erupted
04:11	on Sunday nine September 1739 was led by an enslaved
04:15	man named jimmy jimmy and those who fought alongside him
04:19	chose sunday to revolt because they believed that it presented
04:23	the best conditions to actually pull this thing off .
04:25	Given that all of the planters and their families were
04:28	at church and the enslaved were working largely unsupervised .
04:31	We don't know too much about jimmy . Historical records
04:34	suggest that he was from what is now Angola and
04:37	many enslaved Africans who came to Carolina from Angola where
04:41	in fact trained soldiers who had fought in the region
04:43	civil war and who had experience with guns and jimmy
04:47	May have been able to read Portuguese and Spanish ,
04:50	which increases the likelihood that he would have heard of
04:53	the 1733 Spanish proclamation starting with just 20 enslaved people
04:57	, Jimmy and the group acquired guns and ammunition by
05:00	raiding a warehouse and marched up the stone of riverbanks
05:03	carrying banners that plainly read liberty as they marched south
05:08	. Others , seeing what was happening , dropped their
05:11	tools and joined the group . By nightfall , the
05:14	crowd swelled to nearly 100 black people willing to risk
05:17	it all for their freedom . The rebels hoped to
05:19	make their way to ST Augustine to gain their freedom
05:21	or just 10 miles later , when they reach the
05:24	Edisto River , white colonists overtook them , Killing an
05:27	estimated 30 rebels . While some initially escaped , many
05:31	were ultimately captured and executed . Others were sold and
05:35	shipped off to the caribbean . As for jimmy ,
05:39	historians aren't really sure what happened to him . He's
05:42	lost to the missing pages of history . Thanks thought
05:45	bubble . These attacks weren't haphazard or indiscriminate . Many
05:49	of the rebels had specific ideas of who they wanted
05:52	to attack and who they didn't . As a result
05:55	, some white people were spared along the way .
05:57	A local tavern owner , for example , known to
06:00	be relatively kind to his laborers was intentionally left alone
06:04	. Some of the enslaved even protected therein slavers from
06:07	the violence . one group shielded a Quaker man named
06:11	Thomas Elliot by hiding him from the rebels as they
06:14	approach the stone or rebellion was a moment of clarity
06:17	for south Carolina authorities and they wanted to make sure
06:21	that something like this would never happen again . But
06:24	again , it's telling that they did not come to
06:26	the conclusion that maybe slavery and the idea of holding
06:30	large groups of people in intergenerational chattel bondage was actually
06:33	the real problem . Instead , they blame the enslaved
06:37	and they blame the spanish . The south Carolina government
06:41	claimed that the negroes would not have made this insurrection
06:45	had they not depended on ST Augustine for a place
06:48	of reception . Afterwards , following the rebellion , South
06:51	Carolina's House of Assembly passed a law called an act
06:54	for the better ordering and governing of negros and other
06:57	slaves in this province . And if this sounds like
07:00	the slave codes we mentioned previously , you're right .
07:04	It does . The legislation enacted by the south Carolina
07:07	House of Assembly became another legal avenue to block Africans
07:11	from obtaining any rights or liberties among the new statutes
07:15	of limitations was a policy that made it illegal for
07:18	enslaved people to learn how to read and write .
07:21	Throughout the era of slavery , Planters wanted to prevent
07:24	enslaved people from learning to read and write for a
07:26	range of different reasons in this case , jimmy and
07:30	his compatriots proud display of their liberty banner , as
07:33	well as their knowledge of the spanish policy , prove
07:36	that there were dangerous consequences for white planters who allowed
07:40	their laborers to become literate . This idea would remain
07:42	relevant more than 100 years later , In his 1845
07:46	memoir , Frederick Douglass , the formerly enslaved writer order
07:51	and abolitionists quoted his own enslave er on the subject
07:54	of literacy and enslaved people . If you teach him
07:57	how to read , there would be no keeping him
08:00	. It would forever unfit him to be a slave
08:03	. He would at once become unmanageable and of no
08:06	value to his master . This was an existential fear
08:10	for the planters , who feared that literacy would allow
08:14	enslaved people to recognize words , written clues and directions
08:17	that could help them develop plans to escape . They
08:19	even worried that the enslaved might forge freedom papers ,
08:23	which were official documents , that free black people needed
08:25	to prove their free status as they could be stopped
08:28	and questioned by suspecting whites at any time . White
08:30	and slavers also enforced illiteracy to ensure that enslaved people
08:35	couldn't form their own interpretations of biblical texts . Because
08:39	many whites used the idea of evangelism and bringing Christianity
08:42	to enslave people as justification for their enslavement . Many
08:46	labourers were required to attend church services and listen to
08:49	sermons that interpreted scripture to mean that God intended for
08:52	Africans to be enslaved to Europeans , and that obedience
08:56	to one's enslave er was necessary for them to get
08:59	into heaven . So the thinking was if enslaved people
09:02	learn how to read and write , they might come
09:04	to understand that these preachings that they had heard from
09:06	their own slavers , we're actually being manipulated to serve
09:09	their own ideological ends . And to put the cherry
09:11	on top schools were established in south Carolina to indoctrinate
09:16	enslaved people with this ideologically infused interpretation of Christianity .
09:21	These schools taught black people to believe that the institution
09:25	of slavery was ordained by God and should not be
09:28	challenged . This message was disseminated in hopes of discouraging
09:33	any further violent rebellion . Authorities in south Carolina also
09:37	created new policies that they hope might shift the demographics
09:40	of the state , according to historian Peter would ,
09:43	After this , don't know , rebellion . Slave importations
09:46	were cut by nearly 90% during the 1740s and policies
09:50	were put in place to encourage immigration from europe ,
09:53	with the goal of increasing the white population in the
09:56	colony , There were also some half hearted attempts to
09:59	improve , if you can even call it , that
10:02	the treatment of enslaved people planters could be penalized for
10:05	especially cruel punishment and for imposing excessive work . Legislators
10:10	hope that the improved conditions might reduce the chances of
10:13	another rebellion . But the phrases , cruel punishment and
10:18	excessive work should be understood in context , treating enslaved
10:23	people with less cruelty continuing to keep them enslaved isn't
10:29	really an act of benevolence . Therefore , we should
10:32	be careful to note that these stipulations did not make
10:35	slavery more humane . In south Carolina , slavery is
10:40	still slavery . The record of the Stone Oh ,
10:42	Rebellion highlights the courage and bravery of enslaved black people
10:46	who are willing to go to extreme lengths to gain
10:49	their freedom . And I guess when you put it
10:51	that way , it's not so different from the stories
10:53	we've long been told of americans who are willing to
10:56	sacrifice their lives for the prospect of liberty , Those
11:00	who led and participated in the stoning a rebellion .
11:03	We're not the first to rebel violently against slavery in
11:05	the colonies and would certainly not be the last .
11:08	And remember trying to determine whether a rebellion was successful
11:12	or not kind of misses the point . The stone
11:16	of rebellion isn't important because of its relative success or
11:19	failure . It's important because it is emblematic of a
11:22	resistance that will echo throughout the history of slavery .
11:25	I hope you'll keep this in mind as we continue
11:27	to celebrate the myriad forms of resistance that black americans
11:31	have exhibited over time . Thanks for watching . I'll
11:35	see you next time Crash course Black american history is
11:38	made with the help of all these nice people and
11:40	our animation team is thought Cafe Crash course is a
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