slave revolts
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So, What Exactly Does One Wear to a Slave Rebellion Reenactment, Anyway?
Last weekend, realizing of the vision of artist Dread Scott, hundreds of volunteers—in costume as 19th-century enslaved people—marched 26 miles to New Orleans’s French Quarter in a reenactment of the Louisiana Slave Rebellion. The rebellion, which occurred on Jan. 8, 1811, and was suppressed by white militia two days later, was the largest slave uprising…
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White Tears Attempt to Drown Out the True History of Louisiana Plantation: 'Very Racist. If You're White, Don't Go'
In today’s edition of white people whitepeopling, I’d like to introduce you to the Whitney Plantation in Wallace, La., where visitors are encouraged to partake in a guided tour of “the only plantation museum in Louisiana with an exclusive focus on the lives of enslaved people,” according to its website. Yet despite its obvious premise,…
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Preserving Evidence of the Nation’s Slave-Holding Past Can Sometimes Prove Difficult as the US Commemorates 400th Anniversary of the 1st Enslaved Africans at Jamestown, Va.
As the country this year commemorates the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans being brought to what was then the outpost of Jamestown in the colony of Virginia, history buffs and historians alike say physical evidence of the brutal trade that built this nation and of the people who fought to end it is…
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3 Times American Slaves Did Rebel
There’s been a lot of talk about slavery lately, and sadly, some of it is wildly misinformed. For the record, enslaved black folks didn’t choose to be shackled, torn from their families, then bought and sold in the U.S., only to be tortured by slave owners. And some of them fought back.At minimum, there were…
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Tracing Your Roots: How Did My Ancestor Escape Slavery?
In revisiting the story of black refugees to Trinidad, we came across the tale of a foiled slave rebellion in Maryland. Dear Professor Gates: I am a Trinidadian who has been searching for information on my ancestor Henry Ransom, a black Colonial Marine who joined with the British in 1814 and was resettled in 5th…