Gabriel’s Conspiracy, 1800
A slave named Gabriel hatched a plot and revolt that was truly emblematic of his time. Gabriel was born in 1776 on the Prosser plantation, six miles north of Richmond, VA. He was an endearing and powerful figure, an over 6 feet skilled blacksmith who dressed in fine clothes.
He could read and write where only 5 per cent of Southern slaves were literate. Historians say he was “spurred on by two liberty-minded French soldiers he met in a tavern, Gabriel began to formulate a plan, enlisting his brother Solomon and another servant on the Prosser plantation in his fight for freedom. Word quickly spread to Richmond, other nearby towns and plantations and well beyond to Petersburg and Norfolk, via free and enslaved blacks who worked the waterways. Gabriel took a tremendous risk in letting so many black people learn of his plans: It was necessary as a means of attracting supporters, but it also exposed him to the possibility of betrayal.”
Gabriel rallied at least 1,000 slaves to his banner of “Death or Liberty,” and marched to Richmond to take the armory and hold Gov. James Monroe hostage until the merchant class bent to the rebels’ demands of equal rights for all. He planned his uprising for August 30 and made it well known.
Unfortunately, the weather conditions among other factors, including the loss of some of his followers, meant that his plot failed. Gabriel and several co-conspirators were captured, and twenty-five African Americans, worth about $9,000 or so — money valuable to cash-strapped Virginia – were hanged and Gabriel set to the gallows and executed.
