Gabriel's Rebellion Slave Rebellion

Gabriel’s Rebellion, a slave rebellion against the oppressive white government, tested the legal authority of Virginia. Gabriel founded his rebellion on the basis of annihilating slavery and gaining rights as a free man. Though, he progressed further than any other attempt at a slave rebellion had, he had the misfortune of being unsuccessful. Rather than the end of slavery, the rebellion saw the end of Gabriel Prosser. He had planned a three wave attack on the city of Richmond, but before he could carry out his plan one of his co-conspirators gave him up, resulting in thirty to forty public hangings (May, 244). Gabriel was objecting the lack of representation of African American rights in society. His claim was supported by the Decleration

If a slave rebellion were to occur, it would alter the entire Southern way of life. Therefore, the Southern governments took certain precautions to avoid such an incident. A prime example would be the law passed in 1800 by the South Carolina legislature, which outlawed religious meetings of African Americans (May, 245). This law is a demonstration of how far the government will take their legal authority for what they consider the good of society.

The Pullman Strike, a rebellion against the big business and monopolization of George Pullman, tested the legal authority the government has over labor unions. In 1800, George Pullman, founder of Pullman’s Palace Car Company, created the town of Pullman, Illinois to house his employees (Bassett, 34). Everything was well in the town of Pullman until an economic depression hit, which resulted in the termination of “two-thirds of its workforce and severely cut wages” (Bassett, 34).

This overstep of power is demonstrated in the aftermath of both Gabriel’s Rebellion and the Pullman Strike. In response to Gabriel’s Rebellion the government tightened its control on African Americans in order to prevent any change in their social status. Furthermore, the governments interference oppressed the African Americans in order to preserve the white supremacy in the southern states. The government upheld this status because, at the time of the strike, any other social hierarchy was seen as incorrect and unholy. Moreover, in response to the Pullman Strike the courts issued an injunction to prevent the continuation of the strike. This injunction impeded on George Pullman’s employees’ rights to negotiate for fair wages because their strike was seen as disturbing the normal way of life. Furthermore, the injunction prevented any labor unions from supporting the employee’s struggle for fair wages or living conditions. This is an example of the government exploiting its rights to legal authority because their ruling prevented a progressive change in society. Rather, the government chose to uphold the old way of life because they saw it as what was morally and legally