Summary Of Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion Of 1739

Beginning in the eighteenth century, a collection of thirteen fledgling British colonies were undergoing immense changes while struggling with the divisive institution of slavery. Their brutally enforced labor became invaluable in agricultural areas and their population grew, often becoming the majority of many counties in the south. Looking back at this barbaric practice, it would seem inevitable slaves would frequently push back against their bondage through violent protests and uprisings. Author Peter Charles Hoffer’s book, Cry Liberty: The Great Stono River Slave Rebellion of 1739 takes a closer look at such an event. He argues that despite the mainstream view of the rebellion, its origin was not one of premeditated revolt. The book also

In 1739, a project was started on a branch of the Stono river which involved a group of slaves forced to dig drains to open up more land for rice growers. Due to the project’s urgency for completion, the slaves would be denied rest in the punishing summer heat. Instead, these slaves, “perhaps as many as two dozen, surely knew that long, hard, and unrelieved labor stretched before them” (65). The author asserts how an event unfolding is dependant on the decisions and situation that precede it, and so the Stono rebellion was surely contingent on the horrible conditions the slaves were working

Over the course of the night the slaves, growing in numbers as other joined, covered many miles, resulting in a dozen homes being burnt to the ground and twice that number in whites killed (99). Morning found them marching to the beat of two drums down the Pon Pon road toward the freedom of Florida while crying out “liberty” (96). A small riding party that included Lieutenant Governor William Bull stumbled across the band of rebels. They fled to warn and dispatch the local militia who eventually caught the celebrating group off guard in a field. The consequent battle resulted in the end of the rebellion, but not without heavy casualties on both sides. The following weeks and months involved tracking down the slaves that escaped. Some ended up being executed, including the ones that went back to their plantations hoping their absence hadn’t been noticed. Others were awarded for defending their masters during the night of