Denmark Vesey

rdf:langString Denmark Vesey

rdf:langString Denmark Vesey

rdf:langString Photo of the Denmark Vesey Monument

rdf:langString Monument to Denmark Vesey in Hampton Park, Charleston, South Carolina

rdf:langString Convicted of plotting a slave revolt

rdf:langString Black-American, possibly of Coromantee or Mandé ancestry

rdf:langString Interpreter, domestic servant, carpenter, and pastor

rdf:langString Telemaque

rdf:langString Denmark Vesey (also Telemaque) (c. 1767 – July 2, 1822) was an early 19th century free Black and community leader in Charleston, South Carolina, who was accused and convicted of planning a major slave revolt in 1822. Although the alleged plot was discovered before it could be realized, its potential scale stoked the fears of the antebellum planter class that led to increased restrictions on both slaves and free blacks. Likely born into slavery in St. Thomas, Vesey was enslaved by Captain Joseph Vesey in Bermuda for some time before being brought to Charleston. There, Vesey won a lottery and purchased his freedom around the age of 32. He had a good business and a family, but was unable to buy his first wife Beck and their children out of slavery. Vesey worked as a carpenter and became active in the Second Presbyterian Church. In 1818 he helped found an independent African Methodist Episcopal (AME) congregation in the city, today known as Mother Emanuel. The congregation began with the support of white clergy, and with over 1,848 members rapidly became the second-largest AME congregation in the nation. In the summer of 1822, Vesey allegedly used his substantial influence among the black community to plan a major slave revolt. According to the accusations, Vesey and his followers planned to kill slaveholders in Charleston, liberate the slaves, and sail to the newly independent black republic of Haiti for refuge. By some contemporary accounts, the revolt would have involved thousands of slaves in the city as well as others who lived on nearby plantations. City officials sent a militia to arrest the plot's leaders and many suspected followers before the rising could begin, and no white people were killed or injured. Vesey and five slaves were rapidly judged guilty by the secret proceedings of a city-appointed court and executed by hanging on July 2, 1822. Vesey was about 55 years old. In later proceedings, some 30 additional followers were also executed. Another group, including his son Sandy, were convicted of conspiracy and deported from the United States. City authorities ordered that Vesey's church should be razed and its minister was expelled from the city.

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