Gabriel Prosser's Revolt

Gabriel Prosser was an enslaved African who was born in approximately 1775 in Henrico County, Virginia, and belonged to Thomas Henry Prosser, owner of the Brookfield Plantation on which Gabriel Prosser lived. Gabriel Prosser has been described as literate and religious; he was also a skilled blacksmith, which allowed him to leave the plantation more frequently than unskilled Africans could. His status among other enslaved Africans notwithstanding, Gabriel Prosser had no tolerance for the slave system, and he took every opportunity to vigorously challenge it—especially for routinely meting out capital punishment for the least infraction. Thus Prosser and his brother Solomon were brought to trial for threatening the life and property of a white man, who then brought suit against the brothers' owner. While Gabriel Prosser received a rare judgment in that he was not hanged, he was branded on his left hand and held in jail. Still, he continued his defiance against the slave system, and at the age of 24 he planned one of the largest and most highly organized slave revolts in North America.

Prosser, inspired by the Haitian Revolution, developed the plans for a systematic uprising that was ultimately to include over 1,000 enslaved Africans in the area of Richmond, Virginia. He selected this area because of the large numbers of enslaved Africans there who would be available to join the insurrection. Prosser assessed the enslaved African population as many times larger than the white community (estimated at 32,000 and 8,000, respectively). He planned the revolt strategically, holding numerous meetings that included his wife Nanny, his brothers Martin and Solomon, and Jack Bowler. Prosser's team of insurgents planned to collect various weapons and strike at harvest time to ensure a good food supply. They established guidelines for approaching the enemy and reducing the number of civilian casualties. The guidelines instructed the rebelling slaves not to kill elderly women, children, the poor, or religious persons who were deemed friends of the antislavery cause.

Gabriel Prosser's plan for the rebellion had three areas of offensive action. First, the group would confiscate the munitions in the city; second, they would seize the powder houses; and third, they would advance into town in two flanks opposite of the city and kill all white males except those supportive of their actions. They would then capture and hold Governor James Monroe, and after the city of Richmond was taken, they would seize other cities and free all slaves. After control was established over the state of Virginia, Prosser would become its leader. If the plot called for an immediate adjustment to their plans, the group decided that they would conduct guerrilla warfare and live as maroons until freedom could be established.

Prosser anticipated that vast numbers of Africans would participate in the revolt. Some sources suggest that Prosser's group was approximately 1,100 strong; other sources suggest that thousands of Africans came to carry out the attack on Richmond, Virginia, on August 30, 1800. The rebelling slaves met at Old Brook Swamp, 6 miles from Richmond. As they headed toward the city, they encountered a violent storm with torrential rains that washed out roads and [Page 256]bridges. That same night the revolt was betrayed by two house slaves from the Meadow Farm plantation who feared that their owner would be killed.

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