American Uprising (18 page)

Notes

Prologue

1 “Though the cause . . . is strong”: Lowell,
Poetical Works
, 68.

2 a mere twenty-four pages: Paquette, “The Great Louisiana Slave Revolt.”

1. Carnival in New Orleans

9 “The river . . . for empire”: Barry,
Rising Tide
, 97.

10 Down from the mountains . . . to New Orleans: Barry,
Rising Tide
, 38–39.

10 prime entrepot: Meinig,
The Shaping of America
, 15–16.

10 “the produce . . . to market”: Greeley,
American Conflict
, 55.

10 Magnolias, orange trees . . . columned porticoes: Crété,
Daily Life in Louisiana
, 253.

11 “The social status . . . ‘good natured’ ”: de Laussat,
Memoirs of My Life
, 61.

12 The roads . . . games in the field: Crété,
Daily Life in Louisiana
, 97.

12 “most active . . . the country”: de Laussat,
Memoirs of My Life
, 53–54.

12 small talk and gossip: de Laussat,
Memoirs of My Life
, 20.

12 unparalleled in the United States: Sitterson,
Sugar Country
, 45.

13 Every year . . . alcohol: Crété,
Daily Life in Louisiana
, 204–5.

13 “You never saw anything more brilliant”: de Laussat,
Memoirs of My Life
, 86.

13 Slaves brought in . . . the next morning: de Laussat,
Memoirs of My Life
, 81.

13 almost entirely to dancing and gambling: Kinser,
Carnival, American Style
, 22.

14 As early as the 1740s . . . to dance: Kinser,
Carnival, American Style
, 17, 59.

14 Jean Noël Destrehan’s relatives . . . as a sugar planter: Harvey, Roger, and D’Oliveira,
To Reach Afar
, 2–3, 32.

15 “Those who have . . . annual expences”: Sitterson,
Sugar Country
, 158.

16 “We could not imagine . . . opulence and luxury”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:59.

17 Awakening at sunrise . . . refresh him: Stedman,
Stedman’s Surinam
, 104.

17 “was there . . . in the back”: de Laussat,
Memoirs of My Life
, 61.

17 “cultivation must cease . . . demolished habitations”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:62.

17 75 percent: Yoes
, Louisiana’s German Coast
, 72.

17 close to 90 percent: Rothman,
Slave Country
, 108; Conrad,
German Coast
, 108.

18 “To the necessity . . . to whites”: Gayarré,
History of Louisiana
, 4:62.

2. Paths to Slavery

19 African and African-descended slaves . . . along the riverbank: Latrobe,
Impressions Respecting New Orleans
, 21–22.

20 The participants . . . the drummers: Latrobe,
Impressions Respecting New Orleans
, 50.

20 rocked the Crescent City: Sublette,
The World That Made New Orleans
, 3.

21 The men . . . the celebrants: Kinser,
Carnival, American Style
, 36, 41.

21 leaders had been chiefs or kings in Africa: Childs,
1812 Aponte Rebellion in Cuba
, 117.

21 “He wags his head . . . upon the multitude”: Kinser,
Carnival, American Style
, 35.

22 Their names . . . with the ocean: Summer Institute of Linguistics Aukan–English Dictionary; Bartle, “Forty Days.”

22 The Asante kingdom controlled . . . from birth”: Fynn,
Asante and Its Neighbours
, 1–4, 32–33.

22 born around 1790: American Uprising Slave Database. Conrad,
German Coast
; Thrasher,
On to New Orleans!

23 In the Lower Guinea . . . King Jose I: Thornton, “African Soldiers in the Haitian Revolution.”

23 ten separate slave ships . . . from Charleston, South Carolina: Leglaunec, “Slave Migrations.”

23 From about 1770 . . . the Windward Coast: Leglaunec, “Slave Migrations.”

24 Some slaves might have . . . baptized elsewhere: Leglaunec, “Slave Migrations.”

24 Forty percent . . . fourth year of labor: Miller,
Way of Death
, 440–41.

25 records suggest he was actually born in South Carolina: Carretta,
Equiano, the African
.

25 By his telling, Equiano . . . animal skins: Equiano/Sollors,
Gustavus Vassa
, 20–23.

26 “We are almost” . . . golden jewelry as well: Equiano/Sollors,
Gustavus Vassa
, 22.

26 Every man, woman, and child . . . their plantings and harvestings: Equiano/Sollors,
Gustavus Vassa
, 26.

27 One day . . . “with our tears”: Equiano/Sollors,
Gustavus Vassa
, 32.

27 “My surprise” . . . terrified: Equiano/Sollors,
Gustavus Vassa
, 39–41.

28 “I was now . . . loose hair”: Equiano/Sollors,
Gustavus Vassa
, 39–41.

28 Some slaves choked . . . and died: Harms,
The Diligent
, 252.

28 The slave traders brought . . . new oppressions: Harms,
The Diligent
, 253.

29 The captain . . . ran high: Harms,
The Diligent
, 261, 267.

29 The crew . . . their destination: Harms,
The Diligent
, 268.

30 “to teach a lesson to all the others”: Harms,
The Diligent
, 270.

30 “It was usual . . . among one another”: Harms,
The Diligent
, 297–98.

31 Prior to their arrival . . . before sale: Kiple,
The Caribbean Slave
, 57.

32 William Kenner . . . merchant firm: Kane,
Plantation Parade
, 25–26.

32 a full-service business: Smith and Smith,
Cane, Cotton & Crevasses
, 26.

32 Brown had . . . for sugar production: Sitterson,
Sugar Country
, 23.

32 “towering . . . exceedingly unpopular”: “Memoirs of Micah Taul,” in W. C. C. Claiborne,
Interim Appointment
, 264.

33 The slaves tried to imagine . . . walking sticks: W. Johnson,
Soul by Soul
, 165–66.

34 Joseph the Spaniard: St. Charles Parish,
Original Acts
, hereafter cited as Denunciations.

34 “While furnishing . . . have resulted”: Sublette,
The World That Made New Orleans
, 88.

35 “Nothing is more dreaded . . . plot their rebellions”: Sublette,
The World That Made New Orleans
, 73.

35 In fact . . . declaring war: Thornton, “African Dimensions of the Stono Rebellion,” 1112.

35 In 1812 . . . “but dead”: Childs,
1812 Aponte Rebellion in Cuba
, 123.

36 “headmen” . . . “primal powers of thunder and lightening”: Linebaugh and Rediker,
The Many-Headed Hydra
, 184–85.

3. A Revolutionary Forge

39 123 million pounds . . . and rum: James
, The Black Jacobins
, 45.

40 The island accounted for . . . refined goods: James,
The Black Jacobins
, 48–49.

41 “How can we make . . . men and animals”: Dubois,
Avengers of the New World
, 93.

42 “One has to hear . . . surrounds him”: James,
The Black Jacobins
, 18.

42 “
Eh! Eh!
. . . this vow”: James,
The Black Jacobins
, 18.

42 On the night . . . “spread like a torrent”: Dubois,
Avengers of the New World
, 94.

43 “strange eyes . . . hearts of all of us”: Dubois,
Avengers of the New World
, 100.

43 In the first eight . . . 80,000: Dubois,
Avengers of the New World
, 113.

44 “There is a motor . . . come to know”: Pierre Mossut to Marquis de Gallifet, September 19, 1791 (Archives Nationales, 107 AP 128), in Dubois and Garrigus,
Slave Revolution in the Caribbean
, 94.

44 In control of France . . . 42,000 battle-hardened men: Dubois,
Avengers of the New World
, 251, 260.

45 “war of extermination”: Dubois,
Avengers of the New World
, 290.

45 “ignorant of color prejudice”: Dubois,
Avengers of the New World
, 292–93.

45 Over 80 percent: Paul Lachance, “Repercussions of the Haitian Revolution in Louisiana,” in Geggus,
Impact of the Haitian Revolution
, 210.

46 “Let us imitate . . . territory of liberty”: Jean-Jacques Dessalines, “The Haitian Declaration of Independence,” in Dubois and Garrigus,
Slave Revolution in the Caribbean
, 188–91.

46 In 1789 . . . only 9,000: Paul Lachance, “Repercussions of the Haitian Revolution in Louisiana,” in Geggus,
Impact of the Haitian Revolution
, 211.

46 “Damn sugar, damn coffee, damn colonies”: Robert Paquette, “Revolutionary Saint Domingue in the Making of Territorial Louisiana,” in Gaspar and Geggus,
A Turbulent Time
, 209.

47 41 percent of the North American continent: Barry,
Rising Tide
, 21.

47 By 1802 . . . sugar per year: Paul Lachance, “Repercussions of the Haitian Revolution in Louisiana,” in Geggus,
Impact of the Haitian Revolution
, 211.

48 As Americans and Europeans . . . raw sugar: Mintz,
Sweetness and Power
, 120.

48 In a few short years . . . revolved around sugar: Berlin,
Many Thousands Gone
, 199, 325.

4. Empire’s Emissary

52 “We have lived long . . . first rank”: Geer,
The Louisiana Purchase
, 197.

53 “puny force . . . subject for ridicule”: Young, “The United States Army in the South,” 99, 105.

53 “The prejudices . . . American”:
Orleans Gazette for the Country
, June 6, 1811.

53 devoted to a single, slave-made staple crop: Berlin,
Many Thousands Gone
, 325.

53 “guide the rising generation . . . virtue”: Hatfield,
William Claiborne
, 112.

54 “glowing colours”: N. H. Claiborne,
Notes on the War
, 92.

54 “do nothings” . . . “American liberty”: Hatfield,
William Claiborne
, 4.

54 “Dear my country . . . my country”: N. H. Claiborne,
Notes on the War
, 93.

54 imperial colony of alien people: Meinig,
The Shaping of America
, 15.

55. “The very trees . . . first proprietors”: N. H. Claiborne,
Notes on the War
, 102.

55 “This would not sweeten . . . as well as theirs”: Meinig,
The Shaping of America
, 15.

55 “All Louisianians are Frenchmen at heart”: de Laussat,
Memoirs of My Life
, 18.

55
chacas
,
catchoupines
,
catchumas
, and
kaintucks
: Crété,
Daily Life in Louisiana
, 70.

55 When Claiborne arrived . . . meant to be American: Hatfield,
William Claiborne
, 114.

56 “mischiefs . . . every other passion”: Hatfield,
William Claiborne
, 120.

56 “Hail Columbia” . . . “attended my administration”: Kinser,
Carnival, American Style
, 29.

57 “the insignificant part he acted in the circle”: Hatfield,
William Claiborne
, 153–154.