Write about what you have learned about this article in 3 paragraphs, and write like a fourth grader, The 1811 German Coast uprising was a revolt of slaves in parts of the Territory of Orleans on January 8–10, 1811. The uprising occurred on the east bank of the Mississippi River in what is now St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and Jefferson Parishes, Louisiana.[1] The slave insurgency was the largest in U.S. history, but the rebels killed only two White men. Confrontations with militia, combined with post-trial executions, resulted in the deaths of 95 slaves.
Between 64 and 125 enslaved men marched from sugarcane plantations in and near present-day LaPlace on the German Coast toward the city of New Orleans.[2] They collected more men along the way. Some accounts claimed a total of 200 to 500 enslaved persons participated.[3] During their two-day, twenty-mile march, the men burned five plantation houses (three completely), several sugarhouses, and crops. They were armed mostly with hand tools.[4]
Men led by officials of the territory formed militia companies, and in a battle on January 10 killed 40 to 45 of the people escaping slavery while suffering no fatalities themselves, then hunted down and killed several other people without trial. Over the next two weeks, White planters and officials interrogated, tried, executed, and decapitated an additional 44 people escaping slavery who had been captured. Executions were generally by hanging or firing squad. Heads were displayed on pikes to intimidate others.
Since 1995, the African American History Alliance of Louisiana has led an annual commemoration in January of the uprising, in which they have been joined by some descendants of participants in the revolt.[5]
Background
The sugar boom on what was known as Louisiana's German Coast (named for immigrants in the 1720s) began after the American Revolutionary War, while the area near New Orleans was still controlled by Spain. In the 1780s, Jean Saint Malo, an escaped slave, established a colony of maroons in the swamps below New Orleans, which eventually led Spanish officials to send militia, who captured him. St. Malo became a folk hero after his execution in New Orleans on June 19, 1784. A decade later, during the height of the French Revolution, Spanish officials discovered a slave conspiracy at Pointe Coupee (established by French settlers around 1720 between Natchez and New Orleans). That slave uprising during the Easter holidays was suppressed before it came to fruition, and resulted in 23 executions by hanging (with the decapitated heads then displayed on the road to New Orleans) and 31 additional slaves were flogged and sent to serve hard labor in other Spanish outposts.[6]
After the Haitian Revolution, planters attempted to establish similar lucrative sugarcane plantations on the Gulf Coast, resulting in a dense slave population. They converted from cotton and indigo plantations to sugar cane, so that by 1802, 70 sugar plantations produced over 3,000 tons in a year.[7] However, they replicated the brutal conditions which had led to numerous revolts in Haiti – the high profits were made by working slaves longer hours and punishing them more brutally, so that they lived shorter lives than any other slave society in North America.[8] Some accounts claimed blacks outnumbered whites by nearly five to one by 1810, and about 90% of whites in the area owned slaves. More than half of those enslaved may have been born outside Louisiana, many in Africa, where various European nations established slave trading outposts and Kongo was ripped apart by civil wars.[9]
After the U.S. negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, both the Marquis de Lafayette and James Monroe declined to become the Territorial Governor. President Thomas Jefferson then turned to a fellow Virginian, William C. C. Claiborne, whom he appointed on an interim basis, and who arrived in New Orleans with 350 volunteers and eighteen boats. Claiborne struggled with the area's diverse population, particularly because he spoke neither French nor Spanish. The population also included a larger proportion of native Africans among the slaves than elsewhere in the U.S. In addition, the mixed-race Creole and French-speaking population grew markedly with refugees from Haiti (and their slaves) following the successful Haitian slave revolution. Claiborne was not used to a society with the number of free people of color that Louisiana had, but he worked to continue their role in the militia that had been established under Spanish rule.
Long-term French Creole residents complained to Washington, D.C. about Claiborne and new U.S. settlers in the territory, and wanted no part of President Jefferson's plan to pay 30,000 Americans to move into the new territory and amalgamate with the residents. Thus, by 1805, a delegation led by Jean Noël Destréhan went to Washington to complain about the "oppressive and degrading" form of the territorial government, but President Madison continued to support Claiborne, who had expressed great doubts about the planters' honesty and trustworthiness.[10] Lastly, Claiborne suspected that the Spanish in nearby West Florida might encourage an insurrection. Thus, he struggled to establish and maintain his authority.
In the overall Territory of Orleans, from 1803 to 1811, the free black population nearly tripled, to 5,000, with 3,000 arriving as migrants from Haiti (via Cuba) in 1809–1810. In Saint-Domingue they had enjoyed certain rights as gens de couleur, including owning slaves themselves.[11] Furthermore, between 1790 and 1810, slave traders brought around 20,000 enslaved Africans to New Orleans.[12] The masters and slaves were virtually all Catholic.[13]
The waterways and bayous around New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain made transportation and trade possible, but also provided easy escapes and nearly impenetrable hiding places for runaway slaves. Some maroon colonies continued for years within several miles of New Orleans. With the spread of ideas of freedom from the French and Haitian Revolutions, European Americans worried about slave uprisings, particularly in the Louisiana area. In 1805, they heard a traveling Frenchman was preaching about liberty, equality, and fraternity to the French-speaking slaves, and arrested him as dangerous.[14]
The 1811 German Coast uprising was a revolt by slaves in Louisiana. The slaves burned down plantation houses and crops as they marched towards New Orleans. The militia fought back and killed many of the slaves. After the uprising, more slaves were executed and their heads were displayed on pikes.
The German Coast got its name from German immigrants in the 1700s. After the American Revolutionary War, the sugar industry boomed in the area, leading to a high population of slaves. The slaves were treated poorly and lived short lives. Many of them were brought from Africa.
The governor of Louisiana at the time, William C.C. Claiborne, struggled with the diverse population and the large number of free people of color. The free black population grew rapidly, and many Haitian refugees arrived with their slaves. Claiborne worried about a slave revolt and tried to maintain his authority.
The uprising was a significant event in U.S. history, but it resulted in the deaths of many slaves. The African American History Alliance of Louisiana commemorates the uprising every year to remember the bravery of those who fought for their freedom.