One of the most frequent reactions people have to some of the elements in Gabriel's story is, "Slavery was not like that! There were no courts. Slaves couldn't earn money, move around freely, go to taverns." Etc.
Slavery at the turn of the 19th century was very different from the more familiar antebellum slavery of the mid-1800's. In 1800 some of the enslaved were highly trained and skilled artisans, often competing for business with their white counterparts. Many of the enslaved were hired out and allowed to keep some of the money they earned, purchasing items and even their freedom. Five percent were literate. Many of the enslaved moved about relatively freely, went to taverns, attended gatherings, visited spouses. There were "negro" courts that followed some semblance of the rule of law. Many of the accused, including many of those arrested from Gabriel's conspiracy, were acquitted for lack of substantive evidence.
None of this is to suggest that, "Enslavement wasn't that bad." The "lost cause" version of history dismissing the brutal and soul-crushing institution of slavery is entirely fictional. But we best appreciate Gabriel and his fellow enslaved by recognizing the world they lived in. That world, with its recent American, French, and Haitian revolutions and all its rhetoric of freedom and equality, was a fertile environment for the uprising Gabriel and his friends planned. One of the greatest significances of Gabriel's conspiracy--and demonstrative of the tremendous risks the enslaved took--was how the conspiracy led to even further loss of any liberties and the many new laws and attitudes that fed the horrors of antebellum slavery.
One other thing. Some people come away from this story seeing it as simply a terrible tragedy, a story of failure, not "A true story of freedom." That view misses the much more significant themes and lessons Gabriel and his fellow enslaved can teach us: the risks they took and the cost they were willing to pay for freedom and equality, the level of courage, character and heroism involved, and the inspiration, the invitation, the mandate, for each of us to pay whatever price we can for justice. That's the true story of freedom that deserves to be memorialized, a story we can each embrace.
Slavery at the turn of the 19th century was very different from the more familiar antebellum slavery of the mid-1800's. In 1800 some of the enslaved were highly trained and skilled artisans, often competing for business with their white counterparts. Many of the enslaved were hired out and allowed to keep some of the money they earned, purchasing items and even their freedom. Five percent were literate. Many of the enslaved moved about relatively freely, went to taverns, attended gatherings, visited spouses. There were "negro" courts that followed some semblance of the rule of law. Many of the accused, including many of those arrested from Gabriel's conspiracy, were acquitted for lack of substantive evidence.
None of this is to suggest that, "Enslavement wasn't that bad." The "lost cause" version of history dismissing the brutal and soul-crushing institution of slavery is entirely fictional. But we best appreciate Gabriel and his fellow enslaved by recognizing the world they lived in. That world, with its recent American, French, and Haitian revolutions and all its rhetoric of freedom and equality, was a fertile environment for the uprising Gabriel and his friends planned. One of the greatest significances of Gabriel's conspiracy--and demonstrative of the tremendous risks the enslaved took--was how the conspiracy led to even further loss of any liberties and the many new laws and attitudes that fed the horrors of antebellum slavery.
One other thing. Some people come away from this story seeing it as simply a terrible tragedy, a story of failure, not "A true story of freedom." That view misses the much more significant themes and lessons Gabriel and his fellow enslaved can teach us: the risks they took and the cost they were willing to pay for freedom and equality, the level of courage, character and heroism involved, and the inspiration, the invitation, the mandate, for each of us to pay whatever price we can for justice. That's the true story of freedom that deserves to be memorialized, a story we can each embrace.