- About
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Student Exhibits
- Rebellions Abroad! — by Travis Heeren
- A Glossary of Black Women in Rebellion — by Kaylor MacLaughlin
- Rumored — by Serena Morgan
- Fragmented Individual Acts of Rebellion — by Twila Neiwert
- John Brown, Harpers Ferry, and the Media — by Bessie Rudd
- Louisiana: Rumors and Insurrections — by Stephanie Smith
- Revolutionaries & Art in Black Cuban Uprisings — by Jiesha Stephens
- Mapping Rumored Rebellions in the South — by Jalen Thompson
- Black Asylum and Sovereignty — by Adam Vernon
- Days in a Demi-Decade: Miscellaneous Rebellions in 19th Century African American Newspapers (1856-1860) — by Hannah Zeller
- Summarily Punished
April 1860: In Douglass' Monthly, "Miscellaneous News Items"
The Full Page: Annotated "Miscellaneous News Items"
Scroll your mouse over this page from the Douglass' Monthly publication in April 1860 to find the "Miscellaneous News Items" section. In it, you will find accounts of rebellion and resistance to enslavement that have been marked and transcribed.
A Closer Look: Annotated Rebellions in the "Miscellaneous News Items" Section
Below are each of the transcribed newspaper entries from the page above in a larger format. Alongside the entries are brief descriptions of the content of the entry and how it fits within a history of open rebellions against slavery.
"Gov. Letcher, of Virginia..."
This piece tells of legal and governmental responses to the Harper's Ferry Rebellion. In it, the governor of Virginia calls for the governor of Ohio to arrest people suspected to have played a role in the rebellion.
"A n. man named Dan Ross..."
This entry tells of a Black man named Dan Ross who was arrested because he received the New York Tribune. It also mentions that multiple other Black people were found to have the publication. This is a form of rebellion that came through the rejection and resistance of practices of suppression of reading for both enslaved and free Black individuals during this time.
"Dr. Peck, of Sussex, Va."
This text tells of an enslaver who had sold one of the people he enslaved and taken the money from the sale back to his plantation. In the night, several of the people he enslaved broke in, killed him, took the money, and set fire to his house. This is an example of an act of open and violent rebellion against an enslaver and slavery.
"The Secretary of War..."
This piece refers to the Harper's Ferry Committee and tells of a reported planned attack in Maryland. While the attack in Maryland is stated to be false, this piece reveals both the response to a rebellion that occurred, and the consistent fear that came with rumored rebellions.
"Martha, the widow..."
This entry tells of a woman who died from the injuries she sustained during the Harper's Ferry rebellion. This text reveals the presence of this rebellion and the shared knowledge that the people of the time had of it.
"The Harper's Ferry Investigation..."
This entry mentions the Harper's Ferry Investigation revealing the shared knowledge and widespread presence of this rebellion.
"The slave who murdered..."
This piece states that an enslaved person was lynched due to them having allegedly killed their enslaver. The murdered enslaved person did not confess to having killed their enslaver.
"The colored crew..."
This piece tells of a rebellion by the Black crew on a ship outside of Charleston.
"The friends of Judge Bates..."
This piece states that a Judge claims to have emancipated the people he enslaved when in reality the formerly enslaved people had escaped from him. The man is said to have done everything in his power to capture the people he had enslaved but was unsuccessful. Even though this piece uses this information to reveal why this man is unfit to be nominated for a political position, it is still a possible place to locate the presence of resistance and rebellion to enslavement.