What follows are selected abstracts of articles on slave rebellions from two databases: America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts.  Both are available on the library catalogue: you should be able to produce similar results yourself.

All the articles here are in journals that are available through the Newcastle library, either in hard copy or online.  Read through the abstracts and select some of the articles that interest you to read thoroughly.



America: History And Life
            Copyright (c) 2000 ABC-Clio, Inc.
 

Search specifications:
    Language            : english
    Abstract            : slave and (rebellion or insurrection)
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Scherr, Arthur.
        Title: GOVERNOR JAMES MONROE AND THE SOUTHAMPTON SLAVE
                 RESISTANCE OF 1799.
     Citation: Historian 1999 61(3): 557-578.
         ISSN: 0018-2370
     Abstract: Assesses James Monroe's views on slavery as
                 governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802,
                 emphasizing Monroe's moderate view of
                 slaveholding during a slave uprising in
                 Southampton County in October 1799. Monroe took
                 pains to see that the charged rebels received
                 proper legal treatment, demonstrating a marked
                 concern for their civil rights. He conducted an
                 exhaustive investigation into the incident and
                 saw to it the slaves involved received a fair
                 trial. Although he opposed abolition, Monroe
                 supported African colonization proposals and
                 gradual, compensated emancipation. When the
                 occasion warranted, as in Gabriel Prosser's
                 rebellion of 1800, Monroe took an unpopular
                 position in supporting fair trials and
                 attempting to explain and justify slave actions.
                 In the final analysis, Monroe believed in the
                 eventual demise of slavery.
Documentation: Based primarily on records published in Calendar
                 of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts
                 from January 1, 1799, to December 31, 1807, vol.
                 9 edited by H. W. Flournoy, other primary
                 sources, and secondary sources; 74 notes.
   Abstracter: A. Hoffman
     Language: English
       Period: 1799-1802.
      Subject: Virginia (Southampton County).
               Slave Revolts.
               Antislavery Sentiments.
               Monroe, James.
               Slavery.
        Entry: 37:6365
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Tang, Joyce.
        Title: ENSLAVED AFRICAN REBELLIONS IN VIRGINIA.
     Citation: Journal of Black Studies 1997 27(5): 598-614.
         ISSN: 0021-9347
     Abstract: Surveys evidence of slave uprisings in Virginia
                 between 1700 and 1865, examines the conditions
                 that fostered rebellion, and enumerates the
                 measures whites took to control the black
                 population in these years. The author focuses on
                 the Gabriel Prosser rebellion of 1800 and the
                 Nat Turner rebellion of 1831. While these
                 revolts led to increased control and
                 surveillance of the black population, slave
                 rebellions continued.
     Language: English
       Period: 1700-1865.
      Subject: Virginia.
               Slave Revolts.
        Entry: 35:15938
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Drescher, Seymour.
        Title: SERVILE INSURRECTION AND JOHN BROWN'S BODY IN
                 EUROPE.
     Citation: Journal of American History 1993 80(2): 499-524.
         ISSN: 0021-8723
     Abstract: Explores the impact in Europe of the 1859 Harpers
                 Ferry raid and the subsequent hanging of John
                 Brown. European journalists initially reacted to
                 the raid with horror, the prospect of a general
                 "servile insurrection" recalling the
                 depredations of the Haitian revolution and other
                 slave rebellions, but soon focused on the
                 fortitude and then the martyrdom of Brown.
                 French author Victor Hugo's powerful engraving
                 of Brown's hanging was widely circulated in
                 Britain and America, and his plea that Brown's
                 life be spared was reprinted prominently by the
                 American Anti-Slavery Society. The British
                 antislavery movement, committed to
                 nonrevolutionary change, condemned the violence
                 and fanaticism and conspicuously failed to
                 organize a collective appeal for Brown's life.
                 Although widely acknowledged, Brown's martyrdom
                 soon faded from memory.
Documentation: Based on contemporary newspapers and periodicals
                 and secondary sources; reproduction, 65 notes.
   Abstracter: R. V. Labaree/S
     Language: English
       Period: 1859-60.
      Subject: Harpers Ferry raid.
               Europe.
               Brown, John.
               Antislavery Sentiments.
        Entry: 32:1638
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Egerton, Douglas R.
        Title: GABRIEL'S CONSPIRACY AND THE ELECTION OF 1800.
     Citation: Journal of Southern History 1990 56(2): 191-214.
         ISSN: 0022-4642
     Abstract: Gabriel Prosser's slave rebellion, when placed in
                 the context of Richmond, Virginia, and the
                 election of 1800, was based on a reasonable,
                 coherent plan. As an urban skilled craftsman,
                 Gabriel was more interested in "the ideology of
                 artisan republicanism," and in opposing the
                 oppressive rule of merchants, than in leading a
                 millenarian revolt. With tensions so high over
                 the election of 1800, the time seemed especially
                 ripe for a revolt. He believed, incorrectly,
                 that both white artisans and rural slaves would
                 join his cause. Governor James Monroe suppressed
                 potentially damaging information about the
                 revolt long enough for Republicans to win the
                 election of 1800.
Documentation: Based on court records, newspapers, private
                 correspondence, and secondary sources; 63 notes.
   Abstracter: R. W. Brown, Jr.
     Language: English
       Period: 1800.
      Subject: Virginia (Richmond area).
               Slave Revolts.
               Prosser, Gabriel.
               Artisans.
        Entry: 29:7019
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Morris, Christopher.
        Title: AN EVENT IN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: THE
                 MISSISSIPPI SLAVE INSURRECTION SCARE OF 1835.
     Citation: Journal of Social History 1988 22(1): 93-111.
         ISSN: 0022-4529
     Abstract: Six whites and more than a dozen blacks died in
                 mob lynchings within 10 days after the rumor of
                 a planned slave insurrection spread through
                 Madison County, Mississippi. This hanging spree,
                 called "the most violent case of mob retribution
                 in the history of the old South," may have been
                 caused by collective efforts to reassert old
                 values, but it also arose out of a more complex
                 system of community organization. Madison was
                 newly settled with little county-wide
                 integration of institutions or social networks.
                 While the impetus for the first killings came
                 from the efforts of a newly arrived planter to
                 establish his leadership, the governing
                 circumstance was the locals' ability to find
                 villains to blame in outlying communities who
                 were outside the protective reach of the local
                 network of personal relationships.
Documentation: 2 tables, 40 notes.
   Abstracter: C. M. Hough
     Language: English
       Period: 1835.
      Subject: Social organization.
               Slave Revolts.
               Mississippi (Madison County).
               Lynching.
               Local Government.
        Entry: 26:14212
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Silverman, Jason H.
        Title: RACE, RUMOR, AND REBELLION.
     Citation: Reviews in American History 1987 15(1): 66-71.
     Abstract: Reviews Thomas J. Davis's A Rumor of Revolt: The
                 "Great Negro Plot" in Colonial New York (1985),
                 a narrative, nonanalytical history of the events
                 surrounding the burning of several officials'
                 and elites' homes in New York City in 1741, and
                 the fear by many that the city's black
                 population was responsible.
     Language: English
       Period: 1739-44.
      Subject: Slave revolts (review article).
               New York City.
               Fire.
               Davis, Thomas J.
        Entry: 25A:5396
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Mutersbaugh, Bert M.
        Title: THE BACKGROUND OF GABRIEL'S INSURRECTION.
     Citation: Journal of Negro History 1983 68(2): 209-211.
     Abstract: The 1800 Virginian slave conspiracy known as
                 Gabriel's Insurrection has been well-documented.
                 There is, however, recently discovered evidence
                 from the Henrico County court records indicating
                 that in 1799 Gabriel, the slave who led the
                 revolt, and his brother Solomon were involved in
                 a fight with Absalom Johnson, a local planter.
                 Prints partial trial records that provide the
                 background to Gabriel's plans for a subsequent
                 slave revolt. The revolt may have been inspired,
                 in part, by Gabriel's hatred for Johnson.
Documentation: Based on the Henrico County Order Book No. 9 and
                 published primary sources; 5 notes.
   Abstracter: S
     Language: English
       Period: 1799-1800.
      Subject: Virginia.
               Trials.
               Slave Revolts.
               Johnson, Absalom.
               Gabriel.
        Entry: 25A:1976
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Heuman, Gad.
        Title: AMERICA AND THE AMERICAS: THE RESPONSE OF THE
                 SLAVES.
     Citation: History Today [Great Britain] 1984 34(Apr): 31-35.
     Abstract: In the Americas, slaves attempted to maintain
                 their spiritual independence within an
                 oppressive system by resorting to passive
                 resistance, rebellion, or flight.
     Language: English
       Period: 17c-19c.
      Subject: Slave Revolts.
               Fugitive slaves.
               Attitudes.
               Americas (North and South).
        Entry: 22A:4740
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Wax, Darold D.
        Title: "THE GREAT RISQUE WE RUN": THE AFTERMATH OF SLAVE
                 REBELLION AT STONO, SOUTH CAROLINA, 1739-1745.
     Citation: Journal of Negro History 1982 67(2): 136-147.
     Abstract: The slave uprising at Stono, near Charleston,
                 South Carolina, on 9 September 1739 represented
                 a significant escalation in black resistance to
                 slavery. Over 20 whites and 40 slaves were
                 killed. As long as the black population exceeded
                 the white, the potential for violence existed.
                 Programs to provide more security were adopted,
                 including a revision of the slave codes, but no
                 new measure eliminated the risk of another slave
                 rebellion.
Documentation: 63 notes.
   Abstracter: A. G. Belles
     Language: English
       Period: 1739-45.
      Subject: South Carolina (Stono).
               Slave Revolts.
               Race Relations.
        Entry: 21A:238
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Knight, Franklin W.
        Title: EUGENE GENOVESE ON AMERICAN SLAVE REVOLTS.
     Citation: Reviews in American History 1980 8(3): 309-311.
     Abstract: Review essay of Eugene D. Genovese's From
                 Rebellion to Revolution: Afro-American Slave
                 Revolts in the Making of the Modern World (Baton
                 Rouge: Louisiana State U. Pr., 1979); ca. 17th
                 century-1850's.
     Language: English
       Period: ca 17c-1859.
      Subject: Slave Revolts.
               Genovese, Eugene D. (review article).
        Entry: 18A:3972
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Watson, Alan D.
        Title: IMPULSE TOWARD INDEPENDENCE: RESISTANCE AND
                 REBELLION AMONG NORTH CAROLINA SLAVES,
                 1750-1775.
     Citation: Journal of Negro History 1978 63(4): 317-328.
     Abstract: Slaves in North Carolina continually protested
                 their state of involuntary servitude. At the
                 outbreak of the American Revolution many of the
                 slaves were as eager for their freedom as white
                 North Carolinians who prepared to seek
                 liberation from British tyranny. Based upon
                 public records in the North Carolina State
                 Archives; 53 notes.
   Abstracter: N. G.  Sapper
     Language: English
       Period: 1750-1775.
      Subject: Slave Revolts.
               North Carolina.
               American Revolution.
        Entry: 18A:857
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Carter, Dan T.
        Title: THE ANATOMY OF FEAR: THE CHRISTMAS DAY
                 INSURRECTION SCARE OF 1865.
     Citation: Journal of Southern History 1976 42(3): 345-364.
     Abstract: The absence of slave rebellions after Nat Turner's
                 in 1831 scarcely dampened the continued Southern
                 fear of black revolt. Even in the early
                 emancipation years, fear prevailed that the
                 freed blacks would seek land and property via
                 violence. Whites' use of the uprising scare to
                 rearm themselves and disarm the freed blacks
                 prompted many northerners to adopt a
                 conspiratorial view when no uprising occurred.
                 The lack of evidence for a conspiracy in 1865
                 does not disprove that this and other alleged
                 plots existed; however, more solid proof is
                 needed than the evidence extracted from
                 torture-induced, alleged black confessions.
                 Postwar uprising scares served as instruments of
                 white unity, a warning of potential black
                 insubordination, and as a shield against
                 "outsiders."
   Abstracter: T. Schoonover
     Language: English
       Period: 1865.
      Subject: South.
               Slave revolts.
               Fear.
        Entry: 15A:1069
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Wade, Richard C.
        Title: THE VESEY PLOT: A RECONSIDERATION.
     Citation: Journal of Southern History 1964 30(2): 143-161.
     Abstract: Studies the reported plot said to have been led by
                 Denmark Vesey for a slave rebellion in
                 Charleston, South Carolina, during the summer of
                 1822, for which 35 Negroes were hanged and 37
                 transported out of the state. Deplores
                 historians' acceptance of the official version
                 of the plot and the judicial proceedings. The
                 author utilizes documentary comparisons of two
                 manuscript confessions with the published
                 versions, criticism by Governor Thomas Bennett
                 and his brother-in-law, Judge William Johnson,
                 and letters by Johnson's daughter, Ana Hayes
                 Johnson, as well as a consideration of social
                 conditions in the city at the time, to argue
                 that the plot existed largely in the minds of
                 city officials, a frightened white community,
                 and the special judges, who included Robert Y.
                 Hayne. Documented.
   Abstracter: S. E. Humphreys
     Language: English
       Period: 1822.
      Subject: Vesey, Denmark.
               South Carolina (Charleston).
               South Carolina.
               Slavery.
               Revolutions, Revolutionary Movements, and
                 Rebellions.
               Johnson, William.
               Johnson, Ana H.
               Courts.
               Bennett, Thomas.
        Entry: 1:2696
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Miles, Edwin A.
        Title: THE MISSISSIPPI SLAVE INSURRECTION SCARE OF 1835.
     Citation: Journal of Negro History 1957 42(1): 48-60.
     Abstract: The slave insurrection scare in Madison County,
                 Mississippi, partially explains the Southern
                 opposition to the abolitionists in 1835 and the
                 following years. "Although it seems likely that
                 in this instance the fears of southern whites
                 had been grossly exaggerated, their reaction was
                 just as vehement as if the dangers had been
                 real."
   Abstracter: W. E. Wight
     Language: English
       Period: 1835-40's.
      Subject: Slavery.
               Mississippi.
               Mississippi (Madison County).
        Entry: 0:2153
 

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                America: History And Life
            Copyright (c) 2000 ABC-Clio, Inc.
 

                   Historical Abstracts
            Copyright (c) 2000 ABC-Clio, Inc.
 

Search specifications:
    Language            : english
    Abstract            : slave and (rebellion or insurrection)
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Geggus, David.
        Title: SLAVE SOCIETY IN THE SUGAR PLANTATION ZONES OF
                 SAINT DOMINGUE AND THE REVOLUTION OF 1791-93.
     Citation: Slavery & Abolition [Great Britain] 1999 20(2):
                 31-46.
         ISSN: 0144-039X
     Abstract: Examines statistically regional differences in
                 sugar plantation size and value, fertility of
                 females, workload, nutritional status, degree of
                 creolization, and ethnic composition of the
                 slave population of Saint Domingue to better
                 understand slave behavior in the revolution of
                 1791-93. Heavier workloads in the north may
                 possibly have been a causative factor in
                 rebellion; other regional differences show no
                 clear relationship to the making of revolution.
Documentation: Based on plantation inventories, newspaper
                 advertisements, and other primary and secondary
                 sources; map, 5 tables, 45 notes.
   Abstracter: R. A. Keller
     Language: English
       Period: 1770-95.
      Subject: Regionalism.
               Haiti.
               Revolution.
               Slavery.
               Plantations.
        Entry: HAA51I3
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Williams-Myers, A. J.
        Title: SLAVERY, REBELLION, AND REVOLUTION IN THE
                 AMERICAS: A HISTORIOGRAPHICAL SCENARIO ON THE
                 THESES OF GENOVESE AND OTHERS.
     Citation: Journal of Black Studies 1996 26(4): 381-400.
         ISSN: 0021-9347
     Abstract: Reviews the historiography of slave revolts in the
                 Americas and the evolution of the debate on the
                 centrality of resistance in the history of the
                 slave economy and validates the point made by
                 Eugene Genovese in his From Rebellion to
                 Revolution (1979) that the Haitian revolution
                 marked a turning point when the conditions of
                 resistance, both intrinsic and external, had
                 matured to make that movement a truly national
                 and truly revolutionary one.
Documentation: Secondary sources; ref.
   Abstracter: B. S. Shlevin
     Language: English
       Period: 16c-19c.
               1943-91.
      Subject: Genovese, Eugene.
               Haiti.
               Historiography.
               Slave Revolts.
        Entry: 48A:1417
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Cox, Edward L.
        Title: FEDON'S REBELLION 1795-96: CAUSES AND
                 CONSEQUENCES.
     Citation: Journal of Negro History 1982 67(1): 7-19.
     Abstract: Julien Fedon, a free mulatto of French extraction,
                 initiated a black rebellion on the French
                 Caribbean island territory of Grenada in March
                 1795. Fedon, linking his actions to the French
                 Revolution, fought off government troops for 16
                 months before being defeated. The revolt, caused
                 by racial discrimination, resulted in increased
                 hardships for all blacks, slave or non-slave on
                 the island.
   Abstracter: A. G. Belles
     Language: English
       Period: 1795-96.
      Subject: Rebellions.
               Grenada.
               Fedon, Julien.
               Blacks.
        Entry: 35A:1307
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Geggus, David.
        Title: THE BRITISH ARMY AND THE SLAVE REVOLT: SAINT
                 DOMINGUE IN THE 1790S.
     Citation: History Today [Great Britain] 1982 32(July):
                 35-39.
     Abstract: Account of the slave revolt of 1791 on the French
                 Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) as a
                 result of gross inequality between whites and
                 the African slaves. Focuses on the experience of
                 the British troops that went to Saint-Domingue
                 to quell the rebellion and seize the island for
                 Britain. Almost all of the 20,000 British
                 soldiers died there, due largely to disease.
     Language: English
       Period: 1791-97.
      Subject: Slaves.
               Rebellions.
               Haiti.
               Great Britain.
               Armies.
        Entry: 35A:1311
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Gaspar, David B.
        Title: THE ANTIGUA SLAVE CONSPIRACY of 1736: A CASE STUDY
                 OF THE ORIGINS OF COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE.
     Citation: William and Mary Quarterly 1978 35(2): 308-323.
     Abstract: Examines the origins of the slave plot to blow up
                 the governor and gentry at the annual ball
                 celebrating the coronation of George II in
                 October 1736 that was intended to trigger a
                 slave revolt. The plot was discovered, 88 slaves
                 were executed, and 47 were banished. Absentee
                 ownership contributed to the small population of
                 whites on Antigua, and lax enforcement of slave
                 laws was also a cause of the rebellion. The
                 author also considers economic factors, plans
                 for the revolt, and evidence of the conspiracy.
                 Compares the two slave factions, the Coromantees
                 and Creoles, noting their means of recruitment.
                 Based on trial records; table, 68 notes.
   Abstracter: H. M. Ward
     Language: English
       Period: 1700-40.
      Subject: Antigua.
               Rebellions.
               Slaves.
        Entry: 25A:1146
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Short, K. R. M.
        Title: JAMAICAN CHRISTIAN MISSIONS AND THE GREAT SLAVE
                 REBELLION OF 1831-2.
     Citation: Journal of Ecclesiastical History [Great Britain]
                 1976 27(1): 57-72.
     Abstract: Describes the activities of British Evangelicals
                 in the aftermath of the Jamaican slave
                 rebellion. The main tasks were 1) to vindicate
                 the missionaries from charges of fomenting the
                 rebellion; 2) to convince the public of the
                 evils of slavery, and 3) to raise funds to
                 rebuild 15 chapels which were destroyed. The
                 author traces the efforts of Baptist and
                 Wesleyan activists, their appeal to the nation,
                 and the pressure they brought on the government,
                 particularly in reference to the Abolition of
                 Slavery Act of 1833. Based on Colonial Office
                 Papers in the Public Record Office and
                 manuscripts and printed records originating with
                 the Wesleyan and Baptist Missionary Societies;
                 27 notes.
   Abstracter: P. H. Hardacre
     Language: English
       Period: 1831-34.
      Subject: Jamaica.
               Missions and Missionaries.
               Protestantism.
               Rebellions.
               Slavery.
        Entry: 24A:1073
 

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         Type: Article
       Author: Jones, Wilbur D.
        Title: LORD MULGRAVE'S ADMINISTRATION IN JAMAICA,
                 1832-1833.
     Citation: Journal of Negro History 1963 48(1): 44-56.
     Abstract: Discusses the administration of the Earl of
                 Mulgrave as governor of Jamaica during 1832 and
                 1833. Mulgrave arrived shortly after a serious
                 slave rebellion and his concern for emancipating
                 the island's slaves preempted much of his time.
                 He also faced opposition from the local assembly
                 which he ordered dissolved. Mulgrave believed
                 that abolition could come about only through
                 Parliamentary intervention and should be gradual
                 and with compensation. The plan later used by
                 the Colonial Office was virtually the same as
                 Mulgrave's though there is no way of determining
                 his influence on the decision.
Documentation: Based on 13 letters from Mulgrave to colonial
                 secretary Lord Goderich.
   Abstracter: L. Gara
     Language: English
       Period: 1832-33
      Subject: Jamaica.
               Normanby, lst Marquis of.
               Slavery, Slave Trade and Anti-Slavery Movements.
               West Indies.
        Entry: 9:3200
 

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                   Historical Abstracts
            Copyright (c) 2000 ABC-Clio, Inc.