|
Denmark Vesey (also Telemaque) (ca. 1767 – July 2, 1822) probably was born into slavery in St. Thomas〔Egerton, Douglas R. ''He Shall Go Out Free: The Lives of Denmark Vesey,'' 2nd ed. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 1–4, 2004.〕 but had been a free black for over 20 years before being accused and hanged in 1822 as the ringleader of "the rising,"〔 a major potential Charleston, South Carolina slave revolt. A skilled carpenter, Vesey had won a lottery and purchased his freedom at age 32 in 1799. He had a good business and a family, but was unable to buy his first wife Beck and their children out of slavery. Vesey became active in the Second Presbyterian Church; in 1818 he was among the founders of an AME Church in the city,〔which after the Civil War became known as Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. This first independent black denomination in the US was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.〕 which was supported by white clergy in the city and rapidly attracted 1,848 members, making this the second-largest AME congregation in the nation. In 1820 he was alleged to be the ringleader of a planned slave revolt. Vesey and his followers were said to be planning to kill slaveholders in Charleston, liberate the slaves, and sail to the black republic of Haiti for refuge. By some accounts, it would have involved thousands of slaves in the city and others on plantations miles away. City officials had a militia arrest the plot's leaders and many suspected followers in June before the rising could begin. Not one white person was killed or injured. Vesey and five slaves were among the first group of men rapidly judged guilty by the secret proceedings of a city-appointed Court and condemned to death; they were executed by hanging on July 2, 1822. Vesey was about age 55. In later proceedings, his son was also judged guilty of conspiracy and was deported from the United States, along with many others. ==Early life== Manuscript transcripts of testimony at the 1822 Court proceedings in Charleston, South Carolina and its Report after the events make up most of what is known of Denmark Vesey's life. The Court judged Vesey guilty of conspiracy in a slave rebellion and had him executed by hanging. The court reported that he was born into slavery about 1767 in St. Thomas, at the time a colony of Denmark. He was called Telemaque; historian Douglas Egerton suggested that Vesey could have been of Coromantee (an Akan-speaking people) origin.〔Egerton (2004),''He Shall Go Out Free'', pp. 3-4〕 Biographer David Robertson suggested that Telemaque may have been of Mande origin, but his evidence has not been generally accepted by historians.〔Rucker (2006), p. 162〕 Telemaque was purchased at about age 14 by Joseph Vesey, a Bermudian sea captain and slave merchant. After a time, Vesey sold the youth to a planter in French Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti). When the youth was found to suffer epileptic fits, Vesey took him back and returned his purchase price to the former master. Biographer Egerton found no evidence of Vesey having epilepsy later in life. He suggests that Vesey may have faked the seizures in order to escape the particularly brutal conditions on Saint-Domingue.〔Egerton (2004), ''He Shall Go Out Free'', p. 20〕 Telemaque worked for Joseph Vesey as a personal assistant and interpreter in slave trading, including periods spent in Bermuda, and was known to speak French and Spanish in addition to English. Following the American Revolution, the captain retired from the sea and slave trade, settling in Charleston, South Carolina, which had been settled from Bermuda in 1669 and where numerous Bermudians, such as Thomas Tudor Tucker had settled prior to American independence.〔''The Exodus''. By Michael Jarvis. The Bermudian magazine, June 2001.〕 Telamaque had learned to read and write by the time he arrived in Charleston, and was already fluent in French and English. Charleston was a continental hub connected to Bermuda's thriving merchant shipping trade. The center of the Lowcountry's rice and indigo plantations, the city had a majority-slave population and thriving port. Vesey "hired out" Telemaque as a skilled carpenter, and he joined other artisans in the city, many of them free people of color who had their own community in the city. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Denmark Vesey」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|