Denmark Vesey and the slave insurrection trial narratives: the African-American social landscape of antebellum Charleston, South Carolina

Abstract

The following thesis plots the African-American social landscape of Charleston, South Carolina. The paper discovers how the city's black population manipulated constructed social spaces to accomplish particular objectives. ☐ The trial transcripts from the failed slave revolt led by Denmark Vesey in 1822 serve as the foundation for this examination. Charleston was a prominent slave city dominated by a black majority. The city's white residents constructed buildings and established laws to maintain control. Vesey, a free African-American, organized slaves to overthrow local authorities. How Vesey and his co-conspirators coordinated an uprising that went undetected by white dwellers until a slave informed his master lay at this thesis' core. ☐ The thesis concludes that the trial narratives offer an alternative approach to material culture. The narratives can be contextualized in the wider social environment and be investigated to the minutest detail. The narratives expose Charleston's outward display of a genteel society to unveil a complex culture.