Origin

            Early in the morning on September 9, 1739, about twenty slaves gathered a few miles outside of Charleston, South Carolina, preparing for what would become the largest slave uprising in American history (“The Stono Rebellion.”). This bloody conflict, which resulted in over one hundred deaths, has an essentially unknown origin, which boils down to no more than speculation and obscurity. Some sources suggest that the slaves were attempting to escape to Spanish controlled Florida, which had recently declared freedom and land for all fugitive British slaves in an attempt to hinder the English colonies’ economical progression ("Stono Rebellion (1739) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed."). Others suggest the new Security Act to be the root of the problem. Under the Act, all white men were required to carry firearms to church on Sundays, perhaps the slaves simply saw an opportunity as all armed white men were away and seized it accordingly (“The Stono Rebellion.”). Many sources, however, fail to observe that these “causes” may have simply been added incentive to a more general underlying motive. By human nature, one man does not seek to be oppressed by another, therefore; attempts to oppress are very often met with strong resistance.