Profiles in Africana Religion – Part 11: Denmark Vesey

         Some might take it as ironic that some of the most religious individuals in African American history are also the most rebellious.  However, this actually seems quite appropriate.  Meaning, through the development and evolution of religious belief amongst enslaved Africans, for survival sake many adopted and molded the tools most useful to them in order to secure freedom.  Further, being that religious belief (particularly the Christian religion) was the tool most accessible to the enslaved, it became that most potent of weapons. 
              To elaborate, before Nat Turner used the power of religious prophecy to tear through Southampton, Virginia Denmark Vesey worked within the African Methodist Episcopal Church of South Carolina to fight against the system of slavery.  Vesey’s story started in the Caribbean.  Specifically, the island of St. Thomas where he was born under the birth name Telemaque.[1]  The name “Denmark” is likely a moniker given to him as a nickname because his birth Island was at the time the ward of Denmark.  However, his last name “Vesey” was an adopted name of his owner Captain Joseph Vesey of Bermuda who acquired Telemaque at a fairly young age.  
        The youth remained bound to Captain Vesey until 1799 when he was able to purchase his own freedom.[2]  As a free man, Denmark Vesey worked as an independent carpenter and eventually earned enough resources and reputation to start his own carpentry business.  Vesey eventually attempted to settle down and raise a family, but family can be a complicated notion for both enslaved and freed Africans in colonial America.  To explain, Vesey courted and married a woman simply known as Beck.  However, Beck was still enslaved and therefore her freedom was extremely limited as compared to her husband.  Eventually the couple became pregnant, which meant that their child would be the property of Beck’s enslaver.  This was of course due to the laws of the time, which states: “WHEREAS some doubts have arrisen whether children got by any Englishman upon a Negro woman should be slave or free, Be it therefore enacted and declared by this present grand assembly, that all children borne in this country shalbe held bond or free only according to the condition of the mother, And that if any christian shall commit fornication with a Negro man or woman, he or she se offending shall pay double the fines imposed by the former act.“[3]  While the above quoted legislation is centered on children between an English man and an African bondswoman, free African men had absolutely no rights to their enslaved offspring. 
              At one point Vesey attempted to legally purchase his wife in order to secure her freedom and the freedom of their children.  However, by law Beck and all of her offspring were the property of the slaver and he had no intention of liberating her or her offspring.  It is not clear, but this may have been the reason why Vesey sought retribution from the American slave system.  That is to say, the institution of slavery was horrific by all accounts but perhaps for Vesey, it was not the institution itself that caused him to organize a revolt, but very personal desire to free his family.  Nevertheless, apart from speculation his exact inspiration is not clear.
              To elaborate further, according to the historical record Vesey’s revolt started because of a number of circumstances.[4]  First, Vesey was definitely rattled by his inability to free his wife and child from their enslaver.  However, apart from his family, Vesey also had a number of friends and close associates who were enslaved as well as members of his congregation.  Vesey was a well-known carpenter as well as an active member of the Charleston community and a leader of the AME Church of the city therefore he had a deep investment in the community.  As such, he had a deep understanding of the conditions his people lived under and their desires for freedom. 
            Second, as a literate person Vesey was also exposed to the congressional conversations and debates concerning the free/slave state status of Missouri.[5]  So, as was the case with Nat Turner, a person’s ability to read, and therefore their capacity to be informed about the popular political and social debates of the time, inspires a strong sense possibility.  This point should not be taken lightly – meaning, there is a reason why reading was forbidden for the enslaved - the more educated a person or population is, the more difficult they are to control.
              Lastly, like Turner, another form of inspiration for Vesey was his particular read of the Bible.  Vesey employed imagery of the Bible - the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt, David’s defiance and destruction of Goliah and Joshua’s March around Jericho - as inspiration for a proactive and aggressive approach to freedom in antebellum America.[6]  So, again, there is a clear ambivalence with the manner in which Biblical symbolism is interpreted and used depending on one’s place in the society.  Appropriately, because Africans were on (or extremely close to) the lowest wrung, it is fitting that stories of the oppressed rising up against their masters with divine aid are critically important stories. 
              The revolt was planned for Bastille Day, July 14, 1822.  This date is significant because of its association to the French Revolution.  As well, Vesey drew inspiration from this day because of its association to the liberation of Africans of Saint-Domingue.[7]  The fact that Africans in Virginia drew inspiration from Africans in the Caribbean demonstrates a level of Pan-African collective consciousness that is critically important to the study of this era.  That is to say, despite the notion that African people worked separately towards freedom while suffering at the hands of a common enemy, is not supported by the historical narrative.  Instead, throughout this history of the New World there are clear examples of Africans connecting their struggles and working towards collective freedom. 
              On that faithful day in July, the plan was to seize parts of Charleston, particularly close to the harbor, so the rebels could steal away in a vessel for Haiti where they could cement their freedom.  However, none of this was ever fully realized.  Before the day of the planned conspiracy, city officials and land-owners caught wind of the uprising due to wide spread rumors and internal leaks.[8]  As a result there was dozens of arrests and an investigation ensued.  Many of those arrested where beaten, tortured and some were executed.  After the dust had settled from the arrests and trials, a total of 67 people had been convicted and 35 executed including Vesey.[9]
              History has looked back upon Vesey and the Charleston plot in interesting and conflicting ways.  On one hand, it is considered a blow to the slave system of the time and a great effort for an oppressed people seeking freedom through violent action and self-determination.  On the other hand, the plot itself may never have been more than overheard rumors and the work of over active imaginations.  It is difficult to know what is true because no revolt ever took place and the would-be conspirators were killed without an opportunity to have their side of the story added to the historical record.  Nevertheless, the story of Vesey has inspired many to seek a deeper understanding of what freedom means, both in the individual and collective context.


[1] Douglass Egerton. He Shall Go Out Free: The Lives of Denmark Vesey, 2nd ed.  (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1–4), 2004.  Egerton suggests he may have been of Akan origin. 

[2] Ibid.  According to the historical record, Denmark won a local lottery of over 1,500 dollars, which helped him secure his freedom.

[3] Library of Congress.  “Slavery and Indentured Servants.”  https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awlaw3/slavery.html.  Virginia Law: Act XII, Laws of Virginia, December 1662 (Hening, Statutes at Large, 2: 170).  The Latin expression for this law partus sequitur ventrum, it stated: “that the social status of a child followed that of his or her mother. Thus, any child born to an enslaved woman was born into slavery, regardless of the ancestry or citizenship of the father.”  

[4] Lerone Bennett. Before the Mayflower: A history of black America. (New York: Penguin Books, 1993).

[5] George Dangerfield.  The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815-1828.  (New York: Harper & Row, 1965).  During this historical period the debate centered around allowing Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state while Maine entered as a free state. 

[6] Deborah G. White. Freedom on My Mind, Volume 1: A History of African Americans, with Documents. (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016), 178.

[7] Richard C. Wade.  “The Vesey Plot: A Reconsideration.  The Journal of Southern History Vol. 30, No. 2 May 1964.

[8]  James O’Neil Spady.  “Power and Confession: On the Credibility of the Earliest Reports of the Denmark Vesey Slave Conspiracy.”  (William and Mary Quarterly, 38 (2), 287-304.

[9]  Richard C. Wade.  “The Vesey Plot: A Reconsideration.  The Journal of Southern History Vol. 30, No. 2 May 1964.