Dangerous Spirit of Liberty: Slave Rebellion, Conspiracy, and the First Great Awakening, 1729-1746 by Justin James Pope B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science, May 2000, Eckerd College M.A. in History, May 2005, University of Cincinnati M.Phil. in History, May 2008, The George Washington University A Dissertation submitted to The Faculty of The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 31, 2014 Dissertation directed by David J. Silverman Professor of History The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University certifies that Justin Pope has passed the Final Examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 10, 2014. This is the final and approved form of the dissertation. Dangerous Spirit of Liberty: Slave Rebellion, Conspiracy, and the Great Awakening, 1729-1746 Justin Pope Dissertation Research Committee: David J. Silverman, Professor of History, Dissertation Director Denver Brunsman, Assistant Professor of History, Committee Member Greg L. Childs, Assistant Professor of History, Committee Member ii © Copyright 2014 by Justin Pope All rights reserved iii Acknowledgments I feel fortunate to thank the many friends and colleagues, institutions and universities that have helped me produce this dissertation. The considerable research for this project would not have been possible without the assistance of several organizations. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the Maryland Historical Society, the Cosmos Club Foundation of Washington, D.C., the Andrew Mellon Fellowship of the Virginia Historical Society, the W. B. H. Dowse Fellowship of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Thompson Travel Grant from the George Washington University History Department, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Research Fellowship all provided critical funding for my archival research. Like so many graduate students in early American history, I owe a special thanks to the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. The experience of the Barra Dissertation Fellowship and the opportunity to work with so many accomplished historians was much appreciated. My great thanks to Dan Richter and the staff at the McNeil Center for allowing me to be a part of that remarkable place. I am also very grateful for my Summer Research Fellowship at the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. Valerie Andrews was the consummate host, presenting all of the fellows with every opportunity to explore the vast archives at the library. Even when I mishandled a champagne glass and ended up in a hospital emergency room, Ms. Andrews was waiting to rescue me in the wee hours of the night. I owe her and the staff great thanks for their assistance during a formative time in my research. Last, but certainly not least, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship provided a year of funding for writing that was invaluable for this project. iv I have been mentored at every step by Professor David Silverman at George Washington University. He is a great scholar and an inspiration to the graduate students who are fortunate enough to work with him. He is also a great friend. I would also like to thank the members of my Dissertation Committee, Denver Brunsman, Greg Childs, Nemata Blyden, and Ira Berlin for their encouragement and insights. I only wish I had more time to learn from them all. My colleagues and friends in the GWU History Department provided great support throughout the long process of my Ph.D. research. Michael Landis, Chris Hickman, Shaadi Khoury, and so many others have become valuable friends that enriched my time in study. Their understanding of the struggles and victories in graduate life gave me great courage. I am also thankful for Nancy Campbell, whose love and friendship were invaluable to me. The unfailing support of my family has held me up all my life. Thank you to Joshua Seabolt and Claire Pope, James Pope and Deborah Larkin for believing in me. I am grateful. v Abstract of Dissertation Dangerous Spirit of Liberty: Slave Rebellion, Conspiracy, and the First Great Awakening, 1729-1746 This dissertation is an argument for an era of slave unrest within the British Atlantic Empire between the years 1729 and 1746. As the first full length, longitudinal study of the insurrections and slave conspiracies of the age, it approaches these events not as singular events in the histories of specific colonies, but rather as a shared moment in the history of the British provinces, when slaves in the Caribbean and mainland North America threatened white authority with open rebellion and in turn, inspired heightened fears of insurrection among white Britons. This project reveals new evidence of early slave communication networks capable of spreading rumors of resistance throughout the Caribbean and British mainland, demonstrates the deadly consequences of the period’s sharp rise in the slave trade, and examines the relationship between British fears of slave rebellion and British anti-Catholicism. Another major contribution from this project is its case for a powerful connection between racial anxiety and the rise of evangelical religion in Early America. Even as insurrection and panic shook the British colonies, thousands of Americans joined a new, emotional search for spiritual salvation known today as the First Great Awakening. My study makes the unique argument that many evangelicals in the 1730s perceived slave rebellion as a sign that Britons had fallen out of favor with God and used these anxieties to galvanize spiritual conversion among the disaffected. In this way, slave unrest deeply influenced the growth of evangelical religion in the mainland provinces. In short, this study argues that the 1730s was a critical period in the Atlantic when slave rebellion and fears of conspiracy profoundly shaped the provinces of the British Empire. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………….. iv Abstract of Dissertation ….................................................................................................vi List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………...viii List of Tables ……………………………….....................................................................ix List of Graphs.................................................................................................................... x List of Charts …………..………………………………………………………………. xi Introduction……………………………………………………………………………… 1 Section One: The African Trade…………………………………………………………40 Chapter 1: “A New Guinea”..............................................................................................45 Chapter 2: “to stand by, and be true to each other”.........................................................101 Section Two: Communication….………………………………………………………176 Chapter 3: “Dangerous Spirtit of Liberty”.......................................................................179 Chapter 4: “To Massacre and Destroy your own Estates” …..........................................235 Section Three: Religion…..…………………………………………………………….306 Chapter 5: “Mystery of Iniquity”……………………...…..............................................309 Chapter 6: “God’s Just Judgement”…………………...…..............................................345 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..390 Bibliography ……………...............................................................................................403 vii List of Figures Figure [1-1]: Figure 1-1: Henry Popple, (Composite Map of) A Map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish Settlements… (London, 1733) ................................... ......xii Figure [3-1]: “List of all Ships and Vessels belonging to Antigua” ............................................. 186 Figure [3-2]: Emanuel Bowen, “New and accurate map of the provinces of North and South Carolina” ...................................................................................................................................... 224 viii List of Tables Table [1-1]: Number of Transatlantic British Ships engaged in the Slave Trade to Mainland North America and the Caribbean, 1700 to 1750 …………………………… 55 Table [1-2]: Slave Disembarked in the British Transatlantic Slave Trade, Estimates by Region, 1700 to 1750 ………………………………………………………………….. 56 Table [1-3]: The Populations of British colonial America and the West Indies by Race ………………………………………………………………… Supplementary Files, 1 Table [1-4]: Percentage of Black Population in British Colonial America and the West Indies, 1700 to 1750 ……………………………………………………………………. 90 Table [1-5]: Populations in British Colonial Ports of Mainland America and the West Indies, 1700 to 1750 ……………………………………………...Supplementary Files, 2 Table [1-6]: Black Percentage of Total Population in British Colonies with Slave Conspiracies, 1700-1750 ……………………………………………………………….. 99 Table [2-1]: Estimates of Slaves Embarked from African Regions on British Vessels, 1690 to 1750 ………………………………………………………………………….. 109 Table [2-2]: British Voyages from West-Central African Ports to Principal Region of Slave Landing, 1710-1740 ……………………………………………………………. 126 Table [2-3]: Average Annual Decline in Slave Population (by percentage) …………. 134 Table [2-4]: Slaves Disembarked in the Caribbean from British vessels by African Region, 1700 to 1750 …………………………………………………………………. 140 Table [4-1] Shipping between American and British Ports, Annual Averages of Ships, 1685 and 1740..………...……………………………………………………….