The Landscape of Rebellion: Stono

The fall of 1739 was marked by an incident, which became known as the Stono Rebellion. The greatest fears of the colonists in South Carolina were realized when a group of slaves turned to violence as a form of resistance.

The Stono Rebellion was the largest slave insurrection to take place in colonial America.

Following on its heels were several other incidents prompting South Carolinians to enact a prohibitive duty on the importation of new African slaves, which was in effect for most of the next decade.

The imposition of the duty resulted in a lower percentage of Africans among the slave population and lessened the possibility of rebellion.

The Negro Act of 1740 was designed to reduce the chance of more rebellions. Slaves were designated as “personal property” or chattels and slave owners were prohibited from “exercising too great a rigor or cruelty.”

Owners were to provide adequate food and clothing; field work was not required on Sundays. In addition, no slave was to be worked more than fifteen hours a day. Anyone convicted of murdering a slave was subject to a stiff fine.

Notes on Slave Patrol and Duties 1740-1809.

Patrol Definition	Patrol Law	To Patrol Captain	Patrol Duties
Click on image to enlarge.

Slave Patrol images courtesy of Drayton Papers Collection,
Drayton Hall, National Trust for Historic Preservation

In order to provide protection for whites, overseers and owners were to provide written passes for slaves away from their plantation.

It was forbidden to teach slaves to read and a white person was to accompany any group of seven or more slaves on the highways in the Low Country.

The slave patrol system and militia was strengthened and slaveholders and overseers from each parish formed a beat company that visited each plantation after dark to ensure there was order.

For slaves caught away from their plantation without a pass the punishment was a severe beating with the lash, or worse, incarceration with an iron mask.

For the male patriarchy the slave patrol laws served as an opportunity to increase their hegemony over slaves and the female members in their families.