Thanks Kevin.  Let me add a couple of bits to the caveat: In the October 2001 William and Mary Quarterly, historian Michael P. Johnson offered a very thorough and compelling argument that there was no Vesey conspiracy at all--basically the same argument Kevin makes here: that interrogators projected their own fears into the situation and other political leaders manipulated those fears for their own ends.  The WMQ subsequently ran a number of responses and rebuttals, and I encourage anyone interested to check these out.  

I'm less certain myself that this was the case with the Gabriel conspiracy in Virginia.   From my reading of the documents and a lot of surrounding evidence, I think the elaborate details were in part intended to encourage skeptical blacks to join what otherwise would seem a very outrageous plot.  The accused slaves testified that Gabriel assured them of success because of the military organization: the troops would be divided to accomplish very specific assignments -- Gabriel maintained lists of recruits' names (several witneses testified to these lists though no lists materialized) I think to impress upon followers his literacy and intelligence -- again, sureties for success.   But I think the plot was never as serious a threat (a serious plot without being a serious threat) as it was made out to be.  Several accused slaves referred to large caches of weapons fashioned from farm tools, but as with the lists, these never seem to have materialized; at least none was produced as physical evidence in any of the trials.   Of course, once such information was in the hands of the white authorities, it mattered little just how much of Gabriel's conspiracy was only in the minds of the would-be rebels.   As with Vesey, there were significant reasons to suppress black Virginians in 1800.

David Kiracofe



David Kiracofe
History
Tidewater Community College
Chesapeake Campus
1428 Cedar Road
Chesapeake, Virginia 23322
757-822-5136

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