DENMARK VESEY

A fascinating historical detective story about an abortive 1822 slave insurrection in Charleston, S.C. Little survives in the historical record about Denmark Vesey, the free black who masterminded what could have been the most devastating uprising in American history. We don—t know where this former slave (he bought his freedom and became a prosperous carpenter) was born, the site of his execution and grave, or even what he looked like. In fact, nearly all copies of the chief record of the event, an official report of his trial, were confiscated and burned, being considered too dangerous for slaves to see. Just rumors of the plot terrified Charlestonians, for Vesey and his recruits intended to assassinate the governor and other high elected state officials, torch the city, murder the entire white population, including children, and escape to either Haiti or Africa. The plot was exposed, and by the end of the summer Vesey (who never confessed) and 76 followers were either executed or imprisoned. Despite its failure, the revolt had major consequences. John C. Calhoun, then secretary of war, began building up Charleston’s defenses until by the start of the Civil War it was the most heavily fortified city in the US. Robertson, a novelist (Booth, 1998) and biographer (Sly and Able: A Political Biography of James F. Byrnes, 1994), deftly teases out tantalizing clues from the testimony without pushing his speculation too far. The book’s most intriguing aspect is his depiction of Vesey (who may have been a Muslim) as a forerunner of Malcolm X in his haughty charisma, his advocacy of black economic independence and Africanism, and his insistence on doing “everything that is necessary” to strike at the whites he held responsible for his people’s degradation. Robertson’s thoughtful chronicle restores to the record a powerful figure whose story continues to challenge America’s vision of itself as a place of equality and harmony. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen)