Frontier Grant Lesson Plan
Teacher: Pam Danielson
Topic: The Stono Rebellion
Grade/Subject Matter: 11th Grade/U.S. History
Lesson Duration: 1- 3 Days
Link to Idaho Content Standards:
Goal 1.1: Build an understanding of the cultural and social development of
the United States.
1.1.1 Compare and contrast the different cultural and social influences that
emerged in the North American colonies. (479.01a)
1.1.2 Describe the experiences of culturally, ethnically, and racially
different groups existing as part of American soc1iety prior to the Civil
War. (479.01b)
1.1.3 Analyze the common traits, beliefs, and characteristics that unite the
United States as a nation and a society. (479.01c)
Goal 1.3: Identify the role of American Indians in the development of the
United States.
Goal 3.1: Explain basic economic concepts.
3.1.1 Describe the economic characteristics of colonialism. (483.01a)
Background:
The Stono Slave Rebellion began September 9, 1739 at Stono River near
Charleston, South Carolina. The slaves, carrying signs saying “Liberty”
and beating drums, were headed to freedom in Spanish Florida, but first
they needed to arm themselves. They stopped at the general store, killed
the owners, and took the weapons. They recruited more slaves and killed
more whites as they went. The rebellion was put down by the militia and
was a turning point in the way slaves were treated with the creation of the
Negro Act.
Essential Question: What were the immediate and long term effects on slaves
following the Stono Rebellion?
Learning Activities:
Students Will Be Able to: (SWBAT)
Examine primary sources in order to understand the Stono slave rebellion
Describe attempts of slaves to secure their freedom
Describe the differences in how slaves were treated in South Carolina before
the Stono Rebellion and after the rebellion.
Explain the Negro Codes and why they were enacted
Procedure: Students will analyze the documents included below in order to
understand the complexities of slavery during the early eighteenth century in
American History. Using the documents, they will answer the essential question
posed at the beginning of the lesson.
Optional: have each group of students only examine one document.
Motivating Activity:
Show the image of “Horrid Massacre in Virginia”
Series of drawings
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_stono_2_e.jpg
This image shows
1. Mother pleading for the lives of her children
2. Slave owner cruelly murdered by his own slaves
3. Mr. Harrow, who bravely defended himself while his wife escaped
4. A group of mounted Dragoons in pursuit of the Blacks
In small groups, students will interpret the artist’s drawings using OPTIC. Class
discussion will follow.
O = observe
P = parts – details/ very specific
T = title – make one up if not given
I = interrelationship – based on parts
C = conclusion – what is the artist’s intent
Procedure:
View YouTube 8:15 minute video from “Slavery and the Making of America” on
the Stono Rebellion and its aftermath.
http://www.experiencefestival.com/wp/videos/stono-rebellion/6zvcS2tlKS4
Possible discussion questions following video:
What were slave conditions like in South Carolina prior to the Rebellion?
What do you think freedom and/or liberty actually meant to the slaves?
What do you think were the causes of the rebellion?
Explain the Stono rebellion from the perspective of the slaves.
What did they hope to achieve? What were their goals?
What role did the possibility of freedom in Spanish Florida play in the plans of the
slaves?
Assessment Method(s):
Students will write an essay answering the Essential Question: What were the
immediate and long term effects on slaves following the Stono Rebellion?
Documents:
1. A Commons House of Assembly Committee Report, in a Message to the
Governor's Council
Source: South Carolina Department of Archives and History. (Reprinted
from PBS, Africans in America, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html.)
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/history/modules/mod04/frameset.htm
2. Report from William Bull on the Stono Rebellion, excerpt
This letter excerpt is from William Bull, a South Carolina official, to his superiors
in Britain.
Source: CO 5/388 UK Crown copyright: Public Record Office
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h311t.html
3. Excerpts from the transcript of the 1740 slave codes
Source: Transcription from McCord, David J., ed. The Statutes at Large of
South Carolina. Vol. 7, Containing the Acts Relating to Charleston, Courts,
Slaves, and Rivers. Columbia, SC: A.S. Johnston, 1840, p. 397.
http://www.teachingushistory.org/pdfs/Transciptionof1740SlaveCodes.pdf
Document 1
Students, in groups of four, will read the following document and write their
responses.
“A Commons House of Assembly Committee Report, in a Message to the
Governor's Council”
This text is from a British government report on the Stono rebellion.
November 29, 1739
1. That upon Inquiry your Committee find that a negro man named July belonging to Mr Thomas
Elliott was very early and chiefly instrumental in saving his Master and his Family from being
destroyed by the Rebellious Negroes and that the Negro man July had at several times bravely
fought against the Rebels and killed one of them. Your Committee therefore recommends that the
[said] Negro July (as a reward for his faithful Services and for Encouragement to other Slaves to
follow his Example in case of the like Nature) shall have his Freedom and a Present of a Suit of
Cloaths, Shirt, Hat, a pair of stockings and a pair of Shoes.
2. That the several Slaves heareafter named Ralph, Prince, Joe, Larush and Pompey belonging
to the [said] Mr Thos Elliott, Sampon belonging to to Mr Wilkinson, two Negro Men and a Negro
Woman (whose names your Committee do not know) belonging to Mr Thomas Rose, Two Negro
Men (whose names are also unkown to your Committee) who belong to the Estate of Mr John
Haynes decd. And one Negro Man (his name not known by your Committee) belonging to the
Estate of Mr Christopher Wilkinson decd a Negro man belonging to Mrs Wilkson Widow named
Mingo; a Mustee Man have behaved themselves very well and been a great source in opposing
the Rebellions Negroes; For which your Committee recommend that they be rewarded as follows
(that is to say) the Men to have each a Suit of Cloths, hat, shirt, a pair of Shoes, and a pair of
Stockings, And the Women to have each a Jacket and Petticoat, a Shift, a pair of Stockings, and
a pair of Shoes and also the sum of 20[lb] in Cash to each of the Slaves above named. . . .
7. That several of the Neighbouring Indians did assist in hunting for, taking and destroying the
[said] Rebellious Negroes, For which your Committee propose that the [said] Indians be severally
rewarded with a Coat, a Flap, a Hat, a pair of Indian Stockings, a Gun, 2 pounds of Powder and 8
Pounds of Bullets, Which Indians Names are as follows (that is to say) Tobb, Old Jack, Peter,
Tom and Philip and five other Indians (whose names your Committee do not know) that came
down to Stono with Captain Coachman. . . .
Questions:
1. What is the strategy of whites regarding race relations in this document?
2. According to the document, what role did the Indians play?
3. What method do whites think will work in gaining the subservience of both slaves and
American Indians?
Document #2
Students, in groups of four, will read the following document excerpt and write
their responses.
Report from William Bull re. Stono Rebellion
My Lords,
I beg leave to lay before your Lordships an account of our Affairs, first in regard
to the Desertion of our Negroes. . . . On the 9th of September last at Night a
great Number of Negroes Arose in Rebellion, broke open a Store where they got
arms, killed twenty one White Persons, and were marching the next morning in a
Daring manner out of the Province, killing all they met and burning several
Houses as they passed along the Road. I was returning from Granville County
with four Gentlemen and met these Rebels at eleven o'clock in the forenoon and
fortunately deserned the approaching danger time enough to avoid it, and to give
notice to the Militia who on the Occasion behaved with so much expedition and
bravery, as by four a'Clock the same day to come up with them and killed and
took so many as put a stop to any further mischief at that time, forty four of them
have been killed and Executed; some few yet remain concealed in the Woods
expecting the same fate, seem desperate. . . .
It was the Opinion of His Majesty's Council with several other Gentlemen that
one of the most effectual means that could be used at present to prevent such
desertion of our Negroes is to encourage some Indians by a suitable reward to
pursue and if possible to bring back the Deserters, and while the Indians are thus
employed they would be in the way ready to intercept others that might attempt
to follow and I have sent for the Chiefs of the Chickasaws living at New Windsor
and the Catawbaw Indians for that purpose. . . .
My Lords,
Your Lordships Most Obedient and Most Humble Servant
Wm Bull
1. Does the official mention any capture of the slaves for trial?
2. What happened to the captured “rebel” slaves?
3. What is the official plan to catch the slaves that are still at large?
Document #3
Students, in small groups, will read and share with others the meaning of
selected excerpts from the Slave Codes enacted following the rebellion. (Option
– Use the entire transcript of the Codes)
AN ACT FOR THE BETTER ORDERING AND GOVERNING NEGROES AND OTHER
SLAVES IN THIS PROVINCE May 10, 1740
WHEREAS, in his Majesty’s plantations in America, slavery has been introduced and
allowed, and the people commonly called Negroes, Indians, mulattoes and
mustizoes, have been deemed absolute slaves, and the subjects of property in the
hands of the particular persons, the extend of whose power over such slaves ought
to be settled and limited by positive laws, so that the slave may be kept in due
subjection and obedience, and the owners and other persons having the care and
government of slaves may be restrained from exercising too great rigour and cruelty
over them, and that the public peace and order of this Province may be preserved:
We pray your most sacred Majesty that it may be enacted,
1. That all Negroes and Indians, (free Indians in amity with this government, and
degrees, mulattoes, and mustizoes, who are now free, excepted,) mulattoes or
mustizoes who now are, or shall hereafter be, in this Province, and all their issue
and offspring, born or to be born, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be,
and remain forever hereafter, absolute slaves, and shall follow the condition of
the mother, and shall be deemed, held, taken, reputed and adjudged in law, to be
chattels personal, in the hands of their owners and possessors, and their
executors, administrators, and assigns …
III. And for the better keeping slaves in due order and subjection, Be it further
enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no person whatsoever shall permit or
suffer any slave under his or their care or management … to go out of the limits
of the said town, or any such slave who lives in the country, to go out of the
plantation to which such slave belongs, or in which plantation such slave is
usually employed, without a letter superscribed and directed, or a ticket in the
words following:
Permit this slave to be absent from Charlestown, (or any other town, or if he lives in
the country, from Mr. ________ plantation, _______ parish,) for ________ days or
hours; dated the _______ day of _______.
A slave … without such letter or ticket as aforesaid, or without a white person in his
company, shall be punished with whipping on the bare back, not exceeding twenty
lashes.
IV. …, That if any person shall presume to give a ticket or license to any slave who is
the property or under the care of charge of another, without the consent or against
the will of the owner or other person having charge of such slave, shall forfeit to the
owner the sum of twenty pounds, current money.
XVI. … That the several crimes and offences hereinafter particularly enumerated,
are hereby declared to be felony, … if any slave, free Negro, mulattoe, Indian or
mustizoe, shall willfully and maliciously set fire to, burn or destroy any sack of rice,
corn or other grain, of the product, growth or manufacture of this Province, or shall
willfully and maliciously set fire to, burn or destroy any tar kiln, barrels of pitch, tar
turpentine or rosin, or any other the goods or commodities of the growth, produce or
manufacture of this Province, or shall feloniously steal, take or carry away any slave,
being the property of another, with intent to carry such slave out of this Province, or
shall willfully or maliciously poison or administer any poison to any person, free man,
woman, servant or slave, every such slave, free Negro, mulattoe, Indian, (except as
before excepted,) and mustizoe, shall suffer death as a felon.
XXII. … That if any person in this Province shall, on the Lord’s day, commonly called
Sunday, employ any slave in any work or labour, (works of absolute necessity and
the necessary occasions of the family one excepted,) every person in such case
offending, shall forfeit the sum of five pounds, current money, for every slave they
shall so work or labour.
XXIV. … That if any slave shall presume to strike any white person, such slave,
upon trial and conviction before the justice or justices and freeholders …shall, for the
first and second offence, suffer such punishment as the said justice and freeholders,
or such of them as are empowered to try such offence, shall in their discretion, think
fit, not extending to life or limb; and for the third offence, shall suffer death.
XXV. … That it shall and may be lawful for every person in this Province, to take,
apprehend and secure any runaway or fugitive slave, and they are hereby directed
and required to send such slave to the master …
XXII. …, That if any keeper of a tavern or punch house, or retailer of strong liquors,
shall give, sell utter or deliver to any slave, any beer, ale, cider, wine, run, brandy, or
other spirituous liquors, or strong liquor whatsoever, without the license or consent of
the owner, or such other person who shall have the care or government of such
slave, ever person so offending shall forfeit the sum of five pounds, current money,
for the first offence, and for the second offence, ten pounds; and shall be bound in
recognizance in the sum of one hundred pounds, current money.
XXXVI. And for that as it is absolutely necessary to the safety of this Province, that
all due care be taken to restrain the wanderings and meetings of Negroes and other
slaves, at all times, and more especially on Saturday nights, Sundays, and other
holidays, and their using and carrying wooden swords, and other mischievous and
dangerous weapons, or using or keeping of drums, horns, or other loud instruments,
which may call together or give sign or notice to one another of their wicked designs
and purposes …
XXXVII. And whereas, cruelty is not only highly unbecoming those who profess
themselves Christians, but is odious (deserving or causing hatred) in the eyes of all
men who have any sense of virtue of humanity; therefore, to restrain and prevent
barbarity being exercised towards slaves,
XLII. … That no slave or slaves shall be permitted to rent or hire any house, room,
store or plantation, on his or her own account, or to be used or occupied by any
slave or slaves;
XLIII. And whereas, it may be attended with ill consequences to permit a great
number of slaves (over seven) to travel together in the high roads without some
white person in company with them;
XLV. That all {people}, who shall hereinafter teach or cause any slave or slaves to
be taught, to write, or shall use or employ any slave as a scribe in any manner of
writing whatsoever, hereafter taught to write, every such person and persons, shall,
for every such offense, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds current money.
Discussion Questions:
1. What was the purpose of the slave codes?
2. What were the punishments for whites who violated the slave codes?
3. How did whites view the Indians?
Enrichment Activity:
Compare the Stono Rebellion with the revolt of Nat Turner in 1831. How had the
institution of slavery evolved in the years between the two events? Can you see
any differences in the white response to each revolt? What role did the law play
in the aftermath of each incident?