slaveryto
freedom
A series of pages exploring
various aspects of enslavement in Pennsylvania
Revolts, Uprisings and Rebellions
News Accounts of Violent Resistance Reported in Pennsylvania Newspapers
Slave Ship Revolts
As a port city, Philadelphia's early newspapers devoted a lot of space to shipping matters. Lists of ship arrivals and departures appeared in nearly every edition, along with summaries of shipping news from New York, Boston, Charleston and other ports. Accounts of voyages, privateer activity, storms and disasters at sea appeared frequently, often in dramatic detail as described in letters received at various ports. All such news was read closely, as the loss of a ship and its cargo in a storm could mean financial ruin for local investors.
Accounts of slave ships taken over by the enslaved men and women it carried as cargo, often resulting in the death of the ship's captain and some or all crew members, carried increasing weight for readers throughout the province. The uprisings affected not only investors, who lost money in the voyage, but all white slaveholders throughout Pennsylvania, not only as reminders of the violence that was perpetrated upon the people they enslaved, but also of the potential for violent resistance from those very people.
Each link below is a story or account of a violent uprising on a slave ship, as reported in a Philadelphia newspaper.