1811 German Coast uprising facts for kids
Quick facts for kids 1811 German Coast uprising |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Enslaved Africans | Local planters Militias and Regulars |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Charles Deslondes  |
Wade Hampton I John Shaw William C. C. Claiborne |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 200–500 enslaved Africans and African-Americans | 2 companies of volunteer militia, 30 regular troops and 40 seamen | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 95 total killed from skirmishes and sentencing after trials | 2 killed | ||||||
The 1811 German Coast uprising was a large rebellion by enslaved people. It happened in the Territory of Orleans (which is now Louisiana) from January 8 to 10, 1811. This uprising took place along the east side of the Mississippi River. It covered areas that are now St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Jefferson Parishes.
This slave rebellion was the biggest in U.S. history. The rebels killed only two white men. However, many enslaved people were killed during fights with militias or after trials. About 95 enslaved people lost their lives.
Between 64 and 125 enslaved men started marching from sugarcane plantations. These were located near what is now LaPlace on the German Coast. They headed toward the city of New Orleans. More enslaved people joined them along the way. Some reports say that 200 to 500 enslaved people took part in total.
During their two-day march, which covered about 20 miles, the rebels burned five plantation houses. They also set fire to several sugarhouses and crops. Most of their weapons were hand tools.
Local officials quickly formed groups of armed citizens called militias. In a battle on January 10, these militias killed 40 to 45 of the enslaved people. The militias had no deaths themselves. Over the next two weeks, white plantation owners and officials captured more enslaved people. They questioned them, held trials, and many were killed.
Since 1995, the African American History Alliance of Louisiana has held an event each January. This event remembers the uprising. Some descendants of those who participated also join the commemoration.
Contents
Why the Uprising Happened
The area known as Louisiana's German Coast got its name from immigrants in the 1720s. After the American Revolutionary War, growing sugar became very popular here. In the 1780s, an enslaved man named Jean Saint Malo escaped. He created a hidden community of maroons (runaway slaves) in the swamps near New Orleans. Spanish officials sent militias to capture him, and he was executed in 1784. He became a hero to many.
About ten years later, during the French Revolution, Spanish officials found out about another slave plot. This one was at Pointe Coupee. This uprising was stopped before it could fully begin. Many enslaved people were punished or sent to work in other places.
After the Haitian Revolution (a successful slave revolt in Haiti), plantation owners in Louisiana started growing a lot of sugarcane. This led to a very large enslaved population. They changed from growing cotton and indigo to sugar cane. By 1802, 70 sugar plantations produced over 3,000 tons of sugar a year.
The conditions for enslaved people on these sugar plantations were very harsh. They worked long hours and were punished severely. This meant they often lived shorter lives than enslaved people in other parts of North America. By 1810, some reports said that Black people outnumbered white people by almost five to one. About 90% of white people in the area owned slaves. More than half of the enslaved people might have been born outside Louisiana, many in Africa.
After the U.S. bought Louisiana in 1803, William C. C. Claiborne became the governor of the Territory of Orleans. Governor Claiborne found it hard to manage the diverse population. He didn't speak French or Spanish, which many people in the area spoke. Also, there were many more native Africans among the enslaved people here than elsewhere in the U.S. Many Creole and French-speaking refugees from Haiti also arrived with their own enslaved people after the Haitian Revolution.
The waterways and bayous around New Orleans made it easy for runaway slaves to hide. Some hidden communities of maroons lasted for years. Ideas of freedom from the French Revolution and Haitian Revolution made European-Americans worried about slave uprisings.
The Rebellion Begins
Planning the Uprising
A group of enslaved plantation workers met on January 6, 1811. This was a time when work on the plantations was a bit slower after the busy sugar harvest. One enslaved man named Quamana and another named Harry met with Charles Deslondes. Deslondes was a slave driver, meaning he was an enslaved person who oversaw other slaves. He was later called the "principal chief of the brigands" (rebels). Word of the planned uprising spread among enslaved people along the "German Coast" of the Mississippi River.
The March Downriver
The revolt started on January 8 at the Andry plantation. The enslaved men attacked Manuel Andry, badly hurting him. They then killed his son, Gilbert. Manuel Andry later wrote, "My poor son has been ferociously murdered by a horde of brigands."
The rebellion quickly grew. About 15 enslaved people from Andry's plantation, which was about 30 miles upriver from New Orleans, joined the revolt. Then, eight more enslaved people from the nearby Deslondes plantation joined. This was Charles Deslondes's home plantation. Small groups of enslaved people joined from every plantation the rebels passed. People noticed how organized their march was. They mostly carried pikes, hoes, and axes, but few guns. They marched to the sound of drums, and some carried flags. About 10% to 25% of the enslaved people from each plantation joined them.
At the plantation of James Brown, an enslaved man named Kook joined. He became a very active leader in the uprising. At the next plantation, Kook attacked and killed François Trépagnier with an axe. He was the second and last plantation owner killed in the rebellion. After passing the LaBranche plantation, the group stopped at the local doctor's house. Kook set the house on fire when they found the doctor gone.
Some plantation owners later said in court that enslaved people had warned them about the uprising. Many owners often stayed in New Orleans, where they had town houses, leaving their plantations to be run by overseers. Plantation owners quickly crossed the Mississippi River to escape the rebels and to gather a militia.
As the rebels moved downriver, they passed larger plantations, and more enslaved people joined them. Many joined from the Meuillion plantation, which was the biggest and richest on the German Coast. The rebels damaged Meuillion's house and tried to burn it. However, an enslaved man named Bazile fought the fire and saved the house.
After dark, the rebels reached Cannes-Brulées, about 15 miles northwest of New Orleans. They had marched between 14 and 22 miles, which probably took them seven to ten hours. Some reports said there were "some 200 slaves," while others estimated up to 500. Like most revolts, the rebels were mostly young men between 20 and 30 years old. They usually worked in lower-skilled jobs on the sugar plantations, where conditions were very tough.
Stopping the Rebellion
Colonel Andry, who was injured by an axe, crossed the river to contact other plantation owners. He gathered a militia to chase the rebels. By noon on January 9, people in New Orleans knew about the uprising. By sunset, General Wade Hampton I, Commodore John Shaw, and Governor Claiborne sent forces. These included two groups of volunteer militia, 30 U.S. Army soldiers, and 40 sailors from the U.S. Navy.
Around 4 a.m. on January 10, the New Orleans forces reached Jacques Fortier's plantation. General Hampton thought the rebels had camped there overnight. However, the rebels had already started moving back upriver about two hours earlier. They traveled about 15 miles back up the coast and were near Bernard Bernoudy's plantation.
There, planter Charles Perret, working with the injured Andry and Judge St. Martin, had gathered a militia of about 80 men from the other side of the river. Around 9 o'clock, this local militia found the rebels moving toward higher ground on Bernoudy's plantation. Perret ordered his militia to attack. He later wrote that the rebels numbered about 200 men, with about half on horseback. (Most reports say only the leaders were mounted, and historians think it's unlikely so many rebels had horses.) Within half an hour, 40 to 45 rebels were killed. The rest escaped into the woods and swamps. The militias tried to chase them, even though the land was difficult.
On January 11, the militia, helped by Native American trackers and hunting dogs, captured Charles Deslondes. Andry called him "the principal leader of the bandits." Deslondes, who was a slave driver and the son of a white man and an enslaved woman, was killed without a trial. The next day, Pierre Griffee and Hans Wimprenn, who were thought to be involved in killings, were captured and killed.
After the Uprising
Trials and Punishments
After stopping the rebellion, officials kept searching for those who had escaped. Those captured later were questioned and put in jail before their trials. Three courts were set up: one at Destrehan Plantation in St. Charles Parish, one in St. John the Baptist Parish, and one in New Orleans.
At the Destrehan trials, overseen by Judge Pierre Bauchet St. Martin, 18 out of 21 captured people were executed by firing squad. Some enslaved people testified against others, but some refused to speak to the court, which was made up only of plantation owners.
In New Orleans, Commodore Shaw believed that "few of those who have been taken were acquitted." The New Orleans trials led to the conviction and quick executions of 11 more enslaved people. Three were publicly executed in the Place d'Armes, which is now Jackson Square. One 13-year-old boy was spared from execution but was forced to watch another man die, then received 30 lashes (whipping). Another rebel was treated less harshly because his uncle turned him in and asked for mercy. A third person's sentence was changed because he gave useful information.
Governor Claiborne could pardon people. He did pardon two enslaved men, Henry and Theodore, who were recommended for mercy by the New Orleans court.
Results of the Rebellion
About 95 enslaved people were killed. This includes those killed during the battle, those captured and quickly executed, and those executed after trials. Records show that most of the leaders were mixed-race Creoles or mulattoes, but many enslaved people were born in Africa.
Fifty-six of the enslaved people captured on January 10 were sent back to their owners. Their owners likely punished them but wanted their valuable workers back. Thirty more escaped enslaved people were captured but also returned to their owners. These owners believed they had been forced to join the revolt by Charles Deslondes and his men.
Not all enslaved people supported the uprising. Some knew the dangers it could bring and did not want their homes and communities destroyed. For example, the family of Meuillion asked the government for permission to free Bazile, the enslaved man who saved his master's plantation from burning.
Like most slave uprisings in America, this one was short and quickly stopped by local authorities. The government of the Territory of Orleans agreed to pay plantation owners $300 for each enslaved person who was killed or executed. The territory welcomed the presence of U.S. troops after the revolt. Newspapers across the country reported on the uprising. Some people in the North saw it as a result of the unfairness of slavery.
Remembering the Uprising
The uprising began in what is now LaPlace. The rebels marched about 20 miles along the old River Road. This path goes through towns like Montz, Norco, New Sarpy, Destrehan, and St. Rose. It ended near what used to be the Kenner and Henderson Plantations. This area is now Rivertown and Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner.
The Destrehan Plantation offers tours that focus on the architecture and the lives of the white families who lived there. However, a small museum in a former slave cabin (not part of the main tour) has folk paintings about the 1811 uprising. A historical marker at the former Andry plantation mentions the "Major 1811 slave uprising organized here." Even though this rebellion was very large and connected to the French and Haitian revolutions, it is not always widely known in history books. But as late as 1923, older Black men still shared stories of the 1811 slave uprising that they heard from their grandfathers.
The Whitney Plantation, located in St. John the Baptist Parish, opened in 2014. It is the first plantation museum in the U.S. dedicated to the experience of enslaved people. The Whitney Plantation includes a memorial and information to remember the 1811 Slave Uprising of the German Coast.
Since 1995, the African American History Alliance of Louisiana has held an annual event in January at Norco. Some descendants of those who took part in the revolt join this event. In 2015, artist Dread Scott started planning a large re-enactment of the uprising. This 26-mile, two-day event took place in November 2019.
The uprising is also featured in Talene Monahon's 2020 play, How to Load a Musket.
In 2021, the 1811 Kid Ory Historic House opened at the site of Woodland Plantation in LaPlace. This plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places of the United States. The museum focuses on both the German Coast uprising and Kid Ory. Kid Ory was a famous American jazz composer and musician born there in 1886.
