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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 920 EAN: 9780679762188 ISBN: 0679762183 Label: Vintage Manufacturer: Vintage Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 224 Publication Date: August 08, 2000 Publisher: Vintage Release Date: August 08, 2000 Studio: Vintage Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: In a remarkable feat of historical detective work, David Robertson illuminates the shadowy figure who planned a slave rebellion so daring that, if successful, it might have changed the face of the antebellum South. This is the story of a man who, like Nat Turner, Marcus Garvey, and Malcolm X, is a complex yet seminal hero in the history of African American emancipation. Denmark Vesey was a charasmatic ex-slave--literate, professional, and relatively well-off--who had purchased his own freedom with the winnings from a lottery. Inspired by the success of the revolutionary black republic in Haiti, he persuaded some nine thousand slaves to join him in a revolt. On a June evening in 1822, having gathered guns, and daggers, they were to converge on Charleston, South Carolina, take the city's arsenal, murder the populace, burn the city, and escape by ship to Haiti or Africa. When the uprising was betrayed, Vesey and seventy-seven of his followers were executed, the matter hushed by Charleston's elite for fear of further rebellion. Compelling, informative, and often disturbing, this book is essential to a fuller understanding of the struggle against slavery. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Annoyed As Hell!I find his work to be primarily "his story", rather than an objective historical account. He was unable to set aside his on prejudices and write a well-balanced account of Denmark Vesey. Is it possible that only a person of African American descent can tell our story truthfully. I generally say yes. But I have read a few non-Africans who have done an excellent job and dare write the truth.. But I believe if you want your story told right, you can't count on outsiders to tell it. However, ... Read More Rating:  - A Must Read for ALL AmercansThis is an empowering and inspiring story by a gifted storyteller who surprisingly managed to stay neutral and objective throughout his research into the man and the myth of Denmark Vesey. There are so many lessons for all Americans courageous enough to examine the actions and motives of their immediate ancestors as well as their own often conflicting feelings toward each other. Rating: - Within a hair's breadth of changing US historyThe parallels between Denmark Vesey's failed slave insurrection in Charleston in 1822 and the start of Toussaint's successful slave insurrection in Saint Domingue (now Haiti) in 1791 are striking. In both circumstances, black slaves comprised the vast majority of the population -- 75% in Charleston, 90% in Saint Domingue. In both, the hopeful liberators were former slaves who had become literate, fairly well-to-do, free blacks. Both Toussaint and Vesey distrusted mulattoes, who were regarded in both ... Read More Rating: - This book should not be missed.David Robertson's book on the life of Denmark Vesey and the planned insurrection of slaves and freed blacks is a powerful, griping story unknown by most American blacks and whites. American school children are always instructed on the bravery of George Washington, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, etc. and other courageous Founding Fathers who rebelled against the mighty British Empire. As we know, the colonials fought for freedom, liberty and justice. While Americans are proud of the Founding ... Read More Rating: - Excellent research and writingI was surprised to see that this wonderful biography has not been popular among Amazon.com customers. In telling a moving story of courage and rebellion, Robertson succeeds in bringing the reader to Vesey's time and place. This book should be taught in schools, particularly as it brings to life an important and largley overlooked figure in American history. I cannot recommend it highly enough to readers interested in American history, slavery, the South, and social justice. 
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