Largest Slave Revolt

The slave revolt know as the 1811 German Coast Uprising began on January 8th 1811 on the east coast of the Mississippi River in Louisiana.

On January 8th 1811 somewhere between 64 and 125 slaves left the sugar plantation owned by Manuel Andre, along the German Coast and marched toward the city of New Orleans. More joined them as they traveled reaching numbers as high as 500. Over the course of two days they traveled twenty miles, killed two men including Andre’s son Gilbert, burned five plantations, sugarhouses and crops. The slaves were armed with hand tools.

Territory militia companies were formed by General Wade Hampton, and Governor William CC Claiborne to hunt for the revolting slaves. Over the next two weeks officials captured 44 fugitive slaves, interrogated and executed them [there were another 95 to 100 killed]. The heads of many of the slaves having been decapitated were placed on pikes and displayed as a warning to others. The Orleans Territory voted to give the slave owners $300 in payment for the lose of each slave killed.