The New York Conspiracy Panic (1741)
Tue May 30, 1741
Image: An illustration of a New York City execution following the hysteria around an alleged slave uprising. [blackpast.org]
On this day in 1741, the first two victims of the New York Conspiracy Panic, a wave of hysteria about the possibility of slaves and poor whites collaborating to burn the city to the ground, were executed after a series of farcical trials.
The Conspiracy of 1741, also known as the Negro Plot of 1741 or the Slave Insurrection of 1741, was a purported plot by enslaved blacks and poor whites in the British colony of New York to revolt and level New York City with a series of fires. Historians disagree as to whether such a plot existed and, if there was one, its scale.
Despite the lack of hard evidence for such a conspiracy, affluent whites in New York City were hysterical with paranoia over poor whites and the enslaved collaborating to burn the city down. During a series of court cases brought against alleged members of this conspiracy, the prosecution repeatedly changed the grounds of accusation and ignored the alibis proffered by slaveowners for their slaves' non-involvement.
At its height, over half of the city's enslaved males over the age of 16 were implicated in the plot and jailed. On this day in 1741, the first two victims, two men named Kofi and Quaco, were hanged.
After the hysteria ended, eighteen enslaved people were hanged, thirteen burned alive, four whites were executed, and dozens of people had been deported out of the city.
- Date: 1741-05-30
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.britannica.com.
- Tags: #Labor.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org
