Public Domain, Wikimedia.
La révolte des esclaves de la Côte des Allemands, près de la Nouvelle-Orléans (États-Unis), en 1811.
During the Antebellum era, enslaved populations usually greatly outnumbered the enslavers on large plantations. To prevent the threat of rebellion, enslavers often implemented harsh measures to keep their enslaved populations under control. For example, the enslaved had to have written permission to carry guns to hunt or to leave the plantation for any reason, and punishment was swift and cruel for those who broke the rules.
Nonetheless, the enslaved did sometimes succeed in banding together to rebel against their enslavers. The 1831 Nat Turner Rebellion in Virginia is one of the best-known of such uprisings, and resulted in the death of approximately sixty enslavers. In terms of the number of the enslaved involved, however, that event pales in comparison to the January 8-11, 1811, slave rebellion in St. John the Baptist Parish—today recognized as the largest slave rebellion in American history.
One of the principal leaders of the rebellion was an enslaved man named Charles Deslondes, who worked as a slave driver for plantation owner Colonel Manuel Andry. It is believed, though not proven, that the Deslondes family had previously lived in Saint-Domingue, where a group of people enslaved there staged another momentous revolt in 1791, fighting the French until they won their freedom in 1804. They then created the nation of Haiti, the world’s first independent Black republic and the western hemisphere’s second oldest nation (after the U.S.).
The Deslondes family is believed to have fled Saint-Domingue to Louisiana and settled in St. John the Baptist Parish, upstream from New Orleans. After a time, Charles and other enslaved individuals in the area came to believe they could emulate the Haitian revolt by attacking and capturing New Orleans.
The St. John Rebellion, also known as the German Coast Uprising, began on January 8 when some of the enslaved on Manuel Andry’s plantation used an axe to wound him and kill his son. From there, the movement spread to the plantation of François Trépagnier, who was also killed with an axe.
Eventually, about 500 enslaved individuals abandoned their work and began marching along the German Coast towards New Orleans, burning plantation homes, crops, and out-buildings; and looting houses they passed by. Some of the enslaved had been warriors in Africa with military experience, and they selected officers to lead them, divided themselves into companies, carried flags, and beat drums. Some even wore military uniforms they had taken from plantation houses. A few of the rebels carried guns taken from the homes they attacked, but the vast majority were armed with axes and other farm tools.
White families in the area were panic-stricken and fled for their lives, some after being warned of the uprising by the enslaved on their own properties. But the rebellion's success was short-lived.
Although wounded, Andry managed to cross the Mississippi River and organize a militia force that set off in pursuit of the rebels. In New Orleans, Gen. Wade Hampton, who had arrived in the city on January 7 to take command of the U.S. Army there, quickly gathered soldiers, sailors, militiamen, and planters and marched to confront the uprising, as well.
On January 10 and 11, Hampton attacked the poorly armed rebels at modern-day Kenner and quickly defeated them, driving the survivors into the swamp. The bodies of about sixty enslaved people were found, but many more probably died and were never located. Those who escaped the slaughter were captured and returned to their enslavers.
Hampton employed Native American trackers and hounds to help capture many of the fugitives, including Deslondes. Retribution was swift and merciless, without benefit of any legal proceedings. A naval officer who witnessed Deslondes’ execution claimed his hands were first chopped off, and then he was shot in both thighs to break his legs. A third shot was to the body. While Deslondes was still breathing, he was placed onto a bundle of straw and burned alive.
The authorities also tried and convicted other leaders of the rebellion, executing sixteen by firing squad. Their heads were then cut off and placed on pikes along the road from St. John the Baptist Parish to New Orleans as a warning against future rebellious activity.
Because enslaved people were considered valuable and comprised the main wealth of plantation owners, authorities compensated the owners for their "financial loss" by paying them $300 (about $8,000 today) for each enslaved person lost.
Dr. Terry L. Jones is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. An autographed copy of “Louisiana Pastimes,” a collection of the author’s stories, costs $25. Contact him at tljones505@gmail.com
