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How Enslaved People Used Music to Rebel in the American South
Black Resistance during the Antebellum Period
In the early morning hours of September 9th, 1739, a large-scale insurrection broke out in South Carolina.
Led by a man named Jemmy, the group of enslaved men gathered near the bridge spanning the Stono River before capturing a small storehouse, killing its occupants, and collecting weapons.
The group progressed through St. Augustine in Spanish Florida, where they hoped to secure their freedom after hearing promises of liberty from the governor. They burned plantations and killed white inhabitants, bringing about a hundred other enslaved people along with them.
The Stono Rebellion — as it would later be called—terrified white enslavers and their families, who feared both economic disaster and the collapse of the plantation system.
As the rebellion gained momentum, the group used music to both celebrate their victories and encourage others to join them. One rare witness observed as the rebels sang: “calling out Liberty,” their numbers increased exponentially.
The music invoked by those involved in the Stono Rebellion was rooted in West African military traditions brought with enslaved Africans on the Middle Passage. The musical expressions practiced by rebels mirrored…
