On the 9th of September 1879, a group of 20 slaves led by a Congolese native, Jemmy, led a rebellion against South Carolina's slave owners. The Stono Rebellion, as their movement was called, was the culmination of long-running grievances among the colony's black slaves. Political rivalry between Spain and Britain fostered revolts among British-colony captives. The rebellion highlighted the vulnerability of South Carolina to slave revolts
In the years preceding the Stono rebellion, South Carolina’s plantation economy forced the British to import thousands of slaves directly from Congo into their colonies. The number of slaves exceeded that of their masters and was pivotal to the colony’s economy. The Spanish king recognized that this vast population of slaves could be an important ally. To this end, he offered freedom to escaped British slaves. The amnesty was aimed to destabilize British colonies by …show more content…
Unlike in Spanish colonies, black slaves in British colonies could not claim citizenship. They had no right to own property or to access the justice system, while Spanish colonies allowed their slaves to utilize these rights. Many blacks longed to escape to Spain’s colonies where they could convert to Catholicism and claim Spanish citizenship. Unlike their masters, many of South Carolina’s black slaves were Catholic. Therefore, the Spanish government in Florida knew that black slaves in British colonies would be encouraged to escape into their colonies.
In adopting escaped slaves from South Carolina, Spanish Florida recruited additional black slaves into its army. They fought for the Spanish army in subsequent conflicts. The Spanish colony in Florida encouraged slave revolts in South Carolina, including the Stono rebellion. Escaping slaves sought protection in Florida from where they fought against their former slave masters. Thus, the Spanish king achieved his goal of destabilizing British