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.8Gabriel had no intention, however, of endangering his dream by revealingtoo many secrets to field hands like Martin.He established a kindof free-masonry (a term already identified with intrigue) and recruits were made acquainted with the plot, wholly or in part, according to their52 Richmond 1800 rank. As neighborhood slaves joined, they were sworn to a strict oath ofsecrecy and fidelity.At one typical early meeting, Ben and Gabriel attendeda Sunday Barbecue and then casually asked George Smith and WilliamBurton s Isham to accompany them home. [A]fter being some time atGabriel s house, the blacksmith explained to [Isham] and George, for whatpurpose he [had] asked them to join him. Both eagerly agreed to serve, and each shaking the other by the hand exclaimed, here are our handsand hearts, we will wade to our knees in blood sooner than fail in the at-tempt. 9In forming his inner circle, Gabriel chose no women.Nanny knew of theplot, and if she lived with her husband on Brookfield she would have been ashadowy presence at many of the early meetings.But women of Africandescent inhabited a separate, domestic sphere in the New World just asthey had in the old.(Most West African secret societies excluded women.)Motherhood structured their lives, and if Nanny had any children their carewould have occupied most of her spare time.As a result, fewer women thanmen hired out.It was more than probable that Nanny, unlike her artisanhusband, did not stand between the agrarian and urban worlds.She wouldhave had less opportunity to leave her master s farm or plantation, and hervery lack of mobility would have placed her only on the periphery of theincreasingly urban conspiracy.10If women were excluded, by conscious decision or merely because tradi-tional sexual roles kept them from the ranks of the mobile hirelings, therewere many men willing to join, and Gabriel knew how to find them.Just asmany of the slave artisans learned their craft from a parent, they in turnoften trained other slaves.That meant that Gabriel and Solomon knew nu-merous other plantation smiths in southern Henrico.Travel around thecounty was hardly difficult for the brothers.Gabriel routinely hired out awayfrom Brookfield, and even when he did not, Virginia patrollers operatedonly periodically; on weekends, when the patrollers were on duty, most slavessimply avoided the roads and traveled through the woods.11On Saturday evenings and Sundays, a host of activities, sanctioned bytime and approved by benevolent masters who wished to keep their blackservants happy and passive, presented the conspirators with ample oppor-tunities to recruit followers.Henrico blacks traditionally assembled nearthe Brook Bridge on Sunday afternoons for picnics and religious services.Ben especially found the Sunday preachment[s,] Fish feasts and Barbe-cues at William Young s spring a perfect pretext to concert the plan ofInsurrection. The small groupings and earnest conversations of men afterthe services occasionally bothered more cautious black exhorters.Oneaged preacher told white authorities that he never preached up anyThe Preparation 53 doctrine but that they should serve God and their masters faithfully. But as for others who preached, he conceded, he knew they did not advisethe same thing. 12From then on, the conspiracy, at least in the region around Brookfield,was less a question of recruiting soldiers than it was of swearing in thosewho heard the rumors and came forward to volunteer.After one serviceMichael, the slave of Prosser s brother-in-law, Thomas Goode, approachedBen and said that he understood Gabriel [intended] to take the country,and that [Ben] was one of the party. A skilled hireling who spent much ofhis time with his wife in Richmond, Michael was more than prepared tofight.So soon as the boys on this side got to the capitol, he promised Ben, he would be there ready. Roger Gregory s Charles also sought out theleaders.He proudly announced that he wished to join as a captain.Gabriellaughed that he might be a Sergeant he was too trifling a fellow. Charles cursed mightily but was so anxious to join that he eagerly promised tosteal guns.13A few especially mobile or bright bondmen, however, were more soughtout than enrolled by the insurgent leadership.Ben Woolfolk, an eighteen-year-old mulatto who hired out to William Young, caught the eye of GeorgeSmith.Woolfolk had not been raised by Paul Graham, his current owner,had no ties to any master, and checked in with Young so infrequently thathe was virtually free.Gabriel hoped to obtain followers outside of HenricoCounty, and Woolfolk, born a slave of Paul Woolfolk of Caroline, would thusmake an excellent recruiter [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.8Gabriel had no intention, however, of endangering his dream by revealingtoo many secrets to field hands like Martin.He established a kindof free-masonry (a term already identified with intrigue) and recruits were made acquainted with the plot, wholly or in part, according to their52 Richmond 1800 rank. As neighborhood slaves joined, they were sworn to a strict oath ofsecrecy and fidelity.At one typical early meeting, Ben and Gabriel attendeda Sunday Barbecue and then casually asked George Smith and WilliamBurton s Isham to accompany them home. [A]fter being some time atGabriel s house, the blacksmith explained to [Isham] and George, for whatpurpose he [had] asked them to join him. Both eagerly agreed to serve, and each shaking the other by the hand exclaimed, here are our handsand hearts, we will wade to our knees in blood sooner than fail in the at-tempt. 9In forming his inner circle, Gabriel chose no women.Nanny knew of theplot, and if she lived with her husband on Brookfield she would have been ashadowy presence at many of the early meetings.But women of Africandescent inhabited a separate, domestic sphere in the New World just asthey had in the old.(Most West African secret societies excluded women.)Motherhood structured their lives, and if Nanny had any children their carewould have occupied most of her spare time.As a result, fewer women thanmen hired out.It was more than probable that Nanny, unlike her artisanhusband, did not stand between the agrarian and urban worlds.She wouldhave had less opportunity to leave her master s farm or plantation, and hervery lack of mobility would have placed her only on the periphery of theincreasingly urban conspiracy.10If women were excluded, by conscious decision or merely because tradi-tional sexual roles kept them from the ranks of the mobile hirelings, therewere many men willing to join, and Gabriel knew how to find them.Just asmany of the slave artisans learned their craft from a parent, they in turnoften trained other slaves.That meant that Gabriel and Solomon knew nu-merous other plantation smiths in southern Henrico.Travel around thecounty was hardly difficult for the brothers.Gabriel routinely hired out awayfrom Brookfield, and even when he did not, Virginia patrollers operatedonly periodically; on weekends, when the patrollers were on duty, most slavessimply avoided the roads and traveled through the woods.11On Saturday evenings and Sundays, a host of activities, sanctioned bytime and approved by benevolent masters who wished to keep their blackservants happy and passive, presented the conspirators with ample oppor-tunities to recruit followers.Henrico blacks traditionally assembled nearthe Brook Bridge on Sunday afternoons for picnics and religious services.Ben especially found the Sunday preachment[s,] Fish feasts and Barbe-cues at William Young s spring a perfect pretext to concert the plan ofInsurrection. The small groupings and earnest conversations of men afterthe services occasionally bothered more cautious black exhorters.Oneaged preacher told white authorities that he never preached up anyThe Preparation 53 doctrine but that they should serve God and their masters faithfully. But as for others who preached, he conceded, he knew they did not advisethe same thing. 12From then on, the conspiracy, at least in the region around Brookfield,was less a question of recruiting soldiers than it was of swearing in thosewho heard the rumors and came forward to volunteer.After one serviceMichael, the slave of Prosser s brother-in-law, Thomas Goode, approachedBen and said that he understood Gabriel [intended] to take the country,and that [Ben] was one of the party. A skilled hireling who spent much ofhis time with his wife in Richmond, Michael was more than prepared tofight.So soon as the boys on this side got to the capitol, he promised Ben, he would be there ready. Roger Gregory s Charles also sought out theleaders.He proudly announced that he wished to join as a captain.Gabriellaughed that he might be a Sergeant he was too trifling a fellow. Charles cursed mightily but was so anxious to join that he eagerly promised tosteal guns.13A few especially mobile or bright bondmen, however, were more soughtout than enrolled by the insurgent leadership.Ben Woolfolk, an eighteen-year-old mulatto who hired out to William Young, caught the eye of GeorgeSmith.Woolfolk had not been raised by Paul Graham, his current owner,had no ties to any master, and checked in with Young so infrequently thathe was virtually free.Gabriel hoped to obtain followers outside of HenricoCounty, and Woolfolk, born a slave of Paul Woolfolk of Caroline, would thusmake an excellent recruiter [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]