American Uprising

The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt

By: Daniel Rasmussen

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

In January 1811, 500 slaves dressed in military uniforms and armed with guns, cane knives, and axes rose up from the plantations around New Orleans and set out to conquer the city. Ethnically diverse, politically astute, and highly organized, this self-made army challenged not only the economic system of plantation agriculture but also American expansion. Their march represented the largest act of armed resistance against slavery in the history of the United States.

American Uprising is the riveting and long-neglected story of this elaborate plot, the rebel army's dramatic march on the city, and its shocking conclusion. No North American slave uprising - not Gabriel Prosser's, not Denmark Vesey's, not Nat Turner's - has rivaled the scale of this rebellion either in terms of the number of the slaves involved or the number who were killed.

More than 100 slaves were slaughtered by federal troops and French planters, who then sought to write the event out of history and prevent the spread of the slaves' revolutionary philosophy. With the Haitian revolution a recent memory and the War of 1812 looming on the horizon, the revolt had epic consequences for America.

Through groundbreaking original research, Daniel Rasmussen offers a window into the young, expansionist country, illuminating the early history of New Orleans and providing new insight into the path to the Civil War and the slave revolutionaries who fought and died for justice and the hope of freedom.

©2011 Daniel Rasmussen (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Impressive work by an up-and-coming historian." ( Kirkus)

Nice try, but ...

The author has good intentions, but the book is weak in some areas, some of which aren't his fault. Others are. I hadn't heard of the slave revolt he describes, which he does very well. Unfortunately, unlike the Nat Turner rebellion, it was kind of covered up by the planters, so not much is really known about it. In compensation, the author spends only a small part of the book on the revolt itself, and the rest ranging over the history of slavery and plantation life in the New Orleans area in general of the first half of the 19th century, and its implications for antebellum American expansionism That's interesting too.

But in what I assume is a politically and academically trendy effort to give "agency" to the slaves, he makes all sorts of assertions about the slaves' political beliefs and how carefully they planned the revolt, etc, without much evidence. Perhaps it wasn't planned so well, had no sophisticated political philosophy beyond the desire to not be exploited, was betrayed by "loyal" slaves from the outset, and was scattered to the winds very quickly when the planters, with their superior weaponry and training, counterattacked. Would that be so bad? The author appears to strongly hint that saying so would put you in the same category as the slaveowners’ apologists.

The conclusion of the book is a bit tendentious. After an interesting discussion of the historiography of the revolt, he gives the floor to Black Power supporters who criticize Martin Luther King’s principles of nonviolence.

A detail point: the author appears to believe that the Articles of Confederation and the Confederate constitution are the same thing. This dents his credibility more than a little, as it is a mistake that you wouldn't want to see in a high school history class.

In sum, there are good and interesting parts to this book, but the author really could have been better served by dialing back his claims (and non germane political views) and having a better editor.

Excellent!

I learned a good deal from this book. It really highlights the tradition by the African diaspora to resist white oppression, a tradition that continues until today.

Long Overdue Balancing of the History of the Struggle for Black Equality

While many might prefer the strides made nonviolently, militance is also a vital ingredient in the struggle.

Educational insight on a hidden historical event

Any additional comments?

This read was educational and academic (in a positive sense), about an event in American history that has largely been covered up or forgotten, ever since it occurred nearly 200 years ago. It was quite fascinating to learn about the reasons this slave revolt was not "reported" accurately at the time, and the political undercurrents that made these events remain a tiny footnote in the history of slavery and our nation. While difficult to hear some of the daily horrors of slave life, at times I found myself rooting for the rebels, especially those who had earlier been African warriors with deadly experience in warfare before being captured and brought to New Orleans area plantations. The author does a good job of placing the reader right there in time as events played out, including the genuine terror the plantation owners felt, and the seemingly impossible optimism that the slaves felt -- that they could successfully overthrow the landowners and gain freedom for themselves and their families.

Engrossing and realistic

The author has obviously conducted proper research and provides a thorough description of the circumstances surrounding this under reported but highly significant slave uprising. The author is not at all sympathetic to the plantation class, but there’s probably been far too much of that already in writing. The story is painted very much as a progenitor to the civil rights movement and the case is made very well that it is such. You will not come away from this book without a deep sympathy for the plight of theseAfrican slaves. No one deserves to be treated like they were.

The African slave revolts hidden in a book.

This information hasn't been taught in schools and it's amazing to know that Africans freed themselves through revolt, refusal to work, and by any means necessary including jining the civil war. These people were brave by all measures and liked their oppressors to gain the freedom. The Emancipation Proclamation was given way too much credit for what it cuts never do.

OMG. Great book.

Eye opening. This book definitely needs to be taught in our schools and a copy in our homes.

Just Okay

The story was compelling, but the author's focus on the aftermath was quite narrow. Seemed to be that way to support his main idea, but lost me along the way.

a story that we all should hear

On a long road trip this year, I stopped at Whitney Plantation and took a tour. it was incredibly well done. one of the things they had several monuments to was the German Coast Uprising of 1811. I purchased this book to learn more. it is a very significant event in the the struggle for freedom by African Americans, and it is unfortunate that it is not taught as part of the regular curriculum on the subject.

surfaces an interesting event but poor history

Should have spent more time on the event and less trying to interpret history. Poor retelling of the Jacksonian period. Could have been two hours.