Most people associate slavery in America with the southern states, but slavery very much existed in the North as well. In Manhattan in the early 1700s, the number of black slaves was nearly equal to that of free whites (Gilbert, 1).
Conditions were ripe for slaves to revolt. Unlike those living in Southern plantations, which were vast distances from one another, many enslaved people lived in close contact with one another in the densely populated area of lower Manhattan, making it easier to plan an uprising. Enslaved blacks also mingled with free blacks, which wasn’t something that happened in the South.
In 1712, twenty three slaves set fire to a building in lower Manhattan. When white colonists came to extinguish it, they were set upon. At least nine whites were killed and six more were injured.
The conspirators were arrested—along with dozens more—and twenty seven were condemned to death. Of those, six committed suicide. The rest were executed in various horrible ways that had long since been outlawed for modes of executing whites.