June 1720
RepressionBook sources
A South Carolina letter reports executions after an alleged slave plot
Charles Town and Savannah Town, South Carolina
An anonymous letter of 24 June 1720 reported that authorities had discovered an alleged uprising and burned, hanged or banished accused enslaved people. It also described the capture of another group attempting to reach St. Augustine.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The writer’s sweeping claim that enslaved people planned to destroy all whites is an allegation. The letter distinguishes punishments already reported from executions it expected later; it does not establish a complete execution count.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 2, p. 36; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- Anonymous letter to Mr. Boone, 24 June 1720; Public Records of South Carolina 8:24–27, via Aptheker, American Negro Slave Revolts, p. 175 ↗