26 October 1710
Spotswood urges Virginia lawmakers to prevent enslaved people from organizing
Williamsburg, colonial Virginia
Governor Alexander Spotswood urged the House of Burgesses to strengthen colonial defenses and prohibit consultations among enslaved Black people. Referring to trials earlier that year, he warned that the desire for freedom could unite people across language differences. His speech sought to mobilize lawmakers against resistance to slavery.
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 speech documents the governor’s claims and proposed response, not independent proof of the alleged conspiracy. Spotswood later reported that the House rejected the resulting prevention bill because a majority considered its clauses too severe; the speech itself did not enact a law.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 2; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1702/3–1712, edited by H. R. McIlwaine (1912), pp. 239–241 (date on p. 239, slavery passage on p. 240): 26 October 1710 speech, scan checked ↗
- Official Letters of Alexander Spotswood, vol. 1, p. 42: Assembly rejects the proposed bill ↗