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Biography of Gabriel Prosser
Name: Gabriel Prosser
Birth Date: c. 1775
Death Date: October 7, 1800
Place of Birth: N/A
Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupations: slave leader
Gabriel Prosser
Gabriel Prosser (ca. 1775-1800) was the African American slave leader of an unsuccessful revolt in Richmond, Va., during the summer of 1800.Gabriel Prosser, the slave of Thomas H. Prosser, was about 25 years old when he came to the attention of Virginia authorities late in August 1800. Little is known of his childhood or family background. He had two brothers and a wife, Nanny, all slaves of Prosser. Gabriel Prosser learned to read and was a serious student of the Bible, where he found inspiration in the accounts of Israel's delivery from slavery. Prosser possessed shrewd judgment, and his master gave him much latitude. He was acknowledged as a leader by many slaves around Richmond.With the help of other slaves, especially Jack Bowler and George Smith, Prosser designed a scheme for a slave revolt. They planned to seize control of Richmond by slaying all whites (except for Methodists, Quakers, and Frenchmen) and …showed first 150 words…
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…showed last 150 words…to escape by hiding aboard a riverboat on its way to Norfolk. In Norfolk, however, he was betrayed by other slaves, who claimed the large reward for his capture on September 25. Returned to Richmond, Prosser, like most of the other leaders, refused to confess to the plot or give evidence against other slaves. He was tried and found guilty on Oct. 6, 1800, and executed the next day. Further Reading There is no full-length biography of Gabriel. There are short biographical accounts in Herbert Aptheker, Essays in the History of the American Negro (1945) and in Wilhelmena S. Robinson, Historical Negro Biographies (1968). The best account of his rebellion is in Joseph C. Carroll, Slave Insurrections in the United States, 1800-1865 (1938). Additional information is contained in Herbert Aptheker, American Negro Slave Revolts (1943; new ed. 1969), and in Robert McColley, Slavery and Jeffersonian Virginia (1964). Arna Bontemps, Black Thunder (1936), is a fictionalized treatment of Gabriel and his conspiracy.
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