Stono Rebellion Report (1739) After the Stono Rebellion in South Carolina, Lieutenant Governor William Bull sent a report regarding the incident to the British Board of Trade. In his report, he detailed the events of the rebellion, during which a group of slaves killed 21 white members of the community and marched on the region. On their march, the rebels burned homes before encountering the militia. The militia forced the rebels to disperse, and 44 of the rebels were executed because of the rebellion. In his report, Bull constructed his message in a way that ensured the Board that there was no longer any present danger, but he also stressed the severity of the event and made the argument that American Indian groups, including the Chickasaws, should be hired to capture escaped slaves. (thesis) First paragraph answers question 1. To support his first goal, which was to report on the incident to the Board and to reassure its members that the rebellion had been taken care of, Bull detailed his own personal encounter with the rebels, along with a description of how the rebellion was put down. He used his description of the rebels march to emphasize the dangers the province faced from slave rebellions. It is apparent in his description of the rebels’ actions, including them “killing all they met and burning several houses,” that Bull emphasized the behavior of the rebels as violent and ruthless. His explanation of the rebels’ behavior as indiscriminate killings of any white members of the community allowed him to present the rebellion, along with future rebellions, as a danger to the province that should be taken seriously and handled with severe and immediate action, which further justified the swift execution of those accused of involvement. However, his report on the response of the militia, and his account of its members as reacting “with so much expedition and bravery,” allowed him to show that the province was capable of handling such dangers and defending itself against threats. Second paragraph answers question 2. In addition, Bull used this event to make the proposition that American Indian groups should be employed as a possible solution to the slaveholders’ problem of slaves escaping from the province. He suggested that Indians could capture the remaining rebels from the Stono Rebellion and that they could also be rewarded for returning escaped slaves in the future. Making this argument allowed Bull to show that he was capable of handling the current situation and making sure that all individuals who participated in the rebellion were captured. By including that he had already acted to contact the Chickasaws and Catawbaws, he also showed his superiors that he was doing his job as Lieutenant Governor and was taking action to discourage further rebellions and to address a major problem for elite individuals in his province. Third paragraph answers question 2. This source provides insight into the slave system and the threat of rebellion, both real and perceived, that slaveholding communities feared. Bull’s argument for addressing future escaped slaves by hiring the aid of American Indians shows that the threat of revolt from the enslaved community was an issue that slaveholding regions constantly feared, as well as one that officials deemed an imminent threat worth allying with outside groups to prevent. Furthermore, the inclusion of American Indian groups in addressing slave rebellions exposes the unique situation of those living in America’s frontier regions during the late Colonial Period, a situation which further complicated the violent and restraining hold that slaveholders attempted to maintain over individuals whom they enslaved. The open territories to the west provided an opportunity for slaves to escape to freedom, an outside threat from Native groups, and the possibility of alliance with those same Native groups to address problems characteristic of territories existing in a borderland region. Fourth paragraph answers question 3.
