Deep South 2nd Generation

Stono Rebellion/Yamassee War

By Nick Hamus

and Robert Lamermayer

The Stono Rebellion - causes

• Named after the Stono River in S.C.
• South Carolina - September 1739
• Led by slave named Jemmy
• Some slaves had escaped from South Carolina to Florida
• ‘Security Acts’ passed in English colonies - white men were required to carry guns to church

The Stono Rebellion -
what happened

• Group of slaves went to a gun shop, took weapons, and killed the owners
• They next went to a white landowner’s house, burned it, and killed him and his children
• The slaves continued toward Charleston and burned and killed anything they could find
• Around 100 whites set out to break up the rebellion around 4 p.m. that afternoon
• The slaves fired first, but the whites killed about 14 slaves
• By dusk, 30 slaves dead, 30 escaped
• Most slaves caught within a few days
• One managed to stay out of captivity for 3 years

The Stono Rebellion - effects

• The whites created the Negro Act
• This act denied the slaves the right to:
• Grow their own food
• Assemble in groups
• Earn their own money
• Learn to read or write
• The Negro Act became the basis of the South’s slavery laws around the time of the Civil War.

The Yamassee War - causes

• 1715
• Originally, the Yamassee Indians had good relations with the white settlers
• First recorded by the Spanish in 1540
• After Queen Anne’s War, the Indians became unhappy with the way the white’s fur-trading industry was working
• S.C. government tried to control trading with a licensing system, but it didn’t work

Yamassee War

• The Creek Indians killed many English traders
• The Yamassee (supported by the Creek, French, and Spanish) attacked settlers on the Carolina borders
• Settlers fled, many relocated to Virginia
• South Carolina asked the Cherokee for help
• Cherokee=enemies of Creek
• Cherokee killed Creek leaders at a conference
• This event led to the Creek pulling out of South Carolina
• The Yamassee relocated their villages to Georgia and Florida
• Were eventually absorbed by the Seminoles

Yamassee War - effects

• James Oglethorpe arrived in Georgia in 1733
• Some Yamassee/Seminole people still remained in the area
• Oglethorpe didn’t want to depend on the Indians, so he decided to form a new colony, which was supported by South Carolina

posted by Jeffrey @ Tuesday, November 15, 2005