YEAR: 1800Gabriel’s Rebellion, Virginia
Gabriel, an enslaved blacksmith, organized to seize the state house in Richmond, VA. He and his co-conspirators — other enslaved people, free Black people, and even some white workers — were moved by the idea that “all men are created equal”. They believed that if they could mount an insurrection, the poor whites they had so much in common with would rally alongside them to establish a real republic, not the counterfeit one built on their exploitation. The ruling class ultimately learned of the plan and violently suppressed it, proving that their commitment to “liberty” ended where their property began. But it is rebellions like Gabriel’s that showcase our country’s true history: not just the founding fathers’ hypocrisy, but the oppressed uniting and fighting to make those high-sounding concepts real.
