Customer Reviews

Rumor of Revolt: The "Great Negro Plot" in Colonial New York

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Davis's book seeks to make the history of the events of 1741 more engaging by presenting them in a sort of narrative form. Unfortunately, this method does not allow for the necessary critical analysis. The major resource available to historians studying these events is a journal of the proceedings written by one of the judges in the case, and he wrote his journal for the explicit purpose of defending the proceedings against criticism. While Davis shows some skepticism in his handling of the sources, making the history into a narrative forced Davis to take his biased source a little too much at its word. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating subject and well worth exploring.

Davis has done an excellent job of painting a word picture of 1740s New York City, and its white residents' fears and concerns about slavery. The story of the uncovering of the "plot" and the subsequent executions of 34 people (white and black) is at one once a scholarly piece of work and an adventure tale. My only complaint was that Dr. Davis did not speculate as to the motivations of some of the white "plot leaders." Were Hughson and his wife merely tavern owners who tried to use Blacks for their own personal gain, or were they sympathetic with the plight of the slave and abolitionists 125 years before it was popular? Being a descendant of John Hughson, I was particularly interested in this question. None of my calls to Prof. Davis were returned.