Today is the anniversary of the The 1811 German Coast uprising. It was a slave rebellion which occurred in the Territory of Orleans from January 8–10, 1811. It occurred on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the modern-day Louisiana parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and Jefferson. The rebellion was the largest of its kind in the history of the United States, but the rebels only killed two white men. Confrontations with U.S. military personnel and local militiamen who were sent to suppress the rebellion, combined with post-trial executions, resulted in the deaths of 95 rebels.
On January 8, between 64 and 125 slaves ignited a fight for freedom and marched from plantations in and near present-day LaPlace, Louisiana on the German Coast towards New Orleans. More people escaped slavery and joined them along the way, and some accounts claimed a total of 200 to 500 people escaped and participated in the rebellion. During their two-day, 20 mi (32 km)-long march, the rebels, armed mostly with improvised weapons, burned five plantations along with several sugarhouses and crop fields.
White settlers led by U.S. officials formed militia companies, and in a battle on January 10 killed 40 to 45 of the people escaping slavery while suffering no fatalities themselves, then hunted down and killed several other people without trial. Over the next two weeks, White planters and U.S. officials interrogated, tried, executed, and decapitated an additional 44 people escaping slavery who had been captured.
For those of us who are ‘older’…
We keep electing them…
Another Trophy!
Good selling point:
Today is the birthday, in 1947, of English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, painter and actor David Bowie, (born David Robert Jones). His first UK Top 40 single was the 1969 ‘Space Oddity’ which became a UK No.1 in 1975, plus Bowie had over 50 other UK Top 40 hits, including five No.1’s. Bowie has also scored two US No.1 singles, the 1975 ‘Fame’ and 1983 ‘Let’s Dance’. His music and stagecraft significantly influenced popular music, and during his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Bowie died from liver cancer at his New York home on 10 January 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbD_kBJc_gI
