Gloucester County Conspiracy

The Gloucester County Conspiracy (September 1663), also known as the Servant's Plot or Birkenhead's Rebellion, is one of the first slave rebellions in America.  This event set the stage for many of the slave uprisings that followed in the decades to come.  It was the first occurrence of English, Irish, African and Indian indentured servants and slaves working together.[1] Regardless of their ethnicity, all of the servants and slaves were treated poorly, which served as a uniting force between them.[1] This rebellion occurred at a key time in history, when Virginian tobacco farmers heavily relied upon their workers for product and profit. By utilizing the power they held in this regard, the slaves and servants could maximize the effects of their actions.  This uprising created the official slave rebellion movement.[citation needed]

## The Plan

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On September 1, 1663, a group of indentured servants met and began a plan of rebellion.  Planning to reconvene the following Sunday at midnight at a different location, the men collected as many weapons and arms as they could over the next few days in order to power their upcoming fight.[2]  The plan was to then attack the house of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Willis to convince him to allow indentured servants to be released a year from the beginning of their service.[2]  There were other potential targets around the area, but Willis was their ultimate goal, as he was a member of the governor's council.  Should he refuse, the servants agreed to kill Willis, if it was deemed necessary.[2]  The men swore themselves to secrecy, but the secrecy was not kept.

## The Foiling

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There was one slave who attended the meetings, John Birkenhead, who had a different plan.[3] This slave was owned by the first mayor of Warwick county, and officer of the House of Burgesses, John Smith.[3][4] Birkenhead exposed the plot to the governor, who then arranged for the rebellion to be disbanded. The colony was so grateful for the prevention of the uprising that the scheduled day of rebellion, September 13, 1663, became remembered as holy.[2][4][3]

For his loyalty, his owner, John Smith, gave Birkenhead his freedom, as well as five thousand pounds of tobacco.[4][3]  This was meant to serve as incentive for other slaves and servants to report any rumors of future rebellion.[4][3]

As one of the early rebellions of this period, the Servant's Plot laid the foundation for rebellions to come.[5]

## References

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1. ^ a b Jealous, Benjamin Todd. "Jealous: Don't forget 1663 slave revolt". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
2. ^ a b c d Wolfe, B. “Gloucester County Conspiracy (1663)”. (2013, January 29). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/ Gloucester_County_Conspiracy_1663.
3. ^ a b c d e Carroll, Joseph C. “Slave Insurrection in the United States, 1800-1865”, pages 13-14. (2004, June 17). Print.
4. ^ a b c d Tyler, L. (1917). The Smiths of Virginia. The William and Mary Quarterly, 25(3), 184-191. doi:10.2307/1915024
5. ^ Blakemore, Erin.  “How Two Centuries of Slave Revolts Changed American History”.  (2019, November 8)

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Riots and civil unrest in the history of the United States (1607–1865)

Colonial era &
1776–1789|

| Massachusetts|

* 1689 Boston revolt
* Boston bread riot (1710–1713)
* Knowles Riot (1747)
* Liberty affair (1768)
* Boston Massacre (1770)
* Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787)

|

New York|

* Leisler's Rebellion (1689–1691)
* New York Slave Revolt of 1712
* New York Conspiracy of 1741
* Battle of Golden Hill (1770)
* 1788 doctors' riot

North Carolina|

* Culpeper's Rebellion (1677)
* Cary's Rebellion (1711)
* War of the Regulation (1765–1771)
* Battle of Alamance (1771)

Pennsylvania|

* Philadelphia Election riot (1742)
* Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783

Virginia|

* Gloucester County Conspiracy (1663)
* Bacon's Rebellion (1677)
* Chesapeake rebellion (1730)

Others|

* Plundering Time (Maryland, 1644)
* Protestant Revolution (Maryland, 1689)
* Stono Rebellion (South Carolina, 1739)
* Gaspee affair (1772)
* Pine Tree Riot (1772)

1789–1849|

| Iowa|

* Honey War (1839)
* Bellevue War (1840)

|

Massachusetts|

* Ursuline Convent riots (1834)
* Abolition Riot of 1836
* Broad Street Riot (1837)

New York|

* Eggnog riot (1826)
* New York anti-abolitionist riots (1834)
* Flour riot of 1837
* Anti-Rent War (1839–1845)
* Astor Place Riot (1849)

Ohio|

* 1792 Cincinnati riot
* Cincinnati riots of 1829
* Cincinnati riots of 1836
* Cincinnati riots of 1841

Pennsylvania|

* Whiskey Rebellion (1791–1794)
* Fries's Rebellion (1799–1800)
* Philadelphia race riot (1834)
* Destruction of Pennsylvania Hall (1838)
* Buckshot War (1838)
* Lombard Street riot (1842)
* Muncy Abolition riot of 1842
* Philadelphia nativist riots (1844)

Rhode Island|

* 1824 Hard Scrabble race riot
* 1831 Snow Town race riot
* Dorr Rebellion (1841–1842)

Others|

* 1811 German Coast uprising
* Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)
* Blackburn Riots (1833)
* Baltimore bank riot (1835)
* Snow Riot (1835)

1849–1865|

| California|

* Squatters' riot (1850)
* San Francisco Vigilance Movement (1851–1856)

|

Illinois|

* Lager Beer Riot (1855)
* Charleston riot (1864)

Kansas|

* Bleeding Kansas (1854–1861)
* Wakarusa War (1855)
* Sacking of Lawrence (1856)
* Pottawatomie massacre (1856)
* Battle of Black Jack (1856)
* Battle of Fort Titus (1856)
* Battle of Osawatomie (1856)
* Battles of Franklin's Fort (1856)
* Marais des Cygnes massacre (1856)
* Battle of the Spurs (1859)

Maine|

* Bath anti-Catholic riot of 1854
* Portland Rum Riot (1855)

Maryland|

* Know-Nothing Riots of 1856
* Baltimore riot of 1861

Michigan|

* 1849 Detroit riot
* Detroit brothel riots (1855–1859)
* Detroit race riot of 1863

New York|

* New York City Police riot (1857)
* Dead Rabbits riot (1857)
* Brooklyn riot (1862)
* Buffalo riot of 1862
* New York City draft riots (1863)

Ohio|

* Cincinnati riot of 1853
* Cincinnati riots of 1855
* Battle of Fort Fizzle (1863)

Others|

* Erie Gauge War (1853–1854)
* Bloody Monday (1855)
* Washington D.C. Know-Nothing Riot (1857)
* New Orleans Know-Nothing Riot (1858)
* John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)
* Morrisite War (1862)
* Southern bread riots (1863)

Related|

* List of incidents of civil unrest in Colonial North America
* Mass racial violence in the United States

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