The reports, published last week, of the burning of Wilmington and the slaughter of seventeen families in North Carolina, prove to be fabrications. No overt act has been committed on the part of the slaves; yet, see, by the following account, with what barbarity those who were suspected of treason have been treated!
From the Patriot of Thursday
“Wilmington, N.C Sept 20 — In my last I mentioned to you that we had been under a very great excitement here, in consequence of an expected insurrection among our blacks. It appears on investigation, that the plot was much deeper than we had anticipated. ……… The leaders, with their men, were to meet the party from Wilmington at the Little Bridge at midnight, to march into town in four squads; to fire the town in four different places, and massacre the white men, women and children. The leaders in this plot have all been executed — Nimrod, Dan, Prince and Abraham were all shot this morning at 6 o’clock on Gallows Hill, and THEIR HEADS ARE NOW STICKING ON POLES AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE TOWN. I am happy to say the excitement has entirely subsided, and we shall probably have nothing to fear for twenty years to come.”
Comments by the Editor: “We shall have nothing to fear for twenty years to come!” What complacency ! what calculation! The savage cruelty of the whites will whet the appetites and increase the fury of the slaves. The security of southern planters is at an end. Ed. Lib.
(Liberator, October 1, 1831, pg 3)
