New York Slave Insurrection
- When
- 1741
- Where
- Fort George, Lower Manhattan
- Episodes
- 1
In 1741, a series of fires in New York City triggered a panic over a purported slave plot to burn the city. The resulting trials led to the execution of dozens of enslaved and white individuals, with accusations shifting to include anti-Catholic conspiracy theories.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. Manhattan had the second-largest enslaved population in the colonies, with one in five residents enslaved. Tensions rose due to economic competition, a severe winter, and war with Spain, which fueled anti-Catholic sentiment and fears of revolt following recent Caribbean uprisings.
The Fires. Thirteen fires erupted in Lower Manhattan between March and April 1741. The most significant fire occurred on March 18, when Governor George Clarke's house and the connected church at Fort George caught fire, intensifying fears of a coordinated attack.
Trials and Executions. Prosecutors shifted accusations to link the insurrection to a "Popish" plot. From May to August 1741, 17 blacks and 4 whites were hanged, 13 blacks were burned at the stake, and 70 blacks were banished, with trials continuing until courts were suspended.
People involved
- Enslaved people and poor whites · Accused conspirators
- Governor George Clarke · Victim of the Fort George fire
Sources
- New York Conspiracy of 1741 Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-05
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.