But he cannot keep away from 1740:
“It was in South Carolina in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, that life was made unbearable and short for the unfortunate African, and that being driven to mad despair, the Negroes broke out in the Charleston revolt of 1740, and attempted (small blame to them) to slay the pitiless devils who were their masters.”[314]
The truth about this insurrection is as follows. No insurrection occurred in South Carolina in 1740; but in 1739, when as Sir Harry Johnston failed to state, the province was under British control:
“An outbreak occurred, undoubtedly instigated by the Spaniards at St. Augustine. Emissaries had been sent persuading the Negroes to fly from their masters to Florida, where liberty and protection awaited them.... At length on the 9th of September, a number of Negroes assembled at Stono and began their movement by breaking open a store, killing two young men who guarded the warehouse and plundering it for guns and ammunition. Thus provided with arms they chose one of their number captain and marched in the direction of Florida with colors flying and drums beating. On their way they entered the house of Mr. Godfrey, murdered him, his wife and children, took all the arms in the house and setting fire to it proceeded to Jacksonborough. In their march they plundered and burnt every house, killed the white people, and compelled other Negroes to join them.... For fifteen miles they had spread desolation through all the plantations on their way. Fortunately having found rum in some houses and drinking freely of it, they halted and began to sing and dance. During these rejoicings the militia came up and took positions to prevent escape, then advancing and killing some, the remainder of the Negroes dispersed and fled to the woods. Many ran back to the plantations to which they belonged in the hope of escaping suspicion of having joined in the rising; but the greater part were taken and tried, some of them who had been compelled to join were pardoned; the leaders suffered death. Twenty one whites and forty-four Negroes lost their lives in this insurrection.”[315]
There was no Charleston revolt in 1740.
“In the Northern colonies the only signal disturbances were those of 1712 and 1741 at New York, both of which were more notable for the frenzy of the public than for the formidableness of the menace.... The rebels to the number of twenty-three provided themselves with guns, hatchets, knives and swords and chose the dark of the moon in the small hours of an April night to set a house afire and slaughter the citizens as they flocked thither. But their gun fire caused the Governor to send soldiers from the battery with such speed that only nine whites had been killed and several others wounded when the plotters were routed. Six of these killed themselves to escape capture, but when the woods were beaten and the town searched next day and an emergency court sat upon the cases, more captives were capitally sentenced than the whole conspiracy had comprised.... Of those convicted, one was broken on the wheel, another hanged alive in chains, nineteen more were executed on the gallows or at the stake, one of these being sentenced ‘to be burned with a slow fire that he may continue in torment for eight or ten hours and continue burning until he be dead and consumed to ashes.’”[316]
“The commotion in 1741 was a panic among the whites of high and low degree, prompted in sequel to a robbery and a series of fires by the disclosures of Mary Burton, a young white servant concerning her master John Hughson and the confessions of Margaret Kerry, a young white woman of many aliases, but most commonly called Peggy, who was an inmate of Hughson’s disreputable house and a prostitute to Negro slaves ... Hughson and his wife and the infamous Peggy were promptly hanged, and likewise John Ury, who was convicted of being a Catholic priest as well as a conspirator; and twenty-nine Negroes were sent with similar speed to the gallows or stake, while eighty others were deported.... Quack and Cuffee, for example, terror stricken at the stake made somewhat stereotyped revelations; but the desire of the officials to stay the execution with a view to a definite reprieve was thwarted by their fear of tumult by the throng of resentful spectators.”[317]
In the more scholarly portions of this book, the author invites comparison with the great work of Ripley, the American, which unavoidably detracts from the confidence of the reader in the wealth of expression of the Englishman. The book is a mass of information, in which much prejudice is apparent. When he gets down to advice, the writer informs the reader that what he regards as “a matter of crucial importance to the civilized Christian Negro,”[318] Mr. Roosevelt evidently thought non-sense, for that great American informed him, that he would never—
“get the colored people of the United States to dress differently to their white fellow citizens.”[319]
Sir Harry wished—