(1739) Largest slave uprising in early America.
On the morning of September 9, near the Stono River, 20 mi (30 km) from Charleston, S.C., slaves gathered, raided a firearms shop, and headed south, killing more than 20 whites as they went. Other slaves joined the rebellion until the group was about 60 strong. Whites set out in armed pursuit, and by dusk half the slaves were dead and half had escaped; most were eventually captured and executed. The slaves may have hoped to reach St. Augustine, Fla., where the Spanish were offering freedom and land to any fugitive. White colonists quickly passed a Negro Act that further limited slave privileges.