By this decade, out of a population of ten thousand, one in every five was an African slave. Racial tensions were understandably high and when several fires broke out in March of 1741, New Yorkers couldn't help but remember that their last slave uprising in 1712 had also begun with arson. By the end of March, one slave had been observed running from a fire at his owner's warehouse and two more had been found in possession of objects from burned property.
The fires were soon attributed to what was called the "Great Negro Plot," but many historians now view the "plot" or the "rebellion" as an example of mass hysteria, not unlike the Salem Witch Trials which shared approximately the same number of arrests.
Most of the convictions came from the extremely biased testimony of Mary Burton, an Irish indentured servant, who pointed a finger at her master, John Hughson, a tavern keeper she claimed was one of the leaders of a conspiracy that included white as well as black residents. John Hughson's tavern catered to blacks and poor whites and, when one of the original arrests was made there, the tavern became widely regarded as the epicenter of the plot.
To further sully the legitimacy of the trials, many of the arrested had been accused in fireside confessions--two slaves, sentenced to burn to death, named names while the sticks were laid at their feet. (They were executed anyway, because it was deemed wise not to disappoint the crowd.)
In all, over 20 of the accused were hanged, 13 burned, and 70-80 transported out of the colony.
For more about this largely forgotten episode, read Jill Lepore's 2006 history--New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan.
Sources: Gotham by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace; Manhattan in Maps by Robert T. Augustyn and Paul E. Cohen; The Historical Atlas of New York City by Eric Homberger; New York: An Illustrated History by Ric Burns and James Sanders, with Lisa Ades.
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