Douglas Egerton’s He Shall Go Out Free Essay -- Douglas Egerton He Sha

Douglas Egertons He Shall Go Out remedy In a time when revolution swept both gray World and New, it should have been no surprise that eighteenth century trip the light fantastic toe would find revolution fermenting among its slave population. In his book He Shall Go Out Free, Douglas Egerton describes the life of Denmark Vesey, a freed slave in Charleston, who held a deep and thinly-veiled hatred of slavery and the citys judgement elite, and was best seen for leading a failed attempt at fight off which cost his life. However, Egerton argues one must look beyond the span of Veseys lifetime to best understand his impact upon the history of the city.ORIGINS Like nearly slaves, much about Veseys early age, including his exact age, family, and nationality, is unknown. The first thing we know about his life was his purchase as a teenager in 1781 from St. Thomas Island, a Dutch colony in the Caribbean, by Joseph Vesey, a slave trader (3). After a short stin t as Veseys cabin boy, he was sold on the island of Saint Domingue, a french colony dominated by sugar plantations where slaves lived short and brutal lives (17). On Saint Domingue, he feigned epileptic seizures to force his return as damaged goods. Joseph Vesey put him back to work as his cabin boy, as well as translating for slaves (22). When the British evacuated Charleston in December 1782, Joseph Vesey travel his family to the city, bringing Denmark along with him (26). Fluent in English and a rapidly learner, he was soon busy helping run his owners import business, paying taxes and picking up merchandise upon arrival at the citys docks (33). Nearly twenty days after he arrived in Charleston, luck brought Vesey his freedom. A... ...ir names were a terror to oppressors. Fiction writers with anti-slavery views include characters similar to Vesey in their stories (226).CONCLUSION In his life, Denmark Vesey was virtually business officele ss fragment of Charlestons small society of free blacks in the years between the American Revolution and Civil War. He spent years expressing his disgust of slavery, and his one effort to strike back was quickly turn up and brutally eliminated. In light of this, there is great raillery in how Charleston, a city which idolizelessly defied kings and empires would live in fear not of invading armies and attacking fleets, but at the shadow of Veseys failed revolt. That one mans memory could hold such power validates Egertons argument that Vesey was both an obscure and nearly powerless person, as well a revolutionary figure whose legacy stood tall indeed.