American Uprising Summary

Daniel Rasmussen’s book, American Uprising, is the untold story of the slave rebellions, and how the view of American society during this time shifted from prosperity to greed and turmoil. Slavery was a big part in the success of Louisiana’s German Coast where slaves accounted for more “75 percent of the total population”. Sugar was the cash crop that yielded high profits for plantation owners. Plantation owners justified the use of African slaves to work in the field because they can withstand the harsh environment of the German Coast. Rasmussen shares the uprising of the slave rebellion through two perspectives: African slaves and slave driver.
African slaves brainstormed about rebelling against plantation owners for years, but many were scared of the consequences if a revolt failed. Anyone who is suspected of planning a slave revolt was sentenced to death, and their head was severed and hung on a stake. However there were two African slaves that played an important role in the rebellion against white plantation owners: Kook and Quamana. According to their names both Kook and Quamana came from Akan, and many Akan slaves were “okofokums” and trained as warriors due to the conflict in Africa. Both of them resonated well with various slaves they met as they moved from plantation to plantation. Being …show more content…
Charles may have found out that the reason he is light skinned was because Manuel Andry impregnated Charles’s slave mother. There is no evidence to suggest why the slave rebellion happened because of the high level of secrecy involved. The participants wrote nothing down and communicated with African drums. One may assume that African slaves were tired of being mistreated by white plantation owners, and concluded that rebellion was the only way to express themselves. Most slaves would rather die fighting for their freedom than being forced to work on the