New York Burning Summary

In New York Burning, author Jill Lepore traces the history of the conspired slave rebellion, which transpired through “[a] series of fires in the winter of 1741.” As “panicked white colonists” began to fear “a slave uprising, [they] set off a cycle of arrests, accusations, hasty trials, executions and more arrests.” This was New York City in 1741 and the victims were predominantly slaves. Through the limited sources found on the slave conspiracy, Jill Lepore questions the validity of the writings found and takes a deeper look at the legislative and societal conditions between the slaves and their masters. By making use of excerpts from Jill Lepore’s New York Burning, I will discuss the contradiction of white colonists idea of liberty, versus their enslavement of thousands of African Americans and their justifications for it. Upon the fires that were ignited all over New York City in April and March of 1741, a great …show more content…
They “believed” that they needed a form of social structure in order to live progressive lives, however this was not true. As the threat of a slave conspiracy began to spread, white colonists felt that they had to be consistently vigilant and restrictive with their slaves because if they weren’t, a rebellion could occur. This led to the creation and establishment of several slave laws, that ultimately discouraged “the ability of enslaved people to move at will, and to gather” (57). Slaves were condemned from having any kind of social involvement with others in groups larger than three, and were not allowed out without a pass from their masters. These were simply white colonists justifications for controlling and limiting the amount of freedom that the slaves initially had. Ironically enough, the colonists attempts to control the slaves and prevent a rebellion failed after