A House Divided: Denmark Vesey’s Rebellion is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered on US television (PBS) in 1982.
The story, which is set in Charleston (South Carolina), begins in 1821 and ends in 1822. It is a story about black and white Americans; about freedom and slavery in America.
The main character is a man called Denmark Vesey. The main event is a slave rebellion which never happened.
Denmark Vesey was a former slave who had bought his freedom in 1799. In 1821 and 1822, he had been a free man for more than 20 years. While he was free, his wife and his children were slaves.
Apparently, a slave rebellion was planned in Charleston. Apparently, Denmark Vesey was the ringleader. But the rebellion never took place, because the leaders were betrayed. Two slaves, who knew what was going to happen, told their masters about it. The masters told the local authorities who took action before the rebellion could take place:
** More than 130 were arrested and charged with conspiracy
** More than 20 were released before the trial
** More than 20 were acquitted at the end of the trial
** 72 were convicted and punished in different ways:
** 37 (including Denmark Vesey’s son Sandy) were deported to Cuba (which was at the time a Spanish colony)
** 35 (including Denmark Vesey) were hanged
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Director: Stan Lathan
** Writers: William Thornton Hauptman and Robert Brent Toplin
** Run time: 89 minutes (including a brief prologue and a brief epilogue)
This film was made many years ago. Some actors are no longer alive. The cast includes the following:
** Mary Alice (born 1941) as Beck (black) (slave) (Denmark Vesey’s first wife)
** Ned Beatty (1937-2021) as Benjamin Hammett (white)
** James Bond III as a young Denmark Vesey (age 14) (black) (slave) (owned by Captain Vesey)
** Bernie Casey (1939-2017) as Bacchus (black) (slave) (owned by Benjamin Hammett)
** Rosalind Cash (1938-1995) as Petronia (black) (slave)
** Antonio Fargas (born 1946) as Gullah Jack (black) (slave) (from Angola) (owned by Paul Pritchard) (he was hanged in 1822)
** David Harris (born 1959) as Sandy Vesey (black) (slave) (son of Denmark Vesey and Beck) (he was deported to Cuba in 1822)
** Yaphet Kotto (1939-2021) as Denmark Vesey (1767-1822) (black) (slave 1767-1799) (free 1800-1822) (he was hanged in 1822)
** Carl Lee (1926-1986) as Monday Gell (black) (slave)
** Cleavon Little (1939-1992) as Rolla (black) (slave) (owned by Governor Thomas Bennett)
** Macon McCalman (1932-2005) as Captain Dove (white)
** Donald Moffat (1930-2018) as Captain Joseph Vesey (1747-1835) (white) (owner of Denmark Vesey 1781-1799)
** Brock Peters (1927-2005) as Reverend Morris Brown (1770-1849) (black) (free)
** Roger Robinson (1940-2018) as George Wilson (black) (slave)
** Samm-Art Williams (born 1946) as Peter Poyas (black) (slave) (he was hanged in 1822)
** William Windom (1923-2012) as Governor Thomas “Tom” Bennett (1781-1865) (white) (he was governor of South Carolina 1820-1822)
PROLOGUE
The movie begins with a brief prologue where the topic is presented by actor Brock Peters, who plays Reverend Morris Brown in the movie.
EPILOGUE
The movie ends with a brief epilogue where the case is discussed by two historians:
** Dr Nathan I. Huggins (1927-1989) (Harvard University)
** Dr Armstead L. Robinson (1947-1995) (University of Virginia)
BACKGROUND
We do not know precisely when or where Denmark Vesey was born. It is generally assumed that he was born in St. Thomas in 1767.
[At that time St. Thomas and two other islands formed a Danish colony known as the West Indies. In 1917, the Danish colony was sold to the US. Since 1917, the former Danish colony has been known as the US Virgin Islands.]
In 1781, at the age of 14, he found himself on a ship not far from Santo Domingo (today Haiti). This was the moment when he met Captain Vesey who bought him and chose him to be his cabin boy (personal assistant).
The captain named him Telemachos (in Greek mythology, the son of Ulysses and Penelope). Since this name was difficult to pronounce, it became first Telemaque and later Denmark. Perhaps the final version of the name was a reference to the colonial power of the place where was born.
In 1783, Captain Vesey stopped sailing and settled down in Charleston. The young slave was still with him.
While living in Charleston, Denmark married a woman called Beck. Together they had several children, including Sandy. They were all slaves, but they did not live in the same house, because Beck and the children were owned by another white man.
In 1799, Denmark won the first prize of a lottery: 1,500 dollars. With this money he hoped to buy his own freedom. He asked the captain who agreed. The captain was generous. He did not take all his money. He asked for 600 dollars, which means that Denmark still had some money left to start his new life.
The transaction was concluded on 31 December 1799. On 1 January 1800, Denmark began his life as a free man. He started his own business, a carpenter shop.
He took the captain’s last name Vesey, because this name was well-known in Charleston and might give him more customers. This is how he became Denmark Vesey.
His business was going well. He had freedom and money. Now he wanted to secure the freedom of his wife and children, but the owner refused to sell them. Apparently, this white man did not like the idea of a free black person.
THE PLOT
The main story of the movie is set in Charleston 1821-1822, but there is a flashback to 1781 when Denmark and Captain Vesey meet each other for the first time. There is also a flashback to 1799 when Denmark talks to Captain Vesey about the lottery prize and his hopes of becoming a free man.
In this film, we follow the lives of several people in Charleston in 1821 and 1822. The white community depends on the work that is done by the black slaves. There is also a small group of free blacks. They are tolerated, but not liked by the white community.
Many white people see a free black person as a threat. They worry that the slaves will get ideas about freedom. They worry about the future. They do not like the idea of a black slave who can buy his or her own freedom. They feel that blacks should stay in their place and always serve the white community.
Many members of the black community (slaves and free) know about the French revolution of 1789 whose slogan is Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood.
They also know about the slave rebellion in Santo Domingo (Haiti) of 1791, which was successful. These recent events are an important inspiration for people who are tired of slavery; people who are looking for freedom.
In this film, we see how the rebellion is being planned by Denmark Vesey and the people who are close to him.
The rebellion is set to begin on 14 July 1822, known as Bastille Day, the first day of the French revolution in 1789. The plan is to get some weapons in the arsenal, go to the harbour, take control of several ships and then sail to Haiti where slavery has been abolished.
But before the rebellion can start, the leaders are betrayed. The authorities go into action. More than 130 persons are arrested. During speedy and secret trials, harsh convictions are handed out:
** 37 (including Denmark Vesey’s son Sandy) are found guilty of conspiracy, but they are not executed; they are deported to Cuba.
** 35 (including Denmark Vesey) are found guilty of conspiracy. The penalty is death. They are hanged.
The leading members of the white community want this case to be a warning to the black community:
# 1. Do as you are told! If you make any kind of trouble, we will deal with you!
# 2. Don’t even think about freedom! You are slaves now and forever!
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
What do reviewers say about this historical drama? On IMDb it has a rating of 77 percent which corresponds to 3.9 stars on Amazon. There are two user reviews. Both are positive: they offer 90 and 70 percent. The average is 80 percent.
On Amazon there are two global ratings and one global review. The average rating is five stars (100 percent).
Richard F. Shepherd reviewed the movie for the New York Times. His review is positive. He says:
“Denmark Vesey’s Rebellion … is a sound and absorbing work that acquits itself with distinction as both history and drama.”
The American historian Douglas R. Egerton mentions the movie is the introduction of his biography about Denmark Vesey. He is also positive. He says:
“In 1982, PBS produced a moving television drama … featuring the charismatic – if then youthful – Caribbean-born actor Yaphet Kotto as the aged revolutionary.”
[Denmark Vesey was 55 in 1822. Yaphet Kotto was 42 in 1981 when the movie was made. In other words: he was thirteen years younger than the person he was supposed to portray. This is not a big difference.]
I understand the positive reviews, but I cannot follow the rating on Amazon and go all the way to the top. This movie is interesting, but it has at least two flaws:
# 1. It is not easy to find out who is who. There are many characters here, but it takes a while to find out who they are, because they are not always introduced by name.
The movie opens with a prologue where the case is introduced. This is helpful, but this is not enough. Many people appear on the screen, but we do not know who they are and how they are related to each other.
I think the movie-makers should have done more to help the viewer understand who is who.
# 2. At the end of the movie, there is a glimpse of the speedy and secret trials against Denmark Vesey and other suspects, but the trials do not get much screen time.
I think the movie-makers should have devoted more time to the trials. The structure of the movie is unfortunate, because most of the time is devoted to events during which the rebellion is being planned. This is why there is almost no time left to cover the trials.
HISTORICAL DEBATE
While the case of Denmark Vesey may not be well-known in the general public, it is quite well-known among professional historians. The reason is that this case is the subject of a historical debate.
The debate began in 1964 when an article by Richard Wade was published in the Journal of Southern History.
Wade studied the transcript of the trial and he discovered that there are discrepancies between the original manuscript and the published version.
He also noted that there was no physical evidence against the suspects. No weapons were found during a search of their living quarters. Nor did the police find any documents which explain how the rebellion was organized and planned.
Based on these observations, Wade claimed that there was no conspiracy. Denmark Vesey never made any real plans to organize a rebellion in Charleston.
The conspiracy mentioned during the secret trials was invented by white people who hated black people and it was only based on confessions forced by torture or the threat of torture.
The white people needed a good reason to come down hard on the black community of Charleston. In order to do this, they had to invent a serious threat: a conspiracy to organize a brutal rebellion against the white community.
At the time, there was not much response to this article. The community of professional historians did not accept this new interpretation of the evidence.
In 2001, the idea appeared again when an article by Michael P. Johnson was published in the William & Mary Quarterly. This article is a review of three recent books about the case. It is presented as part one of a forum about slavery.
In 2002, the debate continued when the William & Mary Quarterly published part two of the forum on slavery.
In this part, the authors of the three books respond to the review posted in 2001. Other historians offer their opinions as well. The three authors are not ready to accept the interpretation made by Wade and Johnson.
In 2011, the William & Mary Quarterly published another article about the case. This article is written by James O’Neil Spady. Once again, the evidence is discussed and the new interpretation is rejected.
In 2017, a huge volume about the case was published by the University Press of Florida:
The Denmark Vesey Affair: A Documentary History edited by Douglas R. Egerton and Robert L. Paquette.
According to the editors, the documents presented in this book prove that the conspiracy to organize a rebellion was not a product of white hysteria.
Denmark Vesay and the people around him were really planning to organize a rebellion, but their plan failed, because the leaders were betrayed and because the authorities acted in time to prevent it from happening.
CONCLUSION
For many years, the name Denmark Vesey was highly controversial in the south. White people did not want black people to mention his name, because he had dared to think that slavery was wrong and that all persons were created equal.
But for abolitionists, his name was a source of inspiration. He was a free black person who dared to stand up for himself. He was a brave man.
He would not step aside when a white man was approaching him on the sidewalk. He would not look down; he would look a white man in the eyes, when they passed each other in the street.
In 2014, a statue of Denmark Vesey was erected in Hampton Park in Charleston (South Carolina).
In this way, we can say Denmark Vesey has been vindicated. But it took a long time. And the monument of the former slave is still controversial.
Plans to erect a monument began around 1990. It took around twenty years to have the monument erected and it is still regarded as offensive by some people.
This movie produced by PBS is a tribute to Denmark Vesey and his hopes for racial equality. It is worth viewing, because it helps us remember the history of a man who played a significant role in the history of the south.
I like this movie and I want to give it a good rating. But as explained above, it has some flaws.
I have to remove one star because of these flaws. Therefore, I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Articles available online
Thomas Wentworth Higginson,
“The Story of Denmark Vesey”
The Atlantic, June 1861
(republished 18 June 2015)
“Denmark Vesey, Forgotten Hero”
The Atlantic, December 1999
Jonathan Zimmerman,
“Was the Co-Founder of Charleston’s Emanuel Church a Victim of Racist Paranoia, Too?”
The New Republic, 21 June 2015
# 2. Books
Denmark Vesey: The Buried Story of America’s Largest Slave Rebellion and the Man Who Led It by David Robertson (1999) (2000)
Designs Against Charleston: The Trial Record of the Denmark Slave Conspiracy of 1822 edited by Edward A. Pearson (1999)
He Shall Go Out Free: The Lives of Denmark Vesey by Douglas R. Egerton (1999) (second revised edition 2004)
America’s Longest Siege: Charleston, Slavery, and the Slow March Toward Civil War by Joseph Kelley (2013)
*****
The statue of Denmark Vesey
erected in Hampton Park,
Charleston, South Carolina
*****
The Denmark Vesey Affair:
A Documentary History
Edited by Douglas R. Egerton and
Robert L. Paquette
(928 pages)
(2017)
*****
