MikeDunnAuthor<p>Today in Labor History May 30, 1741: The authorities burned thirteen black men at the stake for their role in a purported plot to start a slave revolt in the colony of New York. They also hanged seventeen black men, two white men, and two white women. However, historians disagree whether the plot ever existed. The prosecution continually changed its story during the trial, even leveling accusations of Spanish and Catholic involvement. In the weeks leading up to the trial, there had been a series of fires in Manhattan, which had the second highest slave population in the colonies at the time. They arrested several enslaved people, including a 16-year-old Irish girl. She testified that poor white and black people were conspiring to kill rich white men, steal their wives and elect a new king. In the end, the authorities arrested over 200 people and hanged or burned 100 of them, in a witch hunt that drew parallels to those of Salem fifty year before.</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/workingclass" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>workingclass</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LaborHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LaborHistory</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/slavery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>slavery</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>racism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/revolt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>revolt</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rebellion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rebellion</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/execution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>execution</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/torture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>torture</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/massacre" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>massacre</span></a></p>