Big Apple History . Early New York . The Uprising of 1741


	Slave burned at stake in 1741

The mysterious fires in New Amsterdam began on March 18, 1741. Around noon, flames broke out at the governor's house at Fort George. The winter breeze helped the fire travel quickly. Although a bucket brigade tried to put it out, helped by new, hand-pump fire engines, the chapel next door caught fire. Both buildings were destroyed. During the next month, more homes and businesses fell victims to smoke and flames.

The Dutch government smelled more than smoke -- they smelled a conspiracy, a rebellion by the slaves, which the whites greatly feared. Justice Daniel Horsmanden was appointed to investigate.

During the trial, the judge spoke with Mary Burton, a white indentured servant. Even though Mary's stories were full of contradictions, after the government promised to free her from indenture, she told them what they wanted to hear: that the fires were part of a "Negro plot."

Even though there was little evidence that the fires were part of a large organized effort, almost half of the male adult slaves in the city were thrown in jail. In the end, seventeen blacks and four whites were hanged, thirteen slaves were burned slowly at the stake, and seventy-two slaves were deported.

Illustration: Engraving of slave being burned at the stake in 1741, courtesy of the Picture Collection, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.