having murdered him and his wife and children, they took all the arms he had, set fire to the house, and proceeded towards Jonesboro.  On their way they plundered and burned every house to which they came, killing every white person they found and compelling the Negroes to join them.  Governor Bull, who happened to be returning to Charleston from the southward, met them, and observing them armed, spread the alarm, which soon reached the Presbyterian Church at Wilton, where a number of planters was assembled.  The women were left in the church trembling with fear, while the militia formed and marched in quest of the Negroes, who by this time had become formidable from the number that had joined them.  They had marched twelve miles and spread desolation through all the plantations on their way.  They had then halted in an open field and too soon had begun to sing and drink and dance by way of triumph.  During these rejoicings the militia discovered them and stationed themselves in different places around them to prevent their escape.  One party then advanced into the open field and attacked the Negroes.  Some were killed and the others were forced to the woods.  Many ran back to the plantations, hoping thus to avoid suspicion, but most of them were taken and tried.  Such as had been forced to join the uprising against their will were pardoned, but all of the chosen leaders and the first insurgents were put to death.  All Carolina, we are told, was struck with terror and consternation by this insurrection, in which more than twenty white persons were killed.  It was followed immediately by the famous and severe Negro Act of 1740, which among other provisions imposed a duty of L100 on Africans and L150 on colonial Negroes.  This remained technically in force until 1822, and yet as soon as security and confidence were restored, there was a relaxation in the execution of the provisions of the act and the Negroes little by little regained confidence in themselves and again began to plan and act in concert.

[Footnote 1:  Holland:  A Refutation of Calumnies, 68.]

[Footnote 2:  Coffin.]

[Footnote 3:  The following account follows mainly Holland, quoting Hewitt.]

About the time of Cato’s insurrection there were also several uprisings at sea.  In 1731, on a ship returning to Rhode Island from Guinea with a cargo of slaves, the Negroes rose and killed three of the crew, all the members of which died soon afterwards with the exception of the captain and his boy.  The next year Captain John Major of Portsmouth, N.H., was murdered with all his crew, his schooner and cargo being seized by the slaves.  In 1735 the captives on the Dolphin of London, while still on the coast of Africa, overpowered the crew, broke into the powder room, and finally in the course of their effort for freedom blew up both themselves and the crew.