The 1811 German Coast Uprising
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Introduction
In January 1811, hundreds of enslaved people in Louisiana did something the institution of slavery was designed to convince them was impossible.
They organized. They armed themselves. And they marched toward freedom.
Led in part by Charles Deslondes, the rebels moved along Louisiana’s German Coast, gathering others as they advanced toward New Orleans. Some carried guns. Others carried machetes and agricultural tools. Drums and flags accompanied their march.
The Haitian Revolution had ended only seven years earlier. Haiti had proven that enslaved people could overthrow slavery and establish an independent nation. In Louisiana, enslavers knew exactly what that example could mean.
The uprising was eventually crushed with extraordinary brutality. But its history challenges the idea of enslaved people as simply passive victims of slavery.
This is the story of the 1811 German Coast Uprising.
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