I would like to take the opportunity to welcome visitors to my website dedicated to the 1811 German Coast Uprising. I seek to shed more light and an offer a multi-dimensional view of this largely unknown American rebellion. Little known, yet this uprising is an important illustration of the dark history of the Antebellum South.
The German Coast Uprising was one of the largest slave insurgency movements in the history of the United States. It threatened to subvert and seriously destabilize the institution of slavery in Louisiana. Moreover, the prevailing narratives, and the real story surrounding this event was largely skewed for many decades. The rebellion was much larger in scale and came extremely close to succeeding – facts that stand in sharp contrast to many reports which dismissed its impact and importance. The goal of this website is to expose the truth and examine the power of hegemonic narratives and their effect on the interpretation of historical events.
I. Historiographical Essay – Examining the different historical narratives surrounding this event, and how interpretations have changed, based upon scholarly works on the topic.
II. Narrative and Timeline – Key events, actors, chronology, and their impact in order to facilitate understanding and further orient the visitor to the topic more intimately.
III. Analysis of Primary Source Documents – Examining the important aspects of the different primary sources on the rebellion.
IV. Remembering the Rebellion – Understanding how this rebellion was remembered and depicted by historians over time.