The eighteenth century - the height of the slave trade - was the apex of conspiracies and revolts not only in North America but also throughout the Hemisphere; however, conspiracies and episodes of violence never ceased and continued into the nineteenth century. The first major incident took place in 1800, when Gabriel Prosser, a literate twenty-four-year-old enslaved blacksmith, planned to take control of Richmond, Virginia. The initial date for the launch of his uprising was 30 August, but torrential rains prevented it. Prosser was said to have rallied hundreds of enslaved and free men - and two Frenchmen - organized in military divisions to march with a banner reading 'Death or Liberty'. Gabriel, who was influenced by the French and Haitian revolutions,  
believed a large coalition of French, free blacks and people of colour would rally around his cry for freedom and he 'was determined to spare those with an anti-slavery reputation - poor whites, mechanics and artisans, Quakers and Methodists, Frenchmen - and only attack planters and merchants' (Sinha, 2016, p. 58). But betrayal by two conspirators enabled the militia to thwart the movement. During the trials that ensued, conspirators showed how much they were fluent in revolutionary concepts. One declared, 'we have as much right to fight for our liberty as any men', while another invoked George Washington (Egerton, 1995, p. 40). Prosser was caught a month later. He refused to name his lieutenants and was hanged, along with another twenty-seven men, while others were deported to neighbouring states.