Contested Symbolism in the Flags of New World Slave Risings

Abstract

Throughout the summer of 1800, an enslaved blacksmith of Richmond, Virginia, named Gabriel conspired with fellow bondspeople to rise in arms and fight for their freedom. Among his plans was a scheme to paint a flag with the phrase “Death or Liberty” to be carried at the head of the column that would march into the city.1 Gabriel’s slogan inverted the words of his fellow Virginian Patrick Henry, whose famous oration on the eve of the American Revolution concluded, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”2