JAMES MONROE

JAMES MONROE

(1758 - 1831) Fifth President of the United States who negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and promulgated the Monroe Doctrine. Partly-printed D.S. "James Monroe" as Governor of Virginia, 1p. oblong 8vo., Richmond, "August, 1800", Monroe orders the unknown militia officer to provide him a "return of the strength, arms, and accoutrements of your Company of Artillery. It being important information should be possessed on these heads..." Lightly toned, some clean splits archivally repaired on verso, else very good. It is entirely possible that this document was issued as a hasty response to the "Gabriel's Rebellion" slave revolt. Gabriel Prosser was a literate enslaved blacksmith who planned a large slave rebellion in the Richmond area in the summer of 1800. Scheduled for August 30, the attack on Richmond was delayed, and then betrayed by two slaves to their master. Rumors had long swirled of such revolts, so it was entirely possible that Monroe was here preparing for that eventuality. Following the betrayal of the plot, Monroe called out the state militia. Gabriel escaped downriver to Norfolk, but he was spotted and betrayed there by another slave for the reward offered by the state. Not surprisingly, that slave did not receive the full reward. Gabriel was returned to Richmond for questioning, but he did not submit. Gabriel, his two brothers, and 23 other slaves were hanged on Oct. 10, 1800.