| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to the AHR online. About 289 words from this article are provided below; about 525 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the American Historical Association, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time. AHA members can go to the AHA individual membership section to locate their member numbers.
If you are not a member of the American Historical Association, you can:: • Join the AHA and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the American Historical Review.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the American Historical Review (104.3-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the American Historical Review.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 105.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Edward A. Pearson, editor. Designs against Charleston: The Trial Record of the Denmark Vesey Slave Conspiracy of 1822. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1999. Pp. xiii, 387. $49.95.

When the study of the history of African Americans, and particularly of slavery in the United States, suddenly exploded some thirty years ago, few historians expected a tsunami of publication on the topic a quarter-century later. In more recent years, the emphasis has shifted from the wholesomeness of the slave community toward greater stress on the devastating impact of the institution on its victims, changes through time, and explicit consideration of gender. In the last decade, also, there have been a remarkable number of studies about slavery in a single and perhaps singular state, South Carolina, where Denmark Vesey literally set up shop in Charleston. 1

Edward A. Pearson's study of this famous slave conspiracy is unusual in structure. Nearly half is the author-editor's own introduction, which is a nearly book-length essay of description and interpretation. Then there are 120 pages of the transcript of the trials, a dozen more of chronology, another fifteen annotating the conspirators and witnesses, and forty pages of additional documents—mostly letters and selections from newspapers, dating from 1783 to 1861. 2

The transcript of the trials is a great service, since it makes clear why historians many years ago were fussing at each other about whether the conspiracy was actual or merely supposed. It was in fact very real and quite carefully planned. Vesey and his lieutenants did expect help from country slaves outside the city; and he did aim at killing all whites, except ship captains, and leading a mass migration to Haiti. . . .

There are about 525 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.