Gabriel Prosser, was a literate enslaved blacksmith who planned and led a large slave rebellion in the Richmond area in the summer of 1800. Governor James Monroe and the state militia suppressed the rebellion. Gabriel and 26 other enslaved people who participated were hanged. In reaction, the Virginia and other legislatures passed restrictions on free blacks, as well as the education, movement and hiring out of the enslaved.
In 2002 the City of Richmond passed a resolution in honor of Gabriel on the 202nd anniversary of the rebellion.
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