Gabriel Prosser Captured (1800)

Thu Sep 25, 1800

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Gabriel Prosser (1775 - 1800) was the leader of an unsuccessful slave revolt in Richmond, captured on this day in 1800. Prosser planned to kill local whites, excepting Quakers, Methodists, and the French, and establish a “Kingdom of Virginia”.

Little is known of Prosser’s life before the revolt. Gabriel’s two brothers, Solomon and Martin, and his wife, Nanny, were all enslaved by Thomas Prosser. All of them participated in the insurrection.

At the time of the uprising, Gabriel Prosser was twenty-four years old, six feet two inches, literate, and a blacksmith by trade. He was described by a contemporary as “a fellow of courage and intellect above his rank in life.”

With the help of other enslaved people, Prosser devised a plan to seize control of Richmond by killing off the white population (excepting the Methodists, Quakers, and Frenchmen) and establishing a Kingdom of Virginia with himself as monarch.

Prosser was betrayed twice - first by others enslaved by Thomas Prosser who told him about the plan, and then by slaves in Norfolk, who turned a fleeing Prosser in to the authorities for a bounty.

On September 25th, 1800, Prosser was captured. He was executed along with two of his brothers and 23 other enslaved people a few weeks later, on October 6th.