09/04/2026
‘GABRIEL'S UPRISING' - A NEW HIGHWAY MARKER IN RICHMOND
By Phil Wilayto
Drowning out the noise of passing traffic on Richmond's East Broad Street overlooking the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground, the crowd cheered as Pam Bingham, a direct descendant of the great slave rebellion leader Gabriel, removed the cover over the new state highway marker titled “Gabriel’s Uprising.”
As Bingham explained the significance of the event, Ram Bhagat and his Drums No Guns group provided a rhythmic background.
Earlier, Bhagat and Ana Edwards, founder and chair of the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, had read the story of Gabriel and his comrades, a struggle that nearly changed the course of U.S. history. They also read the names of all the 25 insurrectionists executed for their roles in the conspiracy.
The unveiling ceremony took place on Sunday, Aug. 31, the 226th anniversary of the day Gabriel and his co-conspirators chose for their rebellion against slavery.
The plan was to walk into the city in small groups, gather at Ancarrow’s Landing on the James River and set fire to the warehouses there, drawing militia members away from the capital city, Richmond. Meanwhile, another group would head to the city’s armory, where a formerly enslaved man hired to guard the site was expected to hand over the keys.
Then the revolutionaries would regroup and descend on the governor’s mansion, seize Gov. James Monroe and hold him hostage until he agreed to end slavery in all of Virginia.
It was a bold plan, involving hundreds if not thousands of enslaved people over 10 counties, along with some antislavery whites, Indigenous people and a few Frenchmen who had fought at Yorktown in the young country's war for independence.
Gabriel, born in or around 1776, grew up with the country’s leaders extolling the ideal of freedom. A literate young man - he as just 24, he also likely was influenced by reports of the slave rebellion in the French colony of Haiti,
But on Aug. 30, a terrible storm hit the area, wiping out roads and bridges and forcing Gabriel and his followers to postpone the rebellion by one day - enough time to cause one of the conspirators to panic and reveal the plot to another enslaved man, not involved, who told his owner, who alerted the governor, and the uprising was foiled.
On Oct. 10, 1800, Gabriel and two of his comrades were hanged in Richmond, the last of 25 men executed for their roles in the attempted rebellion.
More than 60 people turned out this Aug. 30 for the marker unveiling that was co-hosted by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Sacred Ground Project..
The new marker replaces an earlier one erected in 2004 on the same site by the DHR as a result of a community campaign led by the Defenders. That marker, unveiled by Haskell Bingham, Pam Bingham’s father, included the first physical recognition of the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground, which at that time was still covered by a commercial parking lot.
The Defenders and many others will return to the now-reclaimed burial ground at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, for the 24th Annual Gabriel Gathering, which is meant to keep alive the memory of Gabriel’s Rebellion and examine how its lessons can be applied to today’s many struggles.
The theme for this year’s gathering will be “Gabriel the Worker.”
For more information, log onto the Sacred Ground Project’s website, sacredgroundproject.net
TEXT OF THE NEW MARKER:
Gabriel’s Uprising SA-66
Gabriel, an enslaved blacksmith from Henrico County, attempted to lead a mass uprising against slavery on 30 Aug. 1800. A fierce rainstorm and disclosure of the plot by two enslaved men foiled plans to attack Richmond and capture Gov. James Monroe. Arrested and tried, Gabriel was hanged on 10 Oct. alongside two associates, Isaac and Laddis, at Richmond’s “usual place” for ex*****ons, likely near present-day S. First St. and the Downtown Expressway. His probable burial place was near there on Cary St. at the Richmond Baptist Church burying ground, no longer visible. Shockoe Bottom, where the city’s gallows later stood, was long thought to be the site of Gabriel’s ex*****on and burial.
