The Great Negro Plot: A Tale of Conspiracy and Murder in Eighteenth-Century New York

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Mat Johnson delves into an embryonic era of Colonial American history with his latest offering, The Great Negro Plot: A Tale of Conspiracy and Murder in Eighteenth-Century New York. The non-fictional title implies a stoic tome, but surprisingly the author infuses a fresh voice and contemporary observations into the telling of fateful events that occurred some 266 years ago. The recipe for this 1741 episode of madness is a combination of several ill-timed events: a rumor of arson among townsfolk based on the frequency and strategic pattern of "random" fires erupting throughout the city; a recently discovered thievery ring headed by a none-too-swift white tavern owner, John Hughson, who is "knowingly friendly" with slaves; and a haunting memory of a 1712 Slave Revolt where slaves used burning buildings as bait to lure the Caucasian members of the fire brigade into a fatal ambush. When Hughson is arrested, his imaginative teen-aged "spinster" housemaid, Mary Burton, becomes witness for the prosecution. Fueled by both an unjust, flawed legal system and racist paranoia, Burton's testimony is heavily tainted by the prosecution and seals the fate of many innocent people, the overwhelming majority who were slaves. The "trial" was huge. Likened in popularity to the modern-day O.J. Simpson murder case, it lasted for months energized by the anticipated public executions (which also served as a form of entertainment) held expeditiously after sentencing. The madness finally subdues when Mary Burton misses her cue and implies that members of New York's elite society were involved. Coincidentally, it is about the same time that white slave owners grew weary of their most prized and expensive possessions (slaves) being withheld from work and destroyed at the expense of their purse, shrinking profit-margins, and public amusement. In the end, 154 slaves and freedmen were jailed, 14 burned alive, 18 hanged and 100 disappeared. Of the whites involved, 24 were imprisoned and four were executed; Hughson, his wife, a known prostitute (who also was "knowingly friendly" with slaves), and an estranged newcomer. Using actual court documents and the court recorder diaries, Johnson reconstructs a detailed time line against a realistic backdrop cleverly inserting the social mores, political climate, customs, traditions and mindset of the day. It was eye-opening to learn how largely uneducated the masses were and how slaves during this period of time were highly skilled craftsman as opposed to unskilled manual laborers. At opportune moments, the author blends history with modern events, an example being the 1991 discovery of the African Burial ground in Manhattan, and points out where history has indeed repeated itself in years following 1741. Although it is quite obvious how things would end, Johnson's storytelling nonetheless kept me turning pages. History buffs will enjoy this read. Reviewed by Phyllis APOOO BookClub Nubian Circle Book Club