THE LIFE STORY OF DENMARK VESEY: TO THE PRIMARY SYSTEMATIZATION OF FACTS

Abstract

This work is the first attempt in Russian historiography to restore and analyze the life history of the organizer of one of the largest slave conspiracies in the South of the United States. In the course of the research, the main focus is on establishing the key facts of the biography and debunking some myths concerning the biography of Denmark Vesey. In the first part of the work, the author considers the question of its origin. The second part is devoted to the period from 1781 to 1800, when Denmark was enslaved by Joseph Vesey, the third - to the 17-year period of life after liberation, the fourth - to active participation in religious and political processes in Charleston and radicalization of views, and finally, the fifth, to the history of the organization of the conspiracy of 1822 and the subsequent trial. Conclusions are drawn about the significance and reasons for the current popularity of the figure of Denmark Vesey among researchers and ordinary people, as well as related problems of studying his biography. The main methods are ideographic, comparative-historical and retrospective. The research is carried out in accordance with the principle of historicism and is based on an extensive source base, which includes the materials of the investigation, individual publications in the press and the works of Western historians.