Inspired by the American Revolution and the fight for liberty, Gabriel Prosser risked everything for the freedom of his fellow enslaved people.

Inspired by the American Revolution and the many slave revolts in the Caribbean, in 1800, Gabriel Prosser led a slave revolt that would be called Gabriel's Revolt. His quest for freedom was driven by the cause of liberty celebrated in the colonies since 1776.

Captured and brought before a judge, the judge asked him if he had anything to say for himself. Gabriel responded, "I have nothing more to offer than what General Washington would have had to offer had he been taken by the British and put to trial. I have adventured my life in endeavoring to obtain the liberty of my countrymen and am willing to sacrifice to their cause".

Subsequent rebellions in Virginia would lead to executions or hangings. Gabriel had great respect for George Washington and other revolutionary war leaders, even as he rejected them as masters. Black History Month in 2026 should be a reminder that while the Declaration of Independence was silent on the issue of slavery, the slave, perhaps more than anybody, understood the quest for freedom and embraced its cause and would make it their own.

These revolutionary war voices would plant the seed of freedom, and it would find its fruition in the abolitionist movement, emancipation, the civil rights, and voting rights act of the 1960s. Those voices, which should be all our voices, must challenge every effort to bury this history on the trash heap of ignorance and racism.