The New York Conspiracy, also known as the Slave Insurrection of 1741, was a true historical event that took place in lower Manhattan in 1741.
But the only real record of the uprising is from the trial that happened afterwards.
Nearly two hundred people were arrested—mostly free Blacks and Irish immigrants, along with some enslaved Black and Caribbean people—for allegedly conspiring to burn down the city and overthrow their oppressive white overlords.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, they were swiftly (and brutally) punished for these supposed crimes—even though evidence was scant, and the few eyewitness testimonies were constantly changing, and likely coerced by the very same authorities intent on making an example of the lower-class workers.
So what really happened in that fateful spring?
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𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚: 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝙤𝙧𝙠'𝙨 𝘼𝙛𝙧𝙤-𝙄𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙐𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 1741 is , a new graphic novel by David Lester and Paul Buhle, adapted from Marcus Rediker's book, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮-𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙃𝙮𝙙𝙧𝙖: 𝙎𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙎𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝘼𝙩𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘.
It's a fictionalized account based loosely on the court records, imagining that there was indeed an inspiring act of solidarity between the Black, Irish, and Cuban people—an organized workers' uprising against the power of capital.