1811 German Coast Uprising — The Largest Slave Revolt in American History

On January 8, 1811, between 200 and 500 enslaved people on the German Coast sugar plantations west of New Orleans organized the largest slave revolt in American history. They marched toward the city along River Road, burning plantations and killing two white men. The militia caught them within two days. At least 40 were executed; their severed heads were mounted on poles along the river from the German Coast to New Orleans as a warning. The revolt was suppressed so brutally and so thoroughly that it was largely erased from public memory until the 21st century.