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Illustration of several Black people handling large sacks, loading them onto a carriage. One man is on a horse.
Enslaved people load sacks onto a cart. (Photo: Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Uprising by enslaved people in the Cherokee Nation.

1842

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Enslaved people load sacks onto a cart. (Photo: Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

It is the first of many uprisings by enslaved Black people in "Indian Territory" against Cherokee and Choctaw slaveholders. Many of the enslaved people escape to Mexico, where slavery is illegal. In its aftermath, the Cherokee Nation will pass stricter "slave" codes, expel freedmen from the territory, and establish a "rescue" ("slave-catching") company to try to prevent additional losses.