New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan

In “Water,” Lepore attempts to uncover the truth of what occurred during the meetings at Hughson’s tavern, and whether or not a conspiracy was actually hatched there. Over the course of their investigation, the prosecutors and the Supreme Court realize that while some slaves claim to have heard of the conspiracy at Hughson’s tavern, many more slaves learn of the plot during meetings at the home of Gerardus Comfort, a neighbor to Hughson and owner of the slave Jack. Although the prosecution attempts to conflate the meetings at Hughson’s tavern and those at Comfort’s house, suggesting that both meetings involve plotting for a rebellion, Lepore argues that the events taking place at both homes had very distinct meanings.

During the trial, some of the slaves testify that Hughson told them of the slave plot as early as 1738, several years prior to the actual fires committed in 1741. According to these slaves, Hughson often spoke of the plot freely at parties, with Hughson often initiating the slaves into the plot when both Hughson and the slave are very drunk. Lepore argues that such behavior seems at odds with an actual attempt to plan a conspiracy, as such plotting would require a great deal of secrecy on the part of Hughson and his inductees. Further, Lepore notes that Hughson’s initiations into a secret plot bear a resemblance to the sorts of initiations frequently performed by the Freemasons. The Freemasons are a secret society composed of wealthy educated white men, whose meetings in lodges involve secret oaths and discussions of political matters. In 1737, James Alexander—a member of New York’s Country Party—establishes a Freemason lodge. In response, members of the pro-governor Court Party frequently mock the rituals of the Freemasons in the press. Rather than a legitimate attempt to form a slave rebellion, Hughson’s initiations may have actually been partaking in this atmosphere of mockery of the Freemasons. Lepore argues that, rather than a legitimate revolt to overthrow the New York government, “Hughson’s Plot” was actually just “a prank that grew out of proportion” (143).

Comfort’s slave Jack is one of the slaves who Hughson initiates during the meetings at his tavern. Lepore writes that while Hughson may have intended the rituals to be a joke, Jack and other slaves begin to take the prospect of a slave rebellion seriously. Many slaves frequently travel to Comfort’s house, where Jack lives, due to the existence of a spring water well on Comfort’s property. As high-quality water is difficult to find in New York, slaves from throughout the city travel to Comfort’s home to fetch water for their owners, often late at night. At the well, these slaves often stop to drink liquor offered to them by Jack, chatting and socializing amongst themselves. Jack uses these visits as opportunities to initiate the slaves into his plot, telling the slaves that they would be stricken dead if they did not keep to their word and murder their masters. Lepore argues that many of Jack’s rituals and oaths are similar to those used by the Coromantee, a group of black slaves living in Jamaica and descending from the Akan in Ghana. Through these rituals, Lepore argues that slaves “forged bonds of fictive kinship” (147), creating a community that could bridge their disparate geographic and ethnic backgrounds.