THE NATCHEZ REBELLION OF 1729
The Natchez Rebellion of 1729
Based on archaeological evidence the area now known as Natchez, Ms. was inhabited by indigenous tribes since 8 Century A.D. “Grand Village” was a major village of the civilization at that time. There are still ceremonial mounds that occupy the area. Explorers like DeSoto, Hernandez ,and De LaSalle were some of the first known Europeans to come into contact with the Natchez tribe. Natchez was officially established by French colonists ( Company of the Indies ) in 1716 as Fort Rosalie . Natchez became a very prominent and important trading post along the Lower Mississippi River Valley. The Europeans became very comfortable with the fact that the Natchez were regarded as a sharing, civilized, and peaceful tribe of people. It would not take long for the Europeans to go on a power trip and have things go in the wrong direction for everyone .
“Sauvage matachez en Guerrier,” pen and ink by Alexandre de Batz,New Orleans, 1732
Fort Rosalie was too close for comfort near the multiple Natchez villages in the area. The French became increasingly greedy with attempts to grasp all the land and resources for themselves. They took the kindness of the Natchez people for granted. For over a decade,the Europeans and the Natchez had conducted trade and even intermarried.
https://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/indian-tribes/natchez-tribe.htm
In 1729 the Natchez were provoked by the French when the Commandant Sieur de Chepart demanded land from Natchez leaders. Chepart wanted to taunt the Natchez by building his plantation on top of the Natchez ceremonial mounds near Fort Rosalie. In 1728 , this same Commandant Chepart who was appointed by Governor Etiene Perier was put on trial in New Orleans for abuse of power. The trial was due to the way that he was handling relations with the Natchez indigenous people. His tactics were not popular with other colonists. Jean-Francois Benjamin Dumont de Montigny , a French Historian also noted that Chepart was the first colonial leader to claim something for himself without in prior deals or “compensation “ to the indigenous people. Chepart also disregarded an agreement that the Natchez were not to be enslaved. Enough was enough and the Natchez began to devise a plan.
The Natchez began to recruit other tribes( Yazoo & Chickasaw) as well as free and enslaved Africans as allies to take down Fort Rosalie. They kept sticks in their huts to count down days until the attack . As told by first hand account by Le Page Du Pratz it was a Natchez female that tipped the French off about the attacks. However, the prior knowledge would not help. On November 29, 1729 , the attacks began. It started with the horrible and gruesome death of Chepart. (Le Page Du Pratz) The Natchez armed with other indigenous allies and Africans coordinated attacks on all the neighboring forts, homesteads, and plantations. Out of anger and fury the Yazoo Tribe even took down nearby Fort Pierre. The Natchez slaughtered almost all the French . The noted number is 230 French men, women, and children. Fort Rosalie was completely destroyed.
www.history.com Africans take down French
When the news reached New Orleans the first week of December , the French used propaganda towards slaves in an effort to get them to wipe out a village of Chaouacha near New Orleans. It was rumored that they helped the Natchez. However, that was never true and never any historical evidence to that rumor. The colonists in New Orleans and throughout South Louisiana were on high alert. They did not even allow the Choctaw who were their allies to enter into the French settlements with fear that they would turn on them. These attacks by the Natchez were economically detrimental to the Louisiana colony . The French crown blamed both Chepart and Perier for what was happening. The French crown took control from the Company of the Indies and expelled Perier back to France.
In 1730, the French sought the help of Choctaw and Tunica allies to capture Natchez rebels. They were able to capture 387 Natchez , some were put to death in New Orleans , but most were sold into slavery in Ste. Domingue (Haiti) . Despite all of this , the Natchez rebelling in 1729 was a victory . It was a victory because it had a lasting effect and imprint on the direction that colonial Louisiana would go . The French were also so focused on making the Natchez pay that they overlooked most of their African allies. The fires of freedom and rebellion continued to blaze in the spirits of the enslaved in Louisiana . It was later found out that some of the same Africans would go on to strike another rebellion in 1731 . Do you remember Samba from my previous article ?? Although not widely spoken about , these rebellions helped to cripple the colony . The French ended up losing the French and Indian Wars , they ceded the Louisiana colony to Spain .
Natchez at Chepart home to confront him.
Bibliography
- Dumont de Montigny, Jean-François-Benjamin; Le Mascrier, Jean-Baptiste (1753). Mémoires historiques sur la Louisiane (in French). II. Paris, France: Cl. J. B. Bauche. OCLC 55548267.
- Dumont de Montigny, Jean-François-Benjamin (2012) [1747]. Sayre, Gordon; Zecher, Carla (eds.). The Memoir of Lieutenant Dumont, 1715–1747: A Sojourner in the French Atlantic. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807837221.
- Le Page du Pratz, Antoine-Simon (1758). Histoire de la Louisiane(in French). III. Paris, France: De Bure & Delaguette. OCLC 310876492. (Translation by Gordon Sayre)
- Le Page du Pratz, Antoine-Simon (1774) [French version published in 1763]. The History of Louisiana. London, United Kingdom: T. Becket. OCLC 1949294.
