After taking a look at “Letter to Charleston Courier (1822)”, I felt like something was missing as Denmark Vesey’s name is not mentioned once in the entirety of the letter. I developed the research question: “What is Denmark Vesey’s importance in the Letter to Charleston Courier (1822)?” To begin my search for the answer, I conducted an internet search to find out who Vesey was in his time. Using the National Park Service website, I found that he was a carpenter and formerly enslaved man who lived near Charleston, South Carolina in 1822. This was my initial connection to the letter as Vesey lived near the same place at the same time that the letter was sent. While this was a start, I needed more to answer my question. I decided to reframe my question to: “What is Denmark Vesey’s connection to the man named Billy in the Letter to Charleston Courier (1822)?”
In my next online search, I found that Vesey actually planned a rebellion of enslaved people in Charleston in the same year. He planned to have his followers execute their enslavers to liberate the city of Charleston. Before this could happen, two of his own followers leaked this information before it could happen. Because of this, the police in Charleston got his men ready and sent them out to arrest these enslaved people. 67 people were convicted with conspiracy, and 35 of those men including Vesey were hanged. I made the connection that Billy from the letter was also one of the people the authorities were sent after, and eventually hanged.
One piece that is missing that I could not find was whether or not Billy and Denmark were close with each other. I still wonder if Billy had a close connection to Vesey, or if he just believed in this man to set him free. To find this information, I believe I could either go to the MSU library or any library in the area to learn more about their connections. My next steps are to go to this library and ask for any books with information on Vesey and his past.