August 30 is the anniversary of Gabriel Prosser’s Rebellion in 1800. Gabriel Prosser was a Virginian slave. He had concocted a plan to overthrow the oppressive US regime (at least in Virginia) and replace it with a democratic and egalitarian one. He had hoped that his slave army would be able to gain allies in oppressed white people.

It might even have worked, but unfortunately for Gabriel, a bad storm hit on this day, which delayed the plan long enough for a traitor to report to the authorities. The military was called in and ended the revolt before it got started. The US regime being what it is, hung 27 people who wanted nothing more than freedom and democracy. One of the rebels had this to say:

I have nothing more to offer than what General Washington would have had to offer, had he been taken by the British and put to trial by them. I have adventured my life in endeavoring to obtain the liberty of my countrymen, and am a willing sacrifice in their cause.

The oligarchs in the land of the brave were terrified of further revolts, so they made sure that their politicians banned slaves from literacy, and restricted their ability to travel even further.