Historian Michael Johnson didn't start out to investigate what has long been thought of as the largest slave rebellion plot in American history. But he was troubled when he read a published transcript of a court case that arose from the supposed conspiracy: One witness is recorded as testifying about an event that, according to other sources, hadn't yet happened on the date he testified.

That discrepancy drove Johnson to the archives. The result is a forthcoming article in the William and Mary Quarterly. Johnson argues that the Denmark Vesey slave rebellion plot, accounts of which have long been accepted by historians as real, never actually existed. To hear in his own words how Johnson unraveled this 179-year-old mystery, follow the link below.

To read more about this, see The Gazette article on Johnson's work.

Listen to Michael Johnson in Real Audio.

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