On this day in 1822, black freeman, Denmark Vesey, and five others are hanged after a secret court finds them guilty of conspiring to incite a slave rebellion in Charleston, South Carolina. Dozens more are hanged in the coming days.

Vesey, inspired by news of the Haitian Revolution, had intended to carry out the insurrection on Bastille Day, July 14.

White officials determine that the Black church Vesey had co-founded had played a role in the planning and it is burned to the ground. Black churches are outlawed in the city and remain so for the next 40 years. Free black people's movements and associations with enslaved people are put under heavy restrictions.

The church is eventually rebuilt as Emanuel AME. In 2015, a white gunman will open fire on worshippers there during Bible study.