Jeremy SCHIPPER. Denmark Vesey’s Bible: The Thwarted Revolt that put Slavery on Trial.  Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022. Pp. 181 + xxxi.  $26.95 Hb. ISBN: 9780691192864. Reviewed by D. SMITH-CHRISTOPHER, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045. 

Jeremy Schipper has clearly discovered the potential importance – and fascination - with what is now often referred to as “Reception History” or “History of Interpretation” within Biblical Studies.  For Biblical scholars, this presents an opportunity to move beyond analysis of the texts themselves, and  explore how the Bible is involved in later historical issues, and there are times when these events are of potentially profound interest.  How the Bible was used for and against American slavery is precisely one of those historical contexts, and Jeremy Schipper has focused this study on one highly significant episode within American history of slavery. 

While conducting research on a related topic, Schipper became fascinated with the case of Denmark Vesey, who tried to initiate a slave revolt in 1822.  The plot was discovered, and on July 2, 1822, Denmark Vesey was hanged for conspiring to lead a slave revolt in Charleston, South Carolina.  In the end, Schipper notes, 131 African-Americans were arrested, 37 banished, and 35 executed (Schipper, 1).  It would have been one of the largest revolts against slavery in American history, although as Schipper notes, there were similarities to John Brown’s apocalyptic expectation that “thousands” would join them.   

What struck Schipper as particularly interesting about this case, however, was the extensive quotations of the Bible – not only the few attributed to Vesey himself, but mainly the many passages cited by those who wrote (negatively) about the threatened revolt after the trial and executions.  In terms of his research materials, Schipper is clear that his analysis is based on largely one-sided sources, stating that “people who supported slavery produced all of the surviving primary source material from the immediate aftermath of Vesey’s plot, his trial, and his execution” (Schipper, xxix).  Still, he is able to trace some comments from those accused of conspiring with Vesey.  Schipper notes that a number of witnesses state that Vesey often tried to recruit through “impassioned appeals to the Bible” (Schipper, 3), and particularly passages of violent judgment against the Israelites such as Zechariah 14:1-3, and against Canaanites in Joshua 6: 21.  In fact, Schipper states, “All we know of Vesey’s biblical interpretations come in piecemeal fashion from the problematic court records, private letters, and newspaper articles written by slaveholders.”  (Schipper, xxix). 

Given the significance of this particular case in American history, it is a pity (though entirely understandable) that Schipper’s sources were limited, but despite this, he writes a compelling book dealing with the way the Bible featured in polemics for and against slavery in relation to this particular event, and Schipper's effort to provide proper attention to both “sides” of the debate is admirable.  The short book features chapters that deal with the reactions of particular local personalities in South Carolina and especially their use of the Bible.  The work is thoroughly documented, and for a text that only runs 127 pages, he provides 27 additional pages of meticulously detailed notes and references, in addition to an impressive bibliography. 

As a case-study in “History of Interpretation”, Schipper’s book is an excellent example of judicious use of even limited source material when the case itself is of such significance that it must not be overlooked.  If there is to be a continued elaboration of ‘home-grown’ Liberation Theology in the United States, Schipper’s study provides an important contribution.