America’s Largest Slave Revolt Met Its Bloody End at This Historic Louisiana Plantation

Destrehan Plantation, Louisiana

Just 25 miles from New Orleans’ party scene, Destrehan Plantation tells a darker story. The oldest known house in the Lower Mississippi Valley has seen it all: sugar fortunes, slave revolts, Civil War drama, and even a murder trial that shook the South.

Here’s the story of this historic French Colonial estate.

The House That Moss Built

Destrehan Plantation began in 1787 when Robert Antoine Robin de Logny hired Charles Paquet to build a French Colonial-style home.

The plantation already had 59 enslaved workers when de Logny bought the land in 1783.

The main house was finished by 1790, with a raised design, brick piers, double-pitched roof, and wide gallery.

Builders used cypress beams joined without nails and filled walls with bousillage – a mix of mud, Spanish moss, and sometimes animal hair.

When de Logny died in 1792, his estate included nineteen slave cabins, two hospitals, indigo vats, a kitchen, storehouse, and pigeon house.

The plantation sat on high ground, safe from the Mississippi River floods that damaged other estates.

Charles Paquet Builds A Legacy

Charles Paquet was a master craftsman who built Destrehan while likely being enslaved himself.

His skills in carpentry, woodworking, and masonry made him valuable in Louisiana’s economy.

Paquet directed six enslaved workers during construction.

His payment included an enslaved man named Leveiller, a cow and calf, food supplies, and 100 piastres in cash.

The building contract, still kept at the St. Charles Parish courthouse, makes Destrehan the oldest documented house in the lower Mississippi Valley.

Records suggest Paquet’s father was Jean Paquet, a “free mulatto” from New Orleans who may have taught him building skills.

Charles appears to have gained his freedom shortly after completing Destrehan.

Indigo Dies, Sugar Profits Soar

When Jean Noël Destrehan and his wife Marie-Claude Celeste took over in 1802, they switched from failing indigo crops to sugarcane.

This change dramatically increased their need for enslaved workers. While indigo required 59 enslaved people, sugar production needed almost 100.

By the Civil War, over 200 enslaved individuals worked at Destrehan.

Jean Noël’s brother-in-law, Étienne de Boré, had pioneered sugar granulation in Louisiana in 1795, making it highly profitable.

The shift to sugar made life even harder for enslaved people.

Sugar required backbreaking field labor followed by dangerous processing work in the sugar house.

Unlike most crops, Destrehan’s sugar operation functioned as both farm and factory.

Days Dictated By The Sun

Enslaved people at Destrehan worked from sunrise until mid-afternoon under the Creole management system, which evolved from the French Code Noir.

During sugar harvest, work stretched around the clock. The plantation sorted workers into three “gangs” based on strength and age.

The strongest men formed the “prime gang” for the heaviest work.

Women with children and older men made up the second gang, while children as young as 10 performed lighter tasks.

Enslaved families lived in small cabins with dirt floors and minimal furniture.

The cabins were positioned where the overseer could easily watch them.

By the 1860s, over 200 enslaved people lived at Destrehan, making it one of St. Charles Parish’s largest enslaved communities.

Skilled Hands Keep Plantation Running

Not all enslaved people at Destrehan worked in the fields. Many developed specialized skills that kept the plantation largely self-sufficient.

The plantation depended on enslaved blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers (barrel makers), and mechanics to maintain equipment and buildings.

Women like Marguerite, born in 1740, worked as cooks and laundresses in the main house. Sugar production required experts at every stage from planting to processing.

Skilled enslaved workers knew precisely when to harvest cane and how to boil the juice to make sugar.

These skilled positions sometimes meant slightly better conditions but still involved forced labor under threat of punishment.

Skilled workers might also be rented out to other plantations, separating them from their families.

Working Inside The Big House

House servants at Destrehan had different experiences than field workers.

They lived closer to the white family, often sleeping in hallways or attics rather than slave cabins.

These workers – mostly women – cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and cared for white children.

They remained on call day and night, with bells summoning them at any hour.

While their physical labor might have been less intense than fieldwork, they faced constant scrutiny and often sexual abuse.

House servants dressed in hand-me-downs from the white family and had to maintain a neat appearance.

As they witnessed the stark contrast between their lives and their enslavers’ luxury, they gathered information that sometimes reached the wider enslaved community.

Keeping Culture Alive Under Bondage

Despite brutal conditions, enslaved people at Destrehan found ways to resist and build community.

During limited free time on Sundays and evenings, they grew their own food, raised chickens, and occasionally sold goods for small amounts of money.

They preserved traditions from Senegambia and the Congo River basin, their ancestral homes.

Music played on handmade instruments like gourd banjos maintained connections to Africa.

Enslaved families built networks across neighboring plantations, sharing news and support despite separation.

Many practiced a blend of Catholicism (required by law) and African spiritual beliefs, creating traditions that preserved their heritage while appearing to follow plantation rules.

The Rebellion That Shook Louisiana

In January 1811, Charles Deslondes led 200-500 enslaved people in the largest slave revolt in American history along Louisiana’s German Coast.

Several enslaved people from Destrehan joined the uprising.

The rebels armed themselves with farm tools and a few firearms. Some wore militia uniforms taken from the Andry plantation where the revolt began.

They marched toward New Orleans chanting “Freedom or Death,” inspired by Haiti’s successful revolution.

Their goal was to create a free Black republic along the Mississippi River.

As they advanced about 20 miles downriver, their numbers grew at each plantation.

Meanwhile, white residents fled to Destrehan for protection, making it a refuge during the uprising.

Death Sentences At Destrehan

After the revolt, Destrehan became the setting for one of three tribunals that judged participants in the 1811 uprising.

Jean Noël Destrehan himself served on this tribunal, which condemned many to death without fair trials.

Judge Pierre Bauchet St. Martin presided over the Destrehan tribunal from January 13-15, 1811. Of 21 enslaved people tried there, 18 were sentenced to death by firing squad.

Among those executed were Destrehan’s own enslaved workers: Gros and Petit Lindor (both 30) and Jasmin (45).

The heads of executed men were placed on pikes along the Mississippi River as warnings.

The accused had no legal representation, and trials followed the French colonial system rather than American law, despite Louisiana being U.S. territory.

Families Sold Through Generations

Plantation records reveal that a woman named Dionne arrived at Destrehan in the early 1800s with her young children.

Her family remained enslaved through multiple generations as ownership changed hands.

When Jean Noël Destrehan died in 1823, he divided his human property among his children, threatening to separate families.

When Pierre Rost bought the plantation in 1839, Dionne’s descendants were included in the sale like any other property.

Her family experienced the shift from French colonial slavery to American practices, which typically meant stricter control and less recognition of family bonds.

Dionne’s story represents countless families whose entire histories unfolded in bondage at Destrehan, yet somehow maintained family ties despite constant threat of separation.

A Will For Freedom Denied

In 1816, Stephen Henderson, a Scottish immigrant who married Jean Noël’s daughter Zelia, gained partial ownership of Destrehan.

When Henderson died in 1838, his will created controversy by freeing all his slaves. Henderson’s will went beyond simple freedom.

It provided education and economic opportunity for the freed people.

Those who wished could receive transportation to Liberia. He even planned a city named Dunblane to be built on plantation grounds for them.

The Destrehan family fought the will for 12 years. The Louisiana Supreme Court eventually sided with them on a technicality.

This case shows how even well-intentioned freedom efforts were undermined by Louisiana’s legal system, designed to protect slavery above all else.

Education After Emancipation

After the Civil War ended in 1865, federal authorities seized Destrehan Plantation and established the “Rost Home Colony” through the Freedmen’s Bureau.

It became one of four such colonies in Louisiana and the only one that succeeded financially.

About 2,000 formerly enslaved people passed through the colony during its two-year existence, with around 700 residents at any given time.

The Bureau kept detailed records listing names, ages, family connections, and previous owners – valuable information for descendants today.

Residents earned wages while receiving food, clothing, medical care, and education.

Children under 14 attended school while adults worked 10-hour days growing crops. The colony ended in December 1866 when Pierre Rost regained control.

Connecting Past To Present

Today at Destrehan, you can explore restored slave quarters and see how enslaved people lived.

The Miller-Haydel Museum, a former overseer’s cabin, houses exhibits on the 1811 German Coast Uprising with folk art depicting the revolt.

Tours now tell the stories of both enslaved and free residents, highlighting individuals like Marguerite and Charles Paquet.

Freedmen’s Bureau records from the Rost Home Colony are displayed in the restored schoolhouse, showing names of those who lived there after emancipation.

The plantation offers demonstrations of traditional crafts, including bousillage construction used in the original house.

Regular programs showcase African American herbal remedies passed down through generations.

These exhibits center the enslaved experience in Destrehan’s story.

Visit the Destrehan Plantation

Destrehan Plantation stands at 13034 River Road in Destrehan, just 23 miles from New Orleans and 10 minutes from the airport.

It’s open daily with tours running 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Admission costs $24 for adults, $10 for children 7-17, and free for kids 6 and under. Costumed guides lead tours highlighting both free and enslaved residents.

Don’t miss the Jefferson Room with a document signed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

For overnight stays, two Creole cabins are available for rent. The gift shop sells a booklet about Charles Paquet, the plantation’s builder.

QR code tours offer information in English, French, Spanish, and German.

Free parking and luggage storage are available for travelers.

Read More from This Brand:

• This 250-Year-Old Mississippi River Mansion Once Housed 800 Slaves &America’s Largest Sugar Plantation
• Louisiana’s Civil Rights Struggle Told Through 11 Historic Sites
• New Orleans Packed 300 Years of History Into This Cluster of Museums in the French Quarter