In a town with ample memorials to the Confederate cause, erecting a monument to the accused leader of a slave rebellion originally met resistance. Denmark Vesey was a free man in 1822 when he risked his life to plot an insurrection that would liberate enslaved Africans. His plan was leaked, and he was publicly hanged, along with 34 other accused conspirators. Since 2014, his story has been memorialized through a handsome statue in Hampton Park.
