On July 2, 1822, officials in Charleston, South Carolina, executed a free black carpenter named Denmark Vesey for planning what would have been the most extensive slave revolt in U.S. history. Only days before the rebellion was scheduled to begin, authorities learned of the plot and arrested and imprisoned those involved. That summer, more than a hundred black Charlestonians were put on trial for their part in the conspiracy. Thirty-five were eventually sent to the gallows.

Designs against Charleston is a fascinating and comprehensive account of the Vesey conspiracy that uses both primary and secondary sources. Until now, readers interested in the trials have had to rely primarily on a heavily censored account published in 1822 by the men who tried the conspirators. This book contains the complete, verbatim transcript of the trials. Here, published for the first time, are the words of the accused as they were originally recorded in the courtroom.

Pearson also discusses the social and cultural life of Charleston in the early nineteenth century, the political and religious ideas that inspired Vesey and his followers to plan the city's destruction, and, finally, the impact that the conspiracy and its aftermath had on the lives of South Carolinians, both black and white.