Daniel Rasmussen
Daniel Rasmussen was born and raised in Washington, DC, where he attended St. Albans School. In high school, Rasmussen became passionate about investigative journalism. He led his high school paper to become the first private school winner of the national Journalism Education Association’s Impact Award for student journalism that makes a difference in the community. He spent every summer working for his local weekly, The Current, covering local politics at the grassroots level. In 2005, the Maryland—Delaware—DC Press Foundation named Rasmussen high school journalist of the year. He also spent a summer working for Roll Call newspaper on Capitol Hill. In addition to journalism, Rasmussen was a national medalist in rowing and was named a Washington Post All—Met athlete. At Harvard, Rasmussen focused on studying slavery and the American South. He won the History and Literature sophomore essay prize for his essay on American expansion in Florida. His junior year, he began work on the 1811 German Coast Uprising–the largest slave revolt in American history.
Over the next two years, Daniel Rasmussen performed research in New Orleans, Washington, DC, and Massachussetts, digging up letters, traveler’s narratives, naval records, court records, planter statements of accounts, and newspaper articles—anything that would help provide insight into the revolt. In order to piece together this broad assortment of fragmentary evidence, Rasmussen built two databases with information about each slave and their actions in the revolt. Using these databases and his wide collection of primary and secondary sources, he constructed a rich, multi—layered history that brought the slave revolt to life. Rasmussen’s thesis won the Kathryn Ann Huggins Prize, the Perry Miller Prize and the Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize, Harvard’s top undergraduate academic honor. The thesis is the basis for Rasmussen’s first book, American Uprising: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Slave Revolt. Rasmussen currently lives in Boston, MA.
Daniel Rasmussen appears in
Standing beneath the live oaks at Houmas House, you feel the contradictions of Louisiana’s River Road in real time—the beauty, the wealth, and the unspoken histories that still cling to the land. Our conversation with Kevin Kelly revealed a property that isn’t just preserved, but constantly reinterpreted. And upriver, the story shifts: historian Daniel Rasmussen brings the 1811 slave revolt out of the shadows, reminding us that New Orleans’ past is shaped as much by resistance as by refinement. By the time native writer Laura Martone joins us to share the New Orleans she grew up in—the food, the quirks, the quiet corners—you begin to see the region not as a series of attractions, but as a living, layered place where memory and modern life collide.
Explore the untold story of the largest slave revolt in U.S. history, discover how Polaris Project is fighting modern slavery, and hear from yacht chef Victoria Allman about life aboard a luxury superyacht.
New Orleans has been the backdrop of many dark chapters in American history, but perhaps none so shocking as the slave rebellion of 1811. We will explore the history of America's largest slave revolt with author Daniel Rasmussen who organized his research in his book, American Uprising: The Untold Story About America's Largest Slave Revolt.
