Denmark Vesey (originally Telemaque,1767 - July 2, 1822) was a West Indian slave, and later a freedman , who planned what would have been one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States had word of the plans not been leaked. Charleston, South Carolina authorities arrested the plot's leaders before the uprising could begin, and Vesey and others were tried and executed.

Eventually, many antislavery activists came to regard Vesey as a hero. During the American Civil War, abolitionist Frederick Douglass used Vesey's name as a battle cry to rally African American regiments, especially the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.