In 1815, George Boxley, a white Virginia planter and former slaveholder, organized a slave rebellion in Spotsylvania County, planning to march on Richmond and seize the armory. The plot, which involved up to 60 enslaved people, was betrayed, and Boxley was arrested, though he later escaped and fled to Ohio, where he became an abolitionist. The rebellion was suppressed before it could begin, but it foreshadowed later insurrections and demonstrated that some white Southerners were willing to risk their lives to end slavery. Boxley's actions were unusual for a white planter and made him a figure of intrigue in abolitionist circles.

The Boxley rebellion has been featured in historical novels and has been the subject of local folklore in Virginia. The event appears in studies of white abolitionists and has been depicted in poetry that explores the moral dilemmas of slaveholders who turned against the institution. Boxley's story has also been included in collections of slave rebellions, highlighting the diverse array of people who resisted slavery.