By the early and mid-1800s, slavery had become a part of almost every aspect of American life, whether the economy, the church, or politics. The slave trade, in fact, was one of the most involved and complex systems in the American economy before 1865, and under the chattel principle, “any slave’s identity might be disrupted as easily as a price could be set and a piece of paper passed from one hand to another” (Johnson 19). Although the slaves were almost powerless in the South, they weren’t completely powerless. Slaves resisted their enslavement and the slave trade at all costs, and there were three main ways in which they did this:
One way was through revolts and slave breaks. David Walker, when discussing blacks, said that they have an obligation to claim their freedom by any means necessary, meaning that he would support violence in order to accomplish emancipation. Nat Turner, in 1831, led one of the largest slave rebellions in North America, killing about 55 whites, including women and children. Another famous revolt was the Stono Rebellion in 1739, in which several whites were killed. Although both rebellions were suppressed and the both revolts used violence, which could potentially have lost support for the cause, both rebellions helped to spread the message that all people deserved equality and would be willing to fight for their rights. Also, slaves really had no option but to resort to violence.
Another way to resist slavery was but simply avoiding the work. A slave could intentionally cut back on the amount of work that they did per day or purposely do the work badly. Even though there would be short-run ramifications from the master who was angry at how little work was done, the master would start to expect less from the slaves, giving them room to be lazier. Slave parents could also teach their children to be rebellious so that they would try to find a way to escape or frustrate the masters. Many others would sabotage their masters by breaking equipment, among plenty of other things.
The biggest way to avoid slavery was through the slave trade, which, as previously noted, was very ingrained into American life. Slaves, under the slave trade, could be separated from friends and families almost instantly, so they did everything in their power to avoid being traded. The best way to do this was to make themselves have as little value as possible. They could, for instance, act sick, injured, argumentative, or even crazy so that slave buyers wouldn’t want to buy them. They could even threaten suicide, which would, of course, render them “worthless” to slaveholders. And, if all else failed, they could just run away. Usually, “it was men who were most likely to find themselves in a situation where they had nothing to lose by running away” (Johnson 32), possibly because they didn’t have families to take care of. Usually, in order to prevent slaves from this sort of rebellion, masters would lie or trick them into being sold. All of this resisting, deception, and lying involved with the slave trade made it almost a sort of game between master and slave.
These modes of resistance, among others, made slavery one of the most controversial, risky, and even dangerous systems in America. No other institution in American history involved so much negotiations, trickery, or rebellion. With all the controversy and shadiness revolving around slavery, the future conflicts seemed eminent.
Although I agree that the well-known antebellum revolts made Americans aware that African Americans were willing to fight for their rights, I am not sure that they helped spread the message that all people deserve equal rights. The violence expressed in these slave revolts was easily associated with the notion that African Americans were barbaric. These revolts led to increased fear in slave owners as well as increased oppression of slaves. It is hard to say whether violence was the only option for African Americans at this time. Obviously, they had very little options, but it is worth speculating whether a peaceful protest would have been more effective. As we have read, many Africans wrote persuasive petitions asking for the same right to liberty that the white American Revolutions had just fought for. But these attempts yielded no solutions. The inadequate outcome of both attempts, violent and non-violent, resulted in very little progress for the black race. But surely one was more effective than the other. I think the violent revolts inhibited the fight for freedom. Though peaceful petitions resulted in little progress, they made clear arguments that were less likely to be misinterpreted. Though in most cases there is power in numbers, perhaps the individual revolts of African slaves were the most effective defense they had at the time.
ReplyDeleteThe three tactics that the slaves used to their defense against the institution of slavery are quite insightful. I can imagine that the ramifications of the revolts, avoidance of tasks, and the sabotage of their value were rather extreme. Therefore, bravery and courage are characteristics that shine through on the slaves’ behalf. I find these tactics to be creative, especially in regards to avoiding work and diminishing their actual value to avoid being sold. This creativity leads me to conclude that a significant amount of intelligence was clearly overlooked by white men and women. The institution of slavery definitely did what it could to restrict, confine, and limit the abilities of the African men and women; therefore, learning of these tactics used to combat this injustice is truly powerful in helping to understand the incredible character of the men and women who were oppressed.
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