Slavery began in the late 16th century to early 18th century. Africans were brought to American colonies by white masters to come and work on their plantations in the South. They were treated harshly with no payments for all their hard work. In addition, they lived under harsh living conditions, and this led to their resistance against these harsh conditions. The racism towards the African Americans who were slaves was at its extreme as they did not have any rights; no civil nor political rights.
The conditions were worse for the slaves, and they decided to resist in order to free themselves from the slavery institution. African slaves used various strategies of resistance to slavery. According to Hine, Hine, and Harrold (66), “such resistance ranged from shirking assigned work to sabotage, escape and rebellion”. African American slaves had three forms of resistance against slavery which were; escaping, day-to-days acts and rebellion against their masters.
The major form of resistance the slaves used was by escaping. The Underground Railway was their main route for escape in the 1800,s and it helped them escape to the North. They ran away from their masters especially when they were to be punished, or to get relief from a heavy work load. The slaves escaped from their masters, and worked with each other on ways to overthrow slavery by becoming abolitionists. After escaping, they would assemble together, and educate each other on how to stop slavery, and being used by the white masters. Some slaves were able to escape slavery permanently by going to the North where there was no slavery.
Another most common form of resistance slaves used was known as day-to-day resistance. This was small acts rebellion whereby they could fail ...
... middle of paper ...
...They became increasingly dissatisfied with slavery, and they decided to resists against this institution. Africans strived to overcome the slavery institution, and they were able to do it. The most effective form of resistance was day-to-day resistance whereby they refused to work, sabotage and not doing their work well.
Works Cited
Hine, Darlene Clark, Hine, William C. and Harrold, Stanley C. African Americans: A Concise History. New York: Pearson, 2014. Print.
Rodriguez, Junius P. Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2007.
Raboteau, Albert J. Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2004.
Raymond A. Bauer and Alice H. Bauer. Day to Day Resistance to Slavery. The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Oct., 1942), 388-419
When reading about the institution of slavery in the United States, it is easy to focus on life for the slaves on the plantations—the places where the millions of people purchased to serve as slaves in the United States lived, made families, and eventually died. Most of the information we seek is about what daily life was like for these people, and what went “wrong” in our country’s collective psyche that allowed us to normalize the practice of keeping human beings as property, no more or less valuable than the machines in the factories which bolstered industrialized economies at the time. Many of us want to find information that assuages our own personal feelings of discomfort or even guilt over the practice which kept Southern life moving
Roediger, David and Blatt, Martin H. The Meaning of Slavery in the North. JStor. 1998. Vol. 18
Franklin, J., Moss, A. Jr. From Slavery to Freedom. Seventh edition, McGraw Hill, Inc.: 1994.
Slave insurrection occurred in a multitude of ways. Slaves practiced everyday resistance as well as planned and executed more elaborate forms of resistance. One form of resistance was strikes. During a strike Negros would flee to the swamps or forests and send back word that they would return if their demands were made. Demands would often include food, clothes, fewer beatings, shorter hours, or a new overseer. If demands were met they would return. However during the Civil War the demand of payment of wages. During this era they won “lifting themselves by their own bootstraps from chattels to wage workers”.3
Hinks, Pete P. To Awaken My Afflicted Brethren: David Walker and the Problem of Antebellum Slave Resistance. 1997
In 1619, slaves from Africa started being shipped to America. In the years that followed, the slave population grew and the southern states became more dependent on the slaves for their plantations. Then in the 1800s slavery began to divide America, and this became a national conflict which lead to the Civil War. Throughout history, groups in the minority have risen up to fight for their freedom. In the United States, at the time of the Civil War African Americans had to fight for their freedom. African Americans used various methods to fight for their freedom during the Civil War such as passing information and supplies to the Union Army, escaping to Union territory, and serving in the Union’s army. These actions affected the African Americans and the United States by helping the African Americans earn citizenship and abolishing slavery in the United States.
Altman, Linda Jacobs. Slavery and Abolition in American History. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 1999. Print.
The African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience. Ed. Gabriel Burns Stepto. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2003.
From the very beginning of time African Americans have been a culture of resistance. That is resistance from slavery, resistance from torture, and resistance from wrongdoing. Families were torn apart, women were raped, and children were tortured. In an article by Atlanta Blackst they list some of the ways African American slaves were tortures, and it’s horrifying. Some slaves were burned alive, lynched by meat hooks, castrated, and even Mutated. This is the easy part, as after being tortured they had many years of psychological suffering. They didn’t have family to turn to because they were most dead or sold to another slave
When slaves became desperate enough, they openly resisted their masters. Numerous examples show how slaves refused to accept punishment and battled with their white masters who were trying to give punishment. Slave resistance was rarely successful because most masters would not tolerate it. Whether slaves physically or verbally opposed a white man it was dangerous.
"The Debate over Slavery in the United States." The African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience. Ed. Gabriel Burns Stepto. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 108-149. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 May 2014.
Northup, Solomon, Sue L. Eakin, and Joseph Logsdon. Twelve years a slave. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968. Print.
From Slavery to Freedom: African in the Americas. (2007). Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from Web site: http://www.asalh.org/
The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to improve the state of being for African-Americans.
The term slave is defined as a person held in servitude as the chattel of another, or one that is completely passive to a dominating influence. The most well known cases of slavery occurred during the settling of the United States of America. From 1619 until July 1st 1928 slavery was allowed within our country. Slavery abolitionists attempted to end slavery, which at some point; they were successful at doing so. This paper will take the reader a lot of different directions, it will look at slavery in a legal aspect along the lines of the constitution and the thirteenth amendment, and it will also discuss how abolitionists tried to end slavery. This paper will also discuss how slaves were being taken away from their families and how their lives were affected after.