Slavery

Jonathan Quibuyen

Slavery Resistance and Significance

Resistance among the slave communities began in British North America when the first wave of slaves were departed to Chesapeake in the seventeenth century. Of course, slaves did not enjoy being slaves, so “day-to-day” resistance was the most common form of resistance to slaves. These small acts of resistance in the form of sabotage, was a way to attack the slave owners, indirectly. Some other acts of rebellion amongst slaves were slowing down the work pace, faking illness or acting dumb. However, these small acts did not go unnoticed or unpunished. When a slave would act out, slave owners made sure they were brutally punished to scare other slaves and to ensure no more resistance occurred. These brutal punishments did not stop these slaves from acting out. These outbreaks was to prove that they were not going to be victims who accept their lost freedom, but to prove that they had strength and are willing to fight for their freedom.

Slaves resisted slavery in active and passive ways. The most common rebellion was an open rebellion, where a handful of slaves would act out against slave owners. Other forms of rebellions were to destroy plantation machinery, and decreasing the pace of work or even faking illness. Lastly, pregnant women would abort their soon to be children, or even kill their newborns to prevent new slaves, and others would try to escape. They did not want their children to be born into slavery, and the runners were chased down, and mostly brought back. With every outburst of rebellion, the slaves that acted were always severely punished. Slave owners used the most brutal forms of punishment that included a public hanging, burning or death threatening beatings. Slave owners wanted to make sure that slaves knew exactly how they would be punished if they rebelled, and to scare other slaves to prevent future rebellion. No matter how bad the punishment, slaves continued to rebel. Slaves viewed...