slavery resistance essay

3 Major Ways Enslaved People Showed Resistance to a Life in Bondage

A number of enslaved people actively fought against a life in bondage

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• Ph.D., History, Emory University
• M.A., History, Emory University
• B.A., Rhodes College

Enslaved Africans in the United States used a number of measures to show resistance to a life in bondage. These methods arose after the first group of enslaved people arrived in North America in 1619. The enslavement of African people created an economic system that persisted until 1865 when the 13th Amendment abolished the practice.

But before it was abolished, enslaved people had three available methods to resist a life in bondage:

• They could rebel against enslavers
• They could run away
• They could perform small, daily acts of resistance, such as slowing down work

The Stono Rebellion in 1739, Gabriel Prosser's conspiracy in 1800, Denmark Vesey's plot in 1822, and Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831 are the most prominent revolts by enslaved people in American history. But only the Stono Rebellion and Nat Turner's Rebellion achieved any success. White Southerners managed to derail the other planned rebellions before any attack could take place.

Many enslavers in the United States became anxious in the wake of the successful revolt by enslaved people in Saint-Domingue (now known as Haiti), which brought independence to the colony in 1804 after years of conflict with French, Spanish, and British military expeditions.

Enslaved people in the American colonies (later the United States), knew that mounting a rebellion was extremely difficult. White people greatly outnumbered them. And even in states like South Carolina, where the White population reached only 47% in 1820, enslaved people could not take them on if they were armed with guns.  

Bringing Africans to the United States to be sold into bondage ended in 1808. Enslavers had to rely on a natural increase in the population of enslaved people to increase their labor force. This meant "breeding" enslaved people, and many of them feared that their children, siblings, and other relatives would suffer the consequences if they rebelled.

Freedom Seekers

Running away was another form of resistance. Most freedom seekers only managed to find freedom for a short time. They might hide in a nearby forest or visit a relative or spouse on another plantation. They did so to escape a harsh punishment that had been threatened, to obtain relief from a heavy workload, or just to escape life in bondage.

Others were able to run away and escape permanently. Some escaped and hid, forming Maroon communities in nearby forests and swamps. When northern states began to abolish enslavement after the Revolutionary War, the North came to symbolize freedom for many enslaved people, who spread the word that following the North Star could lead to freedom.

Sometimes, these instructions were even spread musically, hidden in the words of spirituals. For instance, the spiritual "Follow the Drinking Gourd" made reference to the Big Dipper and the North Star and was likely used to guide freedom seekers north to Canada.

The Risks of Fleeing

Running away was difficult. Freedom seekers had to leave family members behind and risk harsh punishment or even death if caught. Many only triumphed after multiple attempts.

More freedom seekers escaped from the upper South than from the lower South, as they were closer to the North and thus closer to freedom. It was a bit easier for young men because they were more likely to be sold away from their families, including their children.

Young men were also sometimes "hired out" to other plantations or sent on errands, so they could more easily come up with a cover story for being on their own.

A network of sympathetic individuals who helped freedom seekers to escape to the north emerged by the 19th century. This network earned the name the "Underground Railroad" in the 1830s. Harriet Tubman is the best known "conductor" of the Underground Railroad . She rescued about 70 freedom seekers, family, and friends during 13 trips to Maryland, and gave instructions to about 70 others, after she reached freedom in 1849.   

But most freedom seekers were on their own, especially while they were still in the South. They would often choose holidays or days off to give them extra lead time before being missed in the fields or at work.

Many fled on foot, coming up with ways to throw off dogs in pursuit, such as using pepper to disguise their scents. Some stole horses or even stowed away on ships to escape from bondage.

Historians are unsure of how many freedom seekers permanently escaped. An estimated 100,000 fled to freedom over the course of the 19th century, according to James A. Banks in March Toward Freedom: A History of Black Americans .  

Ordinary Acts of Resistance

The most common form of resistance was day-to-day resistance or small acts of rebellion . This form of resistance included sabotage, such as breaking tools or setting fire to buildings. Striking out at an enslaver's property was a way to strike at the man himself, albeit indirectly.

Other methods of day-to-day resistance were feigning illness, playing dumb, or slowing down work. Both men and women faked being ill to gain relief from their harsh working conditions. Women may have been able to feign illness more easily, as they were expected to provide their owners with children. At least some enslavers would have wanted to protect their childbearing capacity.

Some enslaved people could also play on their enslavers' prejudices by appearing to not understand instructions. When possible, they could also decrease their pace of work.

Women more often worked in the household and could sometimes use their position to undermine their enslavers. Historian Deborah Gray White tells of the case of an enslaved woman who was executed in 1755 in Charleston, South Carolina, for poisoning her enslaver.

White also argues that women may have resisted against a special burden: bearing children to provide enslavers with more hands. She speculates that women may have used birth control or abortion to keep their children out of bondage. While this cannot be known for certain, White points out that many enslavers were convinced that women had ways of preventing pregnancy.

Throughout the history of enslavement in America, Africans and African Americans resisted whenever possible. The odds against them succeeding in a rebellion or in escaping permanently were so overwhelming that most enslaved people resisted the only way they could—through individual actions.

But enslaved people also resisted the system of bondage through the formation of a distinctive culture and through their religious beliefs, which kept hope alive in the face of such severe persecution.

Additional References

• Ford, Lacy K. Deliver Us From Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South , 1st edition, Oxford University Press, August 15, 2009, Oxford, U.K.
• Franklin, John Hope. Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation . Loren Schweninger, Oxford University Press, 2000, Oxford, U.K.
• Raboteau, Albert J. Slave Religion: The 'Invisible Institution' in the Antebellum South, Updated edition, Oxford University Press, 2004, Oxford, U.K.
• White, Deborah Gray. Let My People Go: 1804-1860 (The Young Oxford History of African Americans), 1st edition, Oxford University Press, 1996, Oxford, U.K.

Gibson, Campbell and Kay Jung. " Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals by Race, 1790 to 1990, and by Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, for the United States, Regions, Divisions, and States. " Population Division Working Paper 56, U.S. Census Bureau, 2002.

Larson, Kate Clifford. " Harriet Tubman Myths and Facts ." Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero . 

Banks, James A. and Cherry A. March Toward Freedom: A History of Black Americans , 2nd edition, Fearon Publishers,1974, Belmont, Calif.

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Slave Resistance

Posted by stephanie townrow on wednesday, 02/17/2016.

Throughout American history, enslaved people have resisted bondage in a variety of ways: some escaped, rebelled, or sabotaged work tools or work product. They also resisted in more subtle ways, refusing privately to use names given to them by slave holders and maintaining their identity by keeping track of family members. Music, folk tales, and other African cultural forms also became weapons of resistance. Take a look at the next digital exhibition in Gilder Lehrman’s Black History Month initiative, created through a partnership with the Google Cultural Institute.

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Slave Resistance

Slavery was introduced to the Cape Colony by the VOC in its desire to boost the agriculture and food supply while retaining control in the new settlement. As the settlement expanded, slavery also spread. Historian Nigel Worden points out that slavery “”¦became the mainstay of arable farming in the western districts, played a significant role in the functioning of Cape Town as a centre of exchange and was used for pastoral and domestic labour in the remoter northern and eastern districts...The vast majority of Company slaves worked in Cape Town, although some were based on company outposts and used in rural labour...  ” (Worden, N, (1985), Slavery in Dutch South Africa, (Cambridge University Press), p. 9)

The increase in the slave population was associated with the growth of the burger population and the expansion of agriculture. Cape Town expansion also led to the increase in the number of slaves. Slaves lived and worked under harsh conditions with long working hours maintained by the use of force. For serious offences slaves were hanged or broken at the wheel with coup de grace or without coup de grace.

Slave consciousness of injustice and awareness of issues of abolition of slavery in other parts of the world influenced two significant slave revolts in the Cape Colony. The first ‘mass movement’ against slavery and oppression in the Cape occurred in 1808. Stories of slave uprisings in the Americas and the Caribbean, and news of the abolition of slavery circulated in the Cape reaching different people including those who were enslaved. This inspired an ethnically mixed group of people such as a slave tailor named Louis from Mauritius, two Irishmen, James Hooper and Michael Kelly; another slave, Jeptha of Batavia, two more slaves Abraham and Adonis. This group was later joined by another Indian slave and two Khoi men.  

This group planned to march from the rural districts of the Cape gathering slaves on the way to Cape Town. Upon arrival they hoped to seize the Amsterdam Battery, turn the guns on the Castle and then negotiate a peace deal which would involve establishing a free state and freedom for all slaves. On the evening of 27 October 1808, on the farm of Gerhardus Louw, Vogelgezang, just north of Malmesbury, Louis arrived on horseback dressed as a visiting Spanish sea captain. Hooper and Kelly rode up by his side, disguised as British officers. The disguised band managed to convince the absentee farmer's wife to hand over all their slaves into the hands of the 'military' party, give them food and a place to sleep.

The next morning the party proceeded from farm to farm, persuading slaves and Khoi servants to join them. Only in one instance did the march encounter resistance.  In fact, overall there was surprisingly little violence given the magnitude of the insurrection. Soon the group swelled to 300 mutinous slaves and servants. News of the revolt soon reached the Governor of the Cape, who ordered Infantry and Cavalry to ambush the insurrectionists at Salt River just outside the city. The ambush worked as 326 marchers were captured. 47 were put on trial including the leadership group of Hooper, Kelly, Louis and the two Khoi leaders. Nine were found guilty of treason and sentenced to be hanged, including Louis of Mauritius and James Hooper. Another 11 were sentenced to death as well, for 'active participation'. Others were given lesser sentences including imprisonment on Robben Island while 244 slaves were returned to their owners.

Galant and the 1825 slave uprising

In 1825 a slave named Galant who was aged 25 at the time led a revolt that consisted of twelve slaves and Khoisan laborers in the Koue Bokkeveld. Galant and the people that he mobilized killed his master and two other whites before fleeing into the surrounding mountains. A commando was dispatched from Cape Town and captured Galant and his supporters. They were tried and convicted of murder resulting in the execution of Galant and two others. The primary reason for Galant’s rebellion was revealed in the subsequent investigations. Galant was subjected to severe beatings by his master who sent him to prison for discipline. He thrice reported to colonial authorities the ill treatment he received from his master but the authorities took no action. Galant also had reported that his master unfairly took his possessions but his report also came to naught.

A crucial aspect of the uprising was its timing. In 1823 the Governor Somerset issued a proclamation announcing the amelioration of slavery. For instance, slaves were given the right to marry, be baptized as Christians, testimony of Christian slaves became acceptable in court, minimum and slave working hours were set for winter and summer, slave children under the age of ten were not to be sold.

Galant and his band became aware of the slave amelioration debate in the farming community, but misunderstood these to mean that slaves were to be freed. Driven by ill treatment of his master and the belief that their masters intended to imprison them in violation of the intention of the government to release them, Galant launched the 1825 upspring. The uprising demonstrates that slaves and Khoisan people kept themselves informed of developments and fought against injustice. Historian Robert Shell points out that this slave rebellion was not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern of recurring of slave and Khoisan slave uprisings in the Cape Colony farms.

Other forms of slave resistance

As noted in the cases above, slave resistance incorporated other groups such as Khoikhoi and displaced San communities. Some slaves ran away from their masters. For instance, in 1655 one of the few slaves already at the Cape ran away and was never seen again. In June 1658 seven Angolan slaves (five men two women) that had arrived on the Amersfort ran away and were last reported by Khoikhoi to have been seen in Saldanha Bay. By August of that year 28 slaves were reported to have deserted their owners.

Some runaway slaves established maroon communities that survived away from the control of their masters but not necessarily away from the colony. The Hangklip (or Cape False) and Table Mountain slave communities are two examples that thrived outside the control of the Cape government. Hangklip survived primarily because of proximity of the mountains to the coast, the former provided security while the latter provided food such as fish and mussels.  Furthermore the community was located in areas where there were few access routes in place and an invading force could be spotted. Commandos attempting to raid the community returned empty handed or with slaves that were not connected to the Hangklip community.  Guns were acquired for defence but these needed a regular supply of gun powder and gun flints. Consequently the maroon community was never able to cut itself off from the rest of colonial society and for this reason they were vulnerable. If they attacked wagons crossing the Hottentots Holland Mountains, they exposed themselves to the possibility of recapture. Although they could to some extent live off fish caught from the ocean, mostly they were dependent for their survival on goods obtained from slaves who lived on surrounding farms, and from other runaways who lived as far away as Table Mountain across the Cape Flats.  Leander Burgis the leader of the community visited Cape Town several times to obtain supplies for his group. Despite attempts to destroy the Hangklip community by the Cape government and internal squabbles, the community survived from the 1720s to the 1830s.

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The Everyday Resistance of Enslaved Women

In her new book, A Kick in the Belly , Afrocentric British historian Stella Dadzie describes how her research into slavery-era documents reveals the lives of enslaved Black women in the Caribbean colonies and the American South . The phrase “kicked in the belly” summarizes the abuse enslaved women endured—but they also resisted, rebelled, and kicked back. “These women’s response,” she writes, “can be seen as a metaphorical kick in the belly for those who tried and failed to dehumanize them.”

It was only with the rise of the American civil rights movement and its more militant alter ego, Black Power, that my understanding of the history I’d been taught in school began to evolve. I chanced across George Jackson’s Soledad Brother in a public library one rainy afternoon and became well and truly hooked. Books by Bobby Seale, Malcolm X and (joy of joys!) Angela Davis fed a hunger I didn’t even know I’d possessed. I read everything I could lay my hands on, especially history books. But as I searched for the missing pieces of the jigsaw, my suspicions were confirmed. Black people had literally been airbrushed out of the picture.

They were not alone. Feminists like Sheila Rowbotham were busy arguing that women had been “hidden from history” almost as successfully, while Marx and Engels had long since come to similar conclusions about the working class. Apparently, the names history had chosen to remember were highly selective—more about who wielded the most political clout at the time. No surprise, then, that my efforts to locate black women in this gaping void proved doubly fruitless. If the achievements of working-class white people were peripheral to those of kings and princes, women of African descent with their triple burden of gender, class, and race hardly got a look-in. I felt a growing urge to name some names, and maybe pour a libation or two to honor their memory.

I was a working mother before I could indulge this sentiment in any meaningful way. Armed with a distant ‘O’ Level in history class, a sabbatical year at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies gave me the chance to explore at a postgraduate level questions that had been bothering me since primary school. With the writings of men like Frantz Fanon, Eric Williams, C. L. R. James and Walter Rodney tucked under my belt, I came armed with a healthy Afrocentric take on the subject and a tendency to side with the underdog. Both proved indispensable.

The challenge, as I saw it then, was to not get sidetracked by all the academic claptrap. My tutors had their clever postmodernist theories to mystify us with, but I could draw from real, lived experience. By then I had visited Saltpond, my father’s village in Ghana, and spent time traveling around Jamaica. Nothing about the vibrant, creative people I’d encountered in either country suggested dumb acquiescence. My thesis seemed pretty straightforward: it was the struggles between white masters and black slaves, oppressors and oppressed, that had led to the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, and this in turn had paved the way for the slaves’ eventual emancipation a quarter of a century later. To credit the campaigning abolitionist William Wilberforce with this victory, as if he alone were responsible, was like crediting Christopher Columbus with the discovery of America –“a dyam, blasted lie.”

Of course, the deeper I delved, the more I realized things weren’t that simple. To view history in terms of absolutes, whether absolute truths or absolute lies, was to oversimplify a complex set of forces and circumstances that historians, if they are honest, can only ever guess at. It made no sense whatsoever to talk of “slaves” or “abolitionists” as homogenous groups who had acted in unison or spoken with a unanimous voice. Even established notions of race, class, and gender proved a blur of contradictions. By the end of that sabbatical year, the only conclusion I could embrace with any certainty was that the respective actions of the enslaved and those who championed their emancipation—diverse and disparate as they were—had combined with the economic imperatives of the day to work like a pincer until the abolition of the Africa trade became an increasingly urgent and persuasive option.

I came to realize that studying history was like detective work. However bloodied or one-sided the evidence, it could be interrogated and interpreted in an infinite number of ways. Then as now, lying by omission was common practice, and nowhere was this more apparent than in regard to black and brown-skinned women. The records, diaries, plantation inventories, abolitionist debates, much of the primary evidence, in fact, had either been written, compiled or interpreted by white males who assumed their experience was not only central but all-embracing. So, despite immersing myself in specialist history texts for months on end, my question continued to rankle: in over 400 years of slavery, with all of its documented horrors, what happened to the women?

I soon discovered that a growing number of Afrocentric historians, many of them based in the Caribbean, had been asking the selfsame question—women like Lucille Mathurin Mair, Barbara Bush, Pat Bishop, Erna Brodber, Mavis Campbell, Beverly Carey, Elsa Goveia, Olive Senior, Monica Schuler, Verene Shepherd and Sylvia Wynter, to name a few. Men like Hilary Beckles, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Richard Sheridan, and Michael Craton had also been doing invaluable research in this area. By delving into surviving medical and plantation records, reviewing parliamentary reports and newspaper archives, rereading old diaries and trawling through private letters, they had unearthed insights into the experience of enslaved women that not only challenged prevailing stereotypes but might otherwise never have seen the light of day. Their work has also helped to challenge the notion that the experience of enslaved people in the American South was all-encompassing, for while it was similar in many respects, it was by no means the same.

Thanks to this pioneering research, the extent to which Africa’s enslaved peoples were agents in their own emancipation is finally acknowledged, if only in specialist academic circles. How women contributed to this process is also increasingly documented, although the full extent and precise nature of their role is still debated. Strange, then, that over 200 years after abolition, despite this important sea change, our popular media remain fixated on the achievements of a handful of conscience-stricken white men, with the odd black man thrown in for good measure. If Hollywood is to be believed, enslaved people in the Americas owed their freedom to Abraham Lincoln, William Wilberforce, and a gun-wielding cowboy named Django.

The realities of ordinary enslaved women have stayed mostly off-screen, and but for the few notable exceptions mentioned earlier, the same has been true of established historical texts on the subject, specifically those written by white male historians. From the earliest European descriptions of intransigent Maroons heading for the hills in the Caribbean islands to latter-day accounts of slave rebellions, black women have been largely conspicuous by their absence. On the rare occasions when they are mentioned, they tend to be viewed through the lens of a depressingly long tradition of academic misogyny, bolstered by some pretty crude and predictable sexual stereotypes.

As the planter “Monk” Lewis observed, black women were “kicked in the belly” throughout the period of slavery. Yet in many ways, these women’s response can be seen as a metaphorical kick in the belly for those who tried and failed to dehumanize them. To deny them their rightful place in history simply adds insult to a 400-year-long injury.

To some, the case for letting sleeping dogs lie must seem quite persuasive, no doubt because the subject of slavery is deemed too uncomfortable to warrant such scrutiny. Whisper the S-word on this side of the pond and, bar a handful of guilt-stricken universities, there is a collective squirm of embarrassment in the national seat. Mention reparations and politicians fudge or grow defensive. African Caribbean pupils have even been known to complain when the subject is brought up in class, suggesting little understanding of their roots, much less pride in their impressive heritage. Meanwhile, most of us turn an indifferent eye to growing evidence that modern-day slavery is alive, kicking, and operating under our very noses.

But this is precisely why the subject of slavery and the slave trade remains relevant. Despite the enduring myth of a self-contained “black” history, events in Africa and the Caribbean did not take place on another planet. Nor were the beneficiaries of slavery confined to mainland America, as recent films and much of the available literature tend to suggest. Britain’s imperial past is inextricably linked to the contributions and sacrifices of the enslaved. Her towns and cities are littered with evidence that for hundreds of years, African blood, sweat, and tears oiled the wheels of this country’s progress and lined its citizens’ pockets with gold. It was her enslaved and colonized subjects who helped put the “Great” in Great Britain, yet the great British public remains largely in denial.

There are other reasons why the realities of the transatlantic slave trade warrant closer attention. “A people without knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots,” to quote Marcus Garvey, and in a society like ours, where homegrown ethnic diversity is increasingly the norm, his argument has never rung truer. Today, with thousands of African women risking life and limb to make the hazardous trek north under conditions not dissimilar to the middle passage, the continuities are stark. So, however painful, however shameful, a better understanding of our shared past is vital to the health of Britain’s evolving multicultural identity.

Stories of how Africans and their descendants survived the experience of enslavement with their dignity and humanity intact provide a vast, untapped source of national pride. Like the survivors of the Holocaust who populated London’s East End or the heroes and she-roes who resisted fascism during the Second World War, their courage and resilience deserve to be honored, their intrepid acts publicly revered. If even a handful of African Caribbean pupils feel shame or unease at the mention of slavery, something has gone seriously wrong.

The enslavement of Africans by Europeans was, without question, one of the worst crimes ever perpetrated against humanity. Back in 2007, the 200th anniversary of the parliamentary act to abolish the British slave trade provided a rare (and largely missed) opportunity to highlight the role of its victims in bringing about its eventual demise. To have allowed that moment to pass without raising the profile of women was an added travesty. It’s time to place women center stage where they belong, fist in glove with the men. It was a long and arduous journey from slavery to freedom, but there is growing evidence to suggest that women were present every step of the way. A cornerstone of the plantation economy and increasingly the very key to its survival, enslaved women’s contribution to its eventual demise remains one of history’s best-kept secrets.

The evidence points to a distinctly female role in the development of a culture of slave resistance—a role that was not just central, but downright dynamic. Enslaved women found ways of fighting back that beggar belief. Whether responding to the horrendous conditions of plantation life, the sadistic vagaries of their captors or the “peculiar burdens of their sex,” their collective sanity relied on a highly subversive adaptation of the values and cultures they smuggled with them naked from different parts of Africa. By sustaining or adapting remembered cultural practices—be it music, storytelling, preparing food, administering medicines, fixing hair, birthing, and naming rites or rituals for burying their dead—they ensured that the lives of chattel slaves retained both meaning and purpose. This sense of self gave rise to a sense of agency so that over time, both their subtle acts of insubordination and their conscious acts of rebellion came to undermine the very fabric and survival of West Indian slavery.

In a nutshell, enslaved women made a distinctly female contribution to the advancement of the struggle for freedom—a contribution that deserves to be remembered, acknowledged, and honored across the African diaspora.

Edited excerpt from A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery, and Resistance by Stella Dadzie (Verso, 2020) appears with permission of the publisher.

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Slavery, Resistance, Freedom

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Americans have always defined themselves in terms of their freedoms--of speech, of religion, of political dissent. How we interpret our history of slavery--the ultimate denial of these freedoms--deeply affects how we understand the very fabric of our democracy. This extraordinary collection of essays by some of America’s top historians focuses on how African Americans resisted slavery and how they responded when finally free. Ira Berlin sets the stage by stressing the relationship between how we understand slavery and how we discuss race today. The remaining essays offer a richly textured examination of all aspects of slavery in America. John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweinger recount actual cases of runaway slaves, their motivations for escape and the strains this widespread phenomenon put on white slave-owners. Scott Hancock explores how free black Northerners created a proud African American identity out of the oral history of slavery in the south. Edward L. Ayers, William G. Thomas III, and Anne Sarah Rubin draw upon their remarkable Valley of the Shadow website to describe the wartime experiences of African Americans living on both borders of the Mason-Dixon line. Noah Andre Trudeau turns our attention to the war itself, examining the military experience of the only all-black division in the Army of the Potomac. And Eric Foner gives us a new look at how black leaders performed during the Reconstruction, revealing that they were far more successful than is commonly acknowledged--indeed, they represented, for a time, the fulfillment of the American ideal that all people could aspire to political office. Wide-ranging, authoritative, and filled with invaluable historical insight, Slavery, Resistance, Freedom brings a host of powerful voices to America’s evolving conversation about race.

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Slave Resistance

“Slaves brought to America during colonial years were active, not passive, beings who in the face of terrible circumstances struggled to maintain their dignity, their African heritage, and even their lives, from the violent and brutalizing aspects of slavery obtained in North Carolina as elsewhere.” In this lesson, students will work to see beyond the stereotypical image of slaves as docile archetypes and examine the various ways slaves, as rational men and women, resisted their unjust circumstances to the best of their ability.

Slavery & Freedom: Resistance & Rebellion

• Finding Books & Articles & Primary Sources at GW
• Primary Sources at GW and DC
• Transatlantic Slavery & Diaspora
• Free Black Americans in the Antebellum US
• Civil War & Reconstruction
• Resistance & Rebellion
• Race & U.S. Law
• Musical Traditions
• Images & Material Culture
• Reconstruction into Jim Crow

Black History in Two Minutes: Fort Mose: The First All-Black Settlement in the U.S.

Guide Author

Slave Resistance & Rebellion Digital Archives

• Revolution and Abolition in Haiti, 1791-1865 At UC Berkeley. Primary documents, information, and bibliography about the Haitian Revolution.
• The Revolution in Saint-Domingue This New York Public Library site also includes material on black French abolitionists.
• Rediscovering the Haitian Declaration of Independence This site documents a Duke graduate student's discovery of two copies of the Haitian Declaration of Independence in the British National Archives.
• Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property Links to resources around the PBS film on Nat Turner, including NPR interviews with historians and primary documents.
• The Amistad Case Primary documents on the Amistad case, as well as biographies of trial participants, essays, and information about film and theater productions based on the trials.
• John Brown's Raid and American Memory An exhibition from the Virginia Historical Society documenting John Brown's Raid through images and manuscripts in their collection.
• Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Cultures in the Americas Includes scholarly essays about maroonage in the U.S., the Caribbean and South America, and contemporary maroon art, music , dance and culture in the Americas.
• Slave Resistance: A Caribbean Study. The Maroons Essays on The Maroons, their culture, and their daily life.

Newspaper & Magazine Archives

• African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 (Readex) Provides access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. The collection features papers from more than 35 states and was in part created from the most extensive African American newspaper archives in the U.S.
• American Periodicals Series (1741-1940) Page-images from more than 1,100 historic American magazines, journals, and newspapers illuminating the development of American culture, politics, and society across 150 years. Articles can be searched by author, source, or words in the complete text.
• African American Newspapers: The 19th Century (Accessible Archives) This database provides full-text access to articles from a number of historic African American newspapers, beginning in 1827 with Freedom's Journal. The collection contains a wealth of information about cultural life and history during the 1800s and offers first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day.
• Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) The Baltimore Afro-American (Historical), a prominent, historic African American newspaper, offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue.
• 19th Century U.S. Newspapers Provides access to approximately 1.7 million pages of primary source newspaper content from the 19th century, featuring full-text content and images from numerous newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S. The collection encompasses the entire 19th century, with an emphasis on such topics as the American Civil War, African-American culture and history, Western migration and Antebellum-era life among other subjects.
• African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window This collection features more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Published in 26 states, the publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations bulletins, annual reports and other genres.
• National Anti-Slavery Standard This link opens in a new window This publication was the official weekly newspaper of the American Anti-Slavery Society, an abolitionist society founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan. The newspaper contained essays, debates, speeches, events, reports and anything else deemed newsworthy in relation to the question of slavery in the United States and other parts of the world. Covers years 1840-1870.
• Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window Search all historical newspapers from ProQuest: The Atlanta Constitution (1869-1875; 1881-1984), Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988), Baltimore Sun (1837-1991), Chicago Defender (1909-1975), Chicago Tribune (1849-1998), Korea Times (1950-2016), Los Angeles Times (1881-1999), The New York Times (1857-2019), The New York Tribune / Herald Tribune (1841-1962), Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2003), Pittsburgh Courier (1911-1950; 1955-1966), The Wall Street Journal (1889-2012), and The Washington Post (1877-2007).
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• Last Updated: May 23, 2024 6:33 PM
• URL: https://libguides.gwu.edu/slavery

Methods of Slave Resistance DBQ

Use this Lesson to h

• Examine the various ways enslaved men and women resisted the conditions of slavery by analyzing primary source excerpts dating from c. 1780 to 1850.
• Systematically analyze primary sources by answering comprehension questions for each document.
• Write a thesis statement that responds to a document-based question prompt.

Expand Materials Materials

• Handout A: Student Document Packet

Expand More Information More Information

Students should have prior knowledge of how to approach primary sources, and the sensitivity and respect required to talk about the topic of slavery. The conditions of slavery described in some of these documents are painful and upsetting. Reflective questions are suggested for discussion after students have finished working through the documents to address the sensitivity of the topic.

Expand Warmup Warmup

Lead students in a brief discussion or quick written response to the following prompt: How do you react when you are put in a situation you find unfair, unjust, and/or morally wrong? What are your options? How can you respond? Guide students to think about the ways in which someone can “fight back” and address a wrong (e.g., due process, seek out like-minded individuals and work for change, use force or violence, run away, create coping mechanisms). Transition the conversation to the topic of slavery. The key point about slavery is that it was a power relationship in which enslaved individuals did not have power, and this was enforced by law and by violence. Students might find a grade or curfew unfair, but in comparison to having no power over your person, this is trivial. Remind students that as early as 1688 and throughout the Founding era, groups publicly condemned the institution of slavery (see the  Germantown Friends’ Antislavery Petition, 1688  Primary Source in Chapter 2). Enslaved individuals also spoke or acted out in various ways to affirm their own humanity and call attention to the brutality of the institution of slavery. In this activity, students will consider those responses.

Expand Activities Activities

Distribute the document packet for the lesson. Have students work individually, with a partner, or in small groups to read each source in sequence and answer the accompanying questions.

After students have worked through the documents, invite them to come back together to synthesize the content by leading a class discussion on the following reflective questions. Students may respond orally to each question or write their responses to each question, as best fits your classroom.

1. What patterns did you see in the ways enslaved individuals resisted their fate? Point to specific pieces of evidence from the documents to support your answer.

2. What was most shocking to you in these documents?

3. Why is it important to thoroughly examine painful subjects in American history?

Expand Wrap Up Wrap Up

Have each student write a thesis statement to the DBQ prompt: Analyze the methods of resistance used by enslaved Africans in the United States c. 1780–1865.

You may solicit volunteers to share their thesis and workshop several using the following questions, or have students share with a partner and provide feedback on the following questions:

• Does the thesis answer the question without restating the prompt?
• Does the thesis make sense?
• Is the thesis historically accurate?
• Does the thesis provide clear and cohesive reasoning?
• Does the thesis provide a road map or “table of contents” for an essay?

Thesis statements can be collected and assessed using the  criteria from the College Board  for a successful thesis statement, or with an individual class rubric.

Depending on where students are in their understanding of the DBQ essay, have students outline their response or write a full essay, as best fits your teaching situation.

Related Resources

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

In our resource history is presented through a series of narratives, primary sources, and point-counterpoint debates that invites students to participate in the ongoing conversation about the American experiment.

271 Slavery Topics and Essay Examples

✨ tips for an essay, research paper or speech about slavery, 🏆 best slavery titles for essay, 🥇 most interesting slave trade essay topics, ⭐ good titles for slavery essays, 💡 slavery writing prompts, 🔎 simple & easy slavery titles, ✍️ slavery essay topics for college, ❓ research questions about slavery.

Writing an essay on slavery may be challenging as the topic brings up negative emotions to many people.

This issue is related to differences between social positions and their negative effects. In addition, slavery reveals racial disparities in society and damages race relations in many cultures.

Good slavery essays discuss the aspects and problems that are important and relevant today. Choose slavery essay topics that raise significant problems that remain acute in modern society. Slavery essay titles and topics may include:

• The problem of human trafficking in today’s world
• Why is it hard to stop child trafficking in today’s world?
• The aspects of plantation life for slaves
• The development of American slavery
• Was slavery inevitable?
• Differences and similarities between slavery in the US and serfdom in Russia
• The ineffectiveness of peaceful means against slavery
• Destructive aspects of slavery
• The link between slavery and racism
• The differences between the impact of slavery on women and men of color

Once you select the issue you want to discuss, you can start working on your paper. Here are some tips and secrets for creating a powerful essay:

• Remember that appropriate essay titles are important to get the readers’ interest. Do not make the title too long but state the main point of your essay.
• Start with developing a structure for your essay. Remember that your paper should be organized clearly. You may want to make separate paragraphs or sections for the most important topics.
• Include an introductory paragraph, in which you can briefly discuss the problem and outline what information the paper will present.
• Remember to include a concluding paragraph too, in which you will state the main points of your work. Add recommendations, if necessary.
• Do preliminary research even if you feel that you know much about the topic already. You can find useful information in historical books, peer-reviewed journals, and trusted online sources. Note: Ask your professor about the types of sources you are allowed to use.
• Do not rely on outside sources solely. Your essay should incorporate your knowledge and reflections on slavery and existing evidence. Try to add comments to the citations you use.
• Remember that a truly powerful essay should be engaging and easy-to-understand. You can tell your readers about different examples of slavery to make sure that they understand what the issue is about. Keep the readers interested by asking them questions and allowing them to reflect on the problem.
• Your slavery essay prompts should be clearly stated in the paper. Do not make the audience guess what the main point of the essay is.
• Although the content is important, you should also make sure that you use correct grammar and sentence structures. Grammatical mistakes may make your paper look unprofessional or unreliable.
• If you are writing an argumentative essay, do not forget to include refutation and discuss opposing views on the issue.
• Check out slavery essay examples online to see how you can structure your paper and organize the information. In addition, this step can help you to avoid possible mistakes and analyze the relevance of the issue you want to discuss.

Do not forget to check our free samples and get the best ideas for your essay!

• Slavery in To Kill a Mockingbird Novel The introduction of Tom by the author is a plot device to represent the plight of the slaves in the state.
• Sethe’s Slavery in “Beloved” by Toni Morrison In spite of the fact that the events depicted in Beloved take place after the end of the American Civil War, Sethe, as the main character of the novel and a former slave, continues to […]
• Analysis of Themes of Slavery in Literature The paper will be concentrated on the analysis of the works ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano’ by Olaudah Equiano, ‘Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’ by Frederick Douglass, and ‘Incidents […]
• Metaphoric Theme of Slavery in “Indiana” by George Sand In her novel about love and marriage, Sand raises a variety of central themes of that time society, including the line of slavery both from the protagonist’s perspective and the French colonial slavery.
• Slavery in the Roman Empire The elite were the rich people, and majority of the population that comprised of the common farmers, artisans, and merchants known as the plebeians occupied the low status.
• How “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Addresses Slavery The insensitivity in this mistreatment and dehumanization of Black people is pervasive to the extent that Jim considers himself “property” and was proud to be worth a fortune if anyone was to sell him. To […]
• Freedom in Antebellum America: Civil War and Abolishment of Slavery The American Civil War, which led to the abolishment of slavery, was one of the most important events in the history of the United States.
• John Brown and His Beliefs About Slavery John Brown was a martyr, his last effort to end slavery when he raided Harper’s Ferry helped to shape the nation and change the history of slavery in America.
• Impact of Revolution on Slavery and Women Freed slaves and other opponents of the slave trade in the north agitated for release and freedom of slaves in the south.
• Did Morality or Economics Dominate the Debates Over Slavery in the 1850s? Labour and economy remained intertwined in that; the former was a factor that determined the state of the latter. Scholars single out economical differences between the two states as the cause of the slavery in […]
• Chapters 4-6 of ”From Slavery to Freedom” by Franklin & Higginbotham At the same time, the portion of American-born slaves was on the increase and contributed to the multiracial nature of the population.
• “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and Slavery It is said that “the book is a very inadequate representation of slavery; and it is so, necessarily, for this reason, – that slavery, in some of its workings, is too dreadful for the purposes […]
• Masters and Slaves: ”Up From Slavery” by Washington Booker Instead of criticizing the opposition between the black and the white, Booker emphasizes the interpersonal relationships between the masters and their slaves, emphasizing the devotion of the latter to the white population.
• Protest Against Slavery in ”Pudd’nhead Wilson” by Mark Twain Pudd’nhead Wilson is the ironic tale of a man who is born a slave but brought up as the heir to wealthy estate, thanks to a switch made while the babies were still in the […]
• Economic Impact of Slavery Growth in Southern Colonies 1 The need to occupy southern colonies came as a result of the successes that were recorded in the north, especially after the establishment of cash crop farming. The setting up of the plantations in […]
• Slavery and Identity: “The Known World” by Edward Jones Moses is used to this kind of life and described by one of the other characters as “world-stupid,” meaning he does not know how to live in the outside world. He has a strong connection […]
• The Evolution of American Slavery Overall, it is possible for us to advance a thesis that the origins of black slavery should be sought in the economic development of American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and especially the […]
• Concept of Slavery Rousseau’s Analysis Rights and slavery are presented by the thinker as two contrary notions; Rousseau strived to provide the analysis of rights in their moral, spiritual sense; the involvement into dependence from the rulers means the involvement […]
• “American Slavery, 1619-1817” by Peter Kolchin The concluding chapter details of the demise of slavery on the onset of the Civil War and Reconstruction. The period of American Revolution was a “watershed “in transforming the vision that portrayed slavery was justifiable […]
• “Slavery and the Making of America” Documentary According to the film Slavery and the Making of America, slavery had a profound effect on the historical development of American colonies into one country.
• The “Slavery by Another Name” Documentary The documentary highlights how the laws and policies of that time enabled the exploitation of Black people and how the legacy of slavery continued to shape the racial dynamics of the country.
• Human Trafficking: Slavery Issues These are the words to describe the experiences of victims of human trafficking. One of the best places to intercept human trafficking into the US is at the border.
• The Slavery Experience: Erra Adams Erra Adams indicates that he was the oldest of the children and his task was to plow the land. The formerly enslaved person noted that the death of the master was a real grief for […]
• Abraham Lincoln: The End of Slavery Lincoln actively challenged the expansion of slavery because he believed the United States would stay true to the Declaration of Independence. It is worth considering the fact that Lincoln was not the only advocate for […]
• Recreation of Slavery in “Sweat” Book by Hurston Perhaps the best-portrayed theme and the most controversial one is the recreation of slavery on the part of Afro-Americans who have just been freed of it.
• California’s Issues With Slavery However, the report and the book indicate this point and emphasize that the concept of free land was made in favor of white people but not in the interests of African Americans.
• Sexual Slavery and Human Smuggling They were the only people in the house, and it appeared that her parents were not home. The social worker’s job in Tiffani’s life is to look into her past, from her childhood through her […]
• Were the Black Codes Another Form of Slavery? Slavery in the United States has been a part of the nation’s history for hundreds of years, and yet it did not end abruptly.
• How Slavery Makes Sense From Various Perspectives Given that there is a historical precedent for the “peculiar institution,” it would be erroneous to dismiss slavery as something that is new. Thus, the institution of slavery is found even in the Bible, and […]
• Slavery in The Fires of Jubilee by Stephen Oates Apart from the story being arranged in chapters, the layout and approach suggest that the author has described the area of events narrated and then given the narration.
• Modern Slavery in Global Value Chains: Case Study The main reason for accusations of forced labor is that most of the factories Nike owns are in Vietnam, and they provide the lowest possible wages.
• Differences of Slavery: Oklahoma Writers’ Project vs. The Textbook Today, many sources discuss the characteristics of slavery, its causes, and the outcomes and describe the conditions under which the Civil War began. In the accounts and the textbook, different opportunities for slaves are given […]
• Autobiography & Slavery Life of Frederick Douglass This essay discusses the slavery life of Frederick Douglass as written in his autobiography, and it highlights how he resisted slavery, the nature of his rebellion, and the view he together with Brinkley had about […]
• The American Civil War: Pro- & Anti-Slavery Forces The pro-slavery forces argued that slavery was the right thing to do, promoting abolitionists and the anti-slavery forces as terrible villains because they wanted to abolish slavery.
• Slavery: Historical Background and Modern Perspective Despite the seemingly short period of contract slavery, people did not have the right to marry without the owner’s permission while the contract term was in effect.
• Irish Immigrants and Abolition of Slavery in the US The selected historical events are Irish immigration to the United States in the 1840s and 1850s and the movement for slavery abolition, which existed in the country at the same time.
• Irish Immigration to America and the Slavery Despite the fact that the Irish encountered a great number of obstacles, the immigration of Irish people to the United States was advantageous not only to the immigrants but also to the United States.
• Irish Immigrants and the Abolition of Slavery Irish people, though not as deprived of rights as the enslaved Africans, also endured much suffering and fought slavery to the best of their ability.
• North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States: 1790 – 1860 The book North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States: 1790 1860 by Leon Litwack is an illustration of how African Americans were treated in the northern states just before the start of The […]
• Modern Slavery and Its Emergence The author turns to the examples of three European countries and, through the analysis, reveals the piece of the effects of the slave trade and the modernization of its forms.
• Moral Aspect of Slavery from a Northern and Southern Perspective Pro-slavery, non-expansionist, and abolitionist perspectives on the moral foundations of slavery identify both differences between the North and south of the US and the gradual evolution of the nation’s view of African people.
• Thomas Jefferson on Slavery and Declaration of Independence Additionally, with the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson set the foundation for the abolition of slavery in the future. Thus, the claim that Jefferson’s participation in slavery invalidates his writing of the Declaration of Independence is […]
• Europeans’ Interest in Sugar and Slavery Hence, in the Atlantic world, it was also a significant factor, contributing not only to the well-being of the affected populations in Europe but also to the growth of slavery in the region.
• Self-Reflection on John Adams: Slavery and Race This could demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of the freedom of speech limitations that are considered in modern America. Therefore, I would like to know the perspectives of different political parties on the events of […]
• Slavery and Indentured Servitude Slavery practices were perceived to extend in Boston, which is believed to be the first place where someone tried to force enslaved people to have children to earn money. To summarize, the practice of slavery […]
• Indentured Servitude and Slavery The slave population in the North progressively fell throughout the 1760s and 1770s with slaves in Philadelphia reducing to approximately 700 in 1775.
• Critical Response: The Origin of Negro Slavery Considering that individuals of all races were involved in slavery in the New World, racism emerged as a consequence of forced labor and was not originally connected to the targeted discrimination of African Americans.
• Chesapeake Colonies and Development of Slavery The given trend was similar to the Middle and Chesapeake colonies, proving specific attitudes to slavery peculiar to people of that period.
• American Slavery Arise and Abolition In this regard, the new slaves were not truly emancipated, as they were still dependent on a source of resources for subsistence.
• Analysis of Slavery in United States The main points highlighted in the lecture are focused on the socio-economic differences between the two systems, the actual life of slaves, and methods of blacks’ rebellion.
• Review of Slavery Topic in “Never Caught” Thus, the former’s relationship to this institution was guided by humanity towards the slaves and the development of legal methods of improving their lives that did not exist in the latter case.
• Prohibiting Slavery in the United States In other words, the original ideas incorporated the considerations of sexual immorality due to the abuse of the affected persons and the practice of breeding people for sale. The contributions to the discussion were also […]
• Slavery Experience by Abdul Rahman ibn Ibrahim Sori Abdul Rahman continued talking about his family and status, but his royal priorities were not enough to confirm his identity and return to his family.
• Discussion of Slavery in Focus For this reason, the audience that reads about cases of slavery in some of the third-world countries has the feeling of encountering the past something that, in readers’ understanding, is already a history.
• New Slavery in “Disposable People” by Kevin Bales The immense increase of the population after World War II and the influence of development and globalization of the world’s economy on traditional families in developing countries have led to the increment in the gap […]
• Analysis of Documents on Greek Slavery The passages will be examined and evaluated better understand the social and cultural history of the period and learn more about the social order in Ancient Greece. It can be asserted that the issue of […]
• Discussion of Justification of Slavery As a result, such perceptions gave rise to the argument that the latter people are inferior to Europeans and, thus, should be in a position of servitude.
• The Industrial Revolution, Slavery, and Free Labor The purpose of this paper is to describe the Industrial Revolution and the new forms of economic activity it created, including mass production and mass consumption, as well as discuss its connection to slavery.
• Expansion of Freedom and Slavery in British America The settlement in the city of New Plymouth was founded by the second, and it laid the foundation for the colonies of New England.
• Should the U.S. Government Pay Reparations for Slavery Coates tries to get the attention of his audience by explaining to them the importance of understanding the benefits of the impact the slaves faced during the regime of white supremacy.
• Antebellum Slavery’s Role in Shaping the History and Legacy of American Society The novel tells the story of two different times, the 1970s and 1815s, and shows other conditions of the heroes’ existence due to gender and racial characteristics.
• View on the Slavery in the State of Mississippi According to Mississippi’s “Declaration of Causes,” slavery is “the greatest material interest of the world” and “these products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions”.
• Alexander Stephens on Slavery and Confederate Constitution The speaker remarks that the persistent lack of consensus over the subordination and slavery of the “Negro” between the South and North was the immediate reason why the Confederates decided to secede and establish their […]
• Origins of Modern Racism and Ancient Slavery The diversity of African kingdoms and the empires were engaged in the slave trade for hundreds of years prior to the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade. The working and living condition of slaves were […]
• Isaac Burt: Modern-Day Slavery in the US Therefore, the author begins with the critical review of data on the notion of human trafficking, including sex and labor trafficking forms, which often use immigrants and women as vulnerable populations.
• How Violent Was the Slavery? Ask African American Women The book significantly impacted American literature due to the writer’s roots and the problems of slavery addressed in a detailed manner.
• The Role of Slavery for the American Society: Lesson Plan Understand how the development of slavery could influence the social and economic life of the Southern states and the role of the plantation system in the process.
• Colonialism and the End of Internal Slavery The Atlantic slave trade was considered among the main pillars of the economy in the western region between the 16th and 19th centuries.
• The History of American Revolution and Slavery At the same time, the elites became wary of indentured servants’ claim to the land. The American colonies were dissatisfied with the Royal Proclamation of 1763 it limited their ability to invade new territories and […]
• The Expansion of Slavery: Review Their purpose was to track and catch runaway slaves and return them to their masters. The work of slaves was primarily agricultural.
• Abolitionist Movement: Attitudes to Slavery Reflected in the Media One of the reasons confirming the inadmissibility of slavery and the unfairness of the attitude towards this phenomenon is the unjustification of torture and violence.
• Slavery and Social Death by Orlando Patterson As a result, relatively same practices of social death were applied to indigenous American people, which proves Patterson’s point of view that this attitude was characteristic not only for the African slave trade.
• Antebellum Culture and Slavery: A Period of History in the South of the United States The antebellum era, also known as the antebellum south, is a period of history in the south of the United States before the American Civil War in the late 18th century.
• Slavery and Society Destruction Seduced by the possibility of quick enrichment, the users of slave labor of both the past and the present, betrayed their humanity due to power and money.
• Trans-Atlantic Chattel Slavery and the Rise of the Modern Capitalist World System The reading provides an extensive background of the historical rise and fall of the African nations. The reading gives a detailed account of the Civil War and the color line within its context.
• Modern Slavery: Definition and Types Modern slavery is a predatory practice that is being utilized by businesses and organizations, some seemingly legitimate, worldwide through the exploitative and forced labour of victims and needs to be addressed at the policy and […]
• Human Trafficking as a Global Crime Industry: Labor, Slavery, Sexual Slavery, Prostitution, and Organ Harvesting As members of the society, every individual has to be aware of this glaring issue, and do their part in preventing human trafficking. This project will present an in-depth analysis of various aspects and perspectives […]
• Slavery in “Disposable People” Book by Kevin Bales The key point of his book is that the phenomenon of slavery is impossible to be eradicated. He has studied the current economic and political situations of the countries presented in his book that help […]
• Late Slavery and Emancipation in the Greater Caribbean The epoch of slavery defined the darkest history in the evolution of the civilization of humanity; the results of slavery continue permeating the psychology of very “far” descendants of the slaves themselves.
• Transatlantic Slave Trade and Colonial Chesapeake Slavery Most of the West African slaves worked across the Chesapeake plantation. This paper will explore the various conditions and adaptations that the African slaves acquired while working in the Chesapeake plantation.
• Slavery and Secession in Georgia The representatives of the State of Georgia were worried because of the constant assaults concerning the institution of slavery, which have created the risk of danger to the State.
• Slavery of African in America: Reasons and Purposes Since the beginning of the sixteenth century, the African slaves were shipped to Europe and Eastern Atlantics, but later the colonies started demanding workers and the trade shifted to the Americas.
• Slavery in Charleston, South Carolina Prior to the Year 1865 Charleston is a city in South Carolina and one of the largest cities in the United States. It speaks about the life and origin of the slaves and also highlights some of their experiences; their […]
• Verisimilitude of Equiano’s Narrative and Understanding of Slavery The main argument in the answer to Lovejoy was that the records could clarify the author’s true age, which is the key to the dismissal of the idea that Equiano is a native African.
• The Case for Reparations: Slavery and Segregation Consequences in the US Ta-Nehisi Coates, in his essay The Case for Reparations, examines the consequences of slavery and segregation in the United States and argues the importance of reparations for black Americans, both in a financial and moral […]
• Critique of Colin Thies’ “Commercial Slavery” The goal of the article was to evaluate the economic and political situation of the African slave trade and avoid other aspects according to which people were considered as oppressed and enslaved.
• Fredrick Douglas Characters. Impact of Slavery The institution of slavery drove and shaped the enslaved people to respond and behave in different ways in that Fredrick Bailey was forced to flee away from slavery and later changed his name to Fredrick […]
• Litwack’s Arguments on the Aftermath of Slavery This paper seeks to delve into a technical theme addressed by Leon on what kind of freedom was adopted by the ex-slaves prior to the passage of the 13th U.S.constitutional amendment of 1865 that saw […]
• Slavery, Civil War, and Abolitionist Movement in 1850-1865 They knew they were free only they had to show the colonists that they were aware of that.[1] The slaves were determined and in the unfreed state they still were in rebellion and protested all […]
• Slavery History in North America in the Middle 1830s I was born in a small village in Georgia, in the middle 1830s, a time when the United States was going through a lot of slave trade activities, and to many, the trade was accommodated […]
• The Major Developments in Slavery During 1800-1877 Several states in the South, in 1877 beginning with Georgia, took gain of this by issuing a succession of laws and a tax was put on voting.
• Slavery in America: Causes and Effects Slavery in America was a period in which people were caught and taken to do manual work in America from various parts of the world as a result of colonization.
• Slavery as an Institution in America This paper will look at the factors that enhanced the expansion of slavery as an institution in America during this period and further highlight the views held by the southern on slavery about its social […]
• The Literature From Slavery to Freedom Its main theme is slavery but it also exhibits other themes like the fight by Afro-Americans for freedom, the search for the identity of black Americans and the appreciation of the uniqueness of African American […]
• Slavery in New Orleans and Charleston This paper is going to establish this claim by making a comparison of the lives of the slaves who lived in the urban areas such as the New Orleans and Charleston with those slaves that […]
• How Slavery Has Affected the Lives and Families of the African Americans? This paper will focus on how slavery in the earlier years has affected the lives and families of the African Americans in the year 2009.
• Du Bois’ “The Soul of Black Folk” and T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery” Du Bois in the work “The Soul of Black Folk” asks the question, why black people are considered to be different, why they are treated differently as they are the same members of the society, […]
• Slavery as One of the Biggest Mistakes And the last important thing which caused forming the institution of slavery for such a long period in the judgment of Winthrop D.
• Colonial Economy of America: Poverty, Slavery and Rich Plantations This topic deals with life in the colonial economy of America and the approach of white people towards black people. Mainly through natural production, the people became wealthy and they led a typical way of […]
• African Slavery and European Plantation Systems: 1525-1700 However, with the discovery of sugar production at the end of the 15th Century to the Atlantic Islands and the opening up of the New World in the European conquests, the Portuguese discovered new ways […]
• The Theme of Slavery in Aristotle’s “Politics” He notes that the fundamental part of an association is the household that is comprised of three different kinds of relationships: master to slave, husband to wife, and parents to their children.
• “Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades” by Patrick Manning The author’s approach of examining the slavery issue from the lens of economic history and the involvement of normal Africans living in Africa is then examined.
• Slavery and Democracy in 19th Century America In the 19th century when white folks are busy building a nation and taking part in the more significant aspects of creating a new future for their children, Negro slaves were still doing a backbreaking […]
• Abraham Lincoln`s Role in the Abolishment of Slavery in America In this speech, Lincoln emphasized the need for the law governing slavery to prevail and pointed out the importance of the independence of individual states in administering laws that governed slavery without the interference of […]
• Cotton, Slavery, and Old South The early nineteenth century was a time that was as significant for the south as it was for the north. If the south was to be divided into the upper south and the lower south, […]
• Slavery in Latin America and North America In the French and British Caribbean colonies, slaves were also imported in great numbers and majority of the inhabitants were slaves.
• Betty Wood: The Origins of American Slavery Economic analyses and participation of the slave labor force in economic development are used to analyze the impact and role of slave labor in the development of the American economy.
• “American Slavery an American Freedom” by Edmund S. Morgan The book witnesses the close alliance between the establishment of freedom rights in Virginia and the rise of slavery movement which is considered to be the greatest contradiction in American history.
• Lincoln and African Americans’ Role in the Abolition of Slavery This paper seeks to compare and contrast the role of Abraham Lincoln and the African Americans in bringing slavery to an end in the US.
• Western Expansion and Its Influence on Social Reforms and Slavery The western expansion refers to the process whereby the Americans moved away from their original 13 colonies in the 1800s, towards the west which was encouraged by explorers like Lewis and Clarke.
• How Important Was Slave Resistance as a Cause of Abolition of Slavery? This was particularly evident throughout the history of slaves in the Americas, and across the historical geography of slavery, from the time the slaves were seized from Africa through to the life they were subjected […]
• “Up From Slavery” by Booker T. Washington Each morning it was the duty of the overseer to assign the daily work for the slaves and, when the task was completed, to inspect the fields to see that the work had been done […]
• U.S. in the Fight Against a Modern Form of Slavery Since the United States of America is the most powerful nation in the world it must spearhead the drive to eradicate this new form of slavery within the U.S.and even outside its borders.
• The Profitability of Slavery for the Slave Master What is missing from this story is the fact that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, North American colonies had to buy African slaves on a world market at prices which reflected the high profitability […]
• Slavery in the United States There was a sharp increase in the number of slaves during the 18th century, and by the mid of the century, 200,000 of them were working in the American colonies.
• Sociology, Race & Law. Cuban Form of Slavery Today Castro was benefiting alone from the sweat of many Cubans who worked abroad and in Cuba thinking that they could better their livelihood.
• African American Women’s Gender Relations and Experience Under Slavery When the New England Confederation was formed in 1643 to promote matters of common concern for the New England Colonies, one provision of the compact was for the rendition of bondservants.
• How African Men and Women Experienced Slavery? The book Ar’ not I a Woman, the author portrays that life of a woman in plantation was more difficult that life of a man because of different duties and responsibilities assigned to a woman-slave.
• Abraham Lincoln and Free Slavery Moreover, he made reference to the fact that the union was older than the constitution and referred to the spirit of the Articles of the Constitution 1774 and Articles of Confederation of 1788.
• Origins, Operations, and Effects of Black Slavery in US However, the impact that the enslavement of the vast numbers of Africans brought to America was phenomenal. This was a major effect of the slave trade.
• “Slavery Isn’t the Issue” by Juan Williams Review The author claims that the reparation argument is flawed as affirmative action has ensured that a record number of black Americans move up the economic and social ladder.
• Gender Politics: Military Sexual Slavery In this essay, it will be shown that military power and sexual slavery are interconnected, how the human rights of women are violated by the military, and how gender is related to a war crime.
• African Americans Struggle Against Slavery The following paragraphs will explain in detail the two articles on slavery and the African American’s struggle to break away from the heavy and long bonds of slavery. The website tells me that Dredd Scott […]
• Slavery in the World The first independent state in the western hemisphere, the United States of America, was formed as a result of the revolutionary war of North American colonies of England for Independence in 1775-1783.
• Slaves and Slavery in Ancient Rome The revolt of slaves under the direction of Spartacus 73-71 BC is considered the most significant event of the period of crisis of the Roman republican regime in the first century DC and is estimated […]
• Issue of Slavery in “The Known World” by E. P. Jones The slaves were remained in the custody of the white masters received the same treatment as that of bondage slaves. The book is a beautiful representation of pre-war life in Virginia and how the widespread […]
• Olaudah Equiano as a Fighter Against Slavery Equiano’s Narrative demonstrates a conscious effort to ascribe spiritual enlightenment to the political arena and hence ascertain the importance of the relationship between spiritual intervention, the amysterious ways of Providence’ and parliamentary decisions concerning the […]
• Lincoln as a Fighter Against Slavery It is while a leader of the party he made her first moves to fight slavery in the Illinois house where he argued that slavery was a social evil and ought to be dealt away […]
• Slavery in Early America Review However, the local population was dwindling with the influx of disease and abuse and this, combined with Spain abolishing the enslavement of natives in the Americas in the mid-1500s, necessitated a need to acquire Africans […]
• Slavery Without the Civil War: Hypothesis The demand for slaves and the positive effect of this in the slaveholders’ profitability as well as the fact that both slaveholders and the slaves need one another to survive saw to it that the […]
• Slavery: Central Paradox of American History Since the rise of United States as a nation, historians have long thought of the emergence of slavery and freedom in our society as a great contradiction. As the central paradox, slavery needed to emerge […]
• Brief History of Slavery in the United States In his article regarding the true sentiments of the slaves, Genovese suggests the reasons why the slaves were perceived as lazy was as the result of their more natural, rural lifestyle.”The setting remained rural, and […]
• Virginia After the Boom: Slavery and “The Losers” New labor force that came to Virginia “threatened the independence of the small freeman and worsened the lot of the servant”.
• Antebellum Slavery in Mark Twain’s World Twain’s depiction of Jim and his relationship with Huck was somewhat flawed in order to obey the needs of the story, and also by Twains’ interest in slave autobiographies and also in blackface minstrelsy.
• Slavery in New York City: Impact and Significance Blacks’ significance in the development of the city’s most critical systems, such as labor, race, and class divisions, makes it possible to conclude that the influence of slavery in New York was substantial. The effect […]
• Slavery In The United Stated Society In the above discussion, there is a short story of slavery in the USA. By abolishing slavery in the USA is the sign of democracy and human dignity.
• Black American Authors on Slavery Analysis The work is centered on the same theme that the Narrative the author tells the reader of her experiences as a slave and the way she managed to escape from it.
• Slavery Still Exists in American Prisons An examination of the history of the penal system as it existed in the State of Texas proves to be the best illustration of the comparisons between the penal system and the system of slavery.
• Ghana: The Consequences of Colonial Rule and Slavery One of the reasons for this dependency is that the country had been the foothold for the slave trade for about four centuries.
• Harriet Jacobs’s Account of Slavery Atrocities She wrote that she wanted the women living in the North to understand the conditions in which slaves lived in the Souths, and the sufferings that enslaved women had to undergo.
• Anti Slavery and Abolitionism Both gradual emancipation and conditional emancipation were not allowed, but free blacks from the North and evangelicals revealed their opposition in the form of the movement that required the development of social reform.
• Sexual Slavery in “The Apology” Film by Hsiung The documentary being discussed focuses on the experiences of three women, the survivors of military sexual slavery in China, South Korea, and the Republic of the Philippines.
• Slavery Resistance from Historical Perspective The lack of rights and power to struggle resulted in the emergence of particular forms of resistance that preconditioned the radical shifts in peoples mentalities and the creation of the tolerant society we can observe […]
• Slavery Abolition and Newfound Freedom in the US One of the biggest achievements of Reconstruction was the acquisition of the right to vote by Black People. Still, Black Americans were no longer forced to tolerate inhumane living conditions, the lack of self-autonomy, and […]
• Slavery Elements in Mississippi Black Code These are the limitation of the freedom of marriage, the limitation of the freedom of work, and the limitation of the freedom of weapon.
• History: Slavery in Southern States The strategy of pacification was especially prevalent during that time because wealthy slaveowners wanted to keep possible protests under control and prevent the rest of the white population from supporting the abolition of slavery in […]
• Slavery in “Abolition Speech” by William Wilberforce The following article is devoted to the description of the problem of slavery and the slave trade in Africa. The author also underlines the incompetency of the committee, which is in charge of the question […]
• Slavery History: Letters Analysis The letters analyzed in this paper give a piece of the picture that was observed during the 1600s and the 1700s when slaves from different parts of the world had to serve their masters under […]
• Social Psychology of Modern Slavery The social psychology of modern slavery holds the opinion that slavery still exists today, contrary to the belief of many people that slavery does not exist in the modern world.
• Slavery: History and Influence The slaves were meant to provide labor for the masters and generate wealth. During the day, they would sneak to breastfeed the newborns.
• Reformer and Slavery: William Lloyd Garrison The newspaper was published until the end of the civil war and the abolition of slavery by the enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment.
• Slavery Role in the American Literature Stowe has claimed that the anti slavery groups questioned the morality of the white Christians who were at the fore front in the oppression of the Black people.
• Slavery as a Cause of the American Civil War On the other hand, one is to keep in mind that many historians are of the opinion that the reasons for the war are not so easy to explain.
• Thomas Jefferson on Civil Rights, Slavery, Racism When I authored the declaration of independence of the United States of America, I was having a democratic perspective of the American people on my mind.
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The Triumph of Resolve: Bunker Hill’s Enduring Legacy

This essay about the Battle of Bunker Hill examines its strategic significance and enduring legacy in the American Revolutionary War. Despite the British victory, the battle showcased colonial resilience and unity, galvanizing the patriot cause. The analysis delves into the tactical implications, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning and intelligence. Additionally, it highlights the battle’s role in mobilizing colonial support and shaping the trajectory of the revolution. Ultimately, Bunker Hill symbolizes the unwavering determination of a people striving for independence and self-determination, leaving an indelible mark on the fabric of American history.

How it works

The echo of musket fire reverberated through the lush terrain surrounding Boston, marking the commencement of a clash that would etch its name into the annals of history—the Battle of Bunker Hill. Amidst the verdant hills and verdurous meadows, both British regulars and colonial militias converged, their fates entwined in a struggle for sovereignty that would shape the destiny of a burgeoning nation.

Contrary to the widespread assumption, it was the crimson-coated ranks of the British army that ultimately seized victory on that fateful day.

Yet, this triumph came at a grave cost, measured not merely in casualties, but in the revelation of a resolute adversary—a populace fiercely determined to wrestle free from the shackles of imperial dominion. The colonial forces, though compelled to relinquish their tenuous hold on Breed’s Hill, left an indelible mark upon the fields of battle, imbuing the cause of liberty with a renewed vigor and unyielding spirit.

Strategically, the ramifications of Bunker Hill’s bloodstained fields were manifold, transcending mere military maneuverings to shape the course of history. Foremost among these was the galvanization of colonial resolve, as the valiant stand against overwhelming odds served as a clarion call to patriots far and wide. Emboldened by the valorous sacrifice of their brethren, scores of colonists rallied to the cause, swelling the ranks of the rebel forces and infusing the nascent revolution with a newfound sense of purpose.

Moreover, the Battle of Bunker Hill underscored the imperative of strategic foresight and meticulous planning in the theater of war. The decision to fortify the heights of Breed’s Hill was born of necessity, a calculated gambit aimed at stymieing British incursions into the heartland of colonial resistance. Yet, the dearth of reliable intelligence and reconnaissance proved to be the Achilles’ heel of the colonial forces, casting them into the throes of uncertainty and imperiling their tenuous grasp on the field of battle.

In addition to its tactical implications, Bunker Hill served as a crucible for the forging of colonial unity—a crucible whose flames ignited the fervor of a burgeoning nation. Though disparate in origin and creed, the men who stood shoulder to shoulder upon those blood-soaked slopes were bound by a common cause—a shared vision of a land liberated from the yoke of tyranny. It was amidst the crucible of conflict that the seeds of American unity were sown, heralding the birth of a nation united in purpose and resolve.

In summation, while the Battle of Bunker Hill may have culminated in a tactical triumph for the British crown, its enduring legacy transcends the confines of mere military victory. It stands as a testament to the unyielding spirit of a people determined to forge their own destiny—a spirit that would ultimately propel them to the lofty heights of independence and self-determination. Thus, let us not merely commemorate the events of that fateful day, but rather, let us honor the sacrifice of those who laid down their lives in pursuit of a dream—a dream of liberty, justice, and the unassailable sovereignty of the human spirit.

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Jamelle Bouie

Trump’s Taste for Tyranny Finds a Target

By Jamelle Bouie

Opinion Columnist

Among the worst episodes in American history are those moments when the federal government deploys the full weight of its power against the most vulnerable people in the country: the Trail of Tears and the Fugitive Slave Act in the 19th century and Japanese internment in the middle of the 20th, to name three.

If he is granted a second term in the White House, Donald Trump hopes to add his own entry to this ignominious book of national shame.

Trump’s signature promise, during the 2016 presidential election, was that he would build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico. His signature promise, this time around, is that he’ll use his power as president to deport as many as 20 million people from the United States.

“Following the Eisenhower model ,” he told a crowd in Iowa last September, “we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”

It cannot be overstated how Trump’s deportation plan would surely rank as one of the worst crimes perpetrated by the federal government on the people of this country. Most of the millions of unauthorized and undocumented immigrants in the United States are essentially permanent residents. They raise families, own homes and businesses, pay taxes and contribute to their communities. For the most part, they are as embedded in the fabric of this nation as native-born and naturalized American citizens are.

What Trump and his aide Stephen Miller hope to do is to tear those lives apart, rip those communities to shreds and fracture the entire country in the process.

“The Trump immigration plan,” notes Radley Balko , a journalist who writes primarily on civil liberties, in his Substack newsletter, “would be the second-largest forced displacement of human beings in human history, on par with Britain’s disastrous partition of India, and second only to total forced displacement during World War II.”

What is the plan, exactly? It begins, as Miller explained in an interview with Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk last year, with creating a national deportation force consisting of agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Border Patrol and other federal agencies, as well as the National Guard and local law enforcement officials. The administration would empower this deportation force to scour the country for unauthorized and undocumented immigrants. It would move from state to state, city to city, neighborhood to neighborhood and, finally, house to house, looking for people who, according to Trump and Miller, do not belong. This deportation force would raid workplaces and stage public roundups, to create a climate of fear and intimidation.

Of course, in the heat of the moment, it isn’t actually all that easy to determine who may be an unauthorized or undocumented immigrant. But these won’t be selective apprehensions. How could they be? Instead, what we’ll see in practice is an indiscriminate roundup of anyone who might appear to be an immigrant — a mass campaign of racial and ethnic profiling.

Because it would be beyond the capacity of the federal government to immediately return detainees to their “home” countries, the Trump team also plans to build “vast holding facilities that would function as staging centers” for immigrants on land near the Texas border. Internment camps, essentially.

It is worth remembering here that in addition to its wanton cruelty, Trump’s policy of child separation was also noteworthy for the poor conditions suffered by separated families living in government facilities. Child detainees lacked adequate food , water and sanitation. There were also reports of mistreatment , as in the case of the Border Patrol agents who were accused of telling detained women to drink out of toilet bowls.

Now, imagine the conditions that might prevail for hundreds of thousands of people crammed into hastily constructed camps, the targets of a vicious campaign of demonization meant to build support for their detention and deportation. If undocumented immigrants really are, as Trump says, “ poisoning the blood of our country ,” then how do we respond? What do we do about poison? Well, we neutralize it.

There are roughly 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, according to a recent estimate by the Pew Research Center. Trump’s number of “probably 15 million and maybe as many as 20 million” is pulled from nowhere — an assumption based on the inchoate sense that the official numbers are wrong and there must be more “illegals” to apprehend than anyone truly realizes.

To reach this goal, Miller and Trump would almost certainly have to round up citizens as well. But that is also part of the plan. On the first day of his second term, the campaign has let it be known, Trump will sign an executive order “to withhold passports, Social Security numbers and other government benefits from children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States.”

Neither Trump nor Miller appears to have made any distinction between the undocumented children of undocumented immigrants and the native-born children of undocumented immigrants, which fits their opposition to the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship through the 14th Amendment. Under the Trump deportation plan, citizenship will not save those who have the wrong background.

The Trump campaign’s promise to detain and deport millions of immigrants, along with many American citizens, is a promise to plunge the country into an authoritarian nightmare. It is also a promise of strife and pervasive civil conflict.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Americans responded to an effort of this sort with violence. With the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, which essentially deputized all authorities and private citizens in free states as slave catchers required to return all escaped slaves to their enslavers, came widespread, armed resistance to efforts to carry out the law. You did not have to be sympathetic to the plight of the enslaved to be outraged by the notion that you could be dragooned into acting as a bounty hunter for state-sanctioned human traffickers.

The political consequence of the Fugitive Slave Act, to the dismay of Southern lawmakers, was to radicalize countless Northerners against the so-called Slave Power and raise sectional tensions to a point of almost no return. The law did not cause the Civil War, but it was the provocation that set the stage for a decade of conflict that led, inexorably, to war.

Do we not think that a mass deportation program, with roving bands of armed agents, would result in similar upheaval? Do we not think that there would be violent resistance to agents storming homes, churches and businesses to seize and detain people? And do we not think that a Trump who wanted, during his first term, to shoot protesters would see this as an opportunity to do so — a hoped-for chance to invoke the Insurrection Act, mobilize the military and crush his political opponents?

We talk often, these days, of illiberalism. It is has become a bit of a buzzword. Often the focus is illiberalism in elite spaces, usually the classrooms and common areas of selective colleges. Sometimes the focus is on particular politicians. But what we are seeing here from Trump isn’t simply a distaste for liberal values; it is a taste for genuine tyranny and bona fide despotism, one that complements his endless praise for dictators and strongmen.

Rhetoric matters, and what candidates say is not simply for show. At every opportunity, Trump has placed the mass deportation of millions of people at the center of his campaign. It is a promise. And the promises a presidential candidate makes while on the trail are the promises a president tries to keep.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here's our email: [email protected] .

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Jamelle Bouie became a New York Times Opinion columnist in 2019. Before that he was the chief political correspondent for Slate magazine. He is based in Charlottesville, Va., and Washington. @ jbouie