Slaves resisted bondage in a variety of active and passive ways. Although forms varied, the common denominator in all acts of resistance was an attempt to claim some measure of freedom against an institution that defined people fundamentally as property.
"Day-to-day resistance" was the most common form of opposition to slavery. Breaking tools, feigning illness, staging slowdowns, and committing acts of arson and sabotage--all were forms of resistance and expression of slaves' alienation from their masters. Running away was another form of resistance.
Slave resistance on plantations
Some African slaves on the plantations fought for their freedom by using passive resistance (working slowly) or running away. The problem of runaways became so serious that most West Indian islands passed laws to deal with this and other forms of resistance.Virginia was the first colony to define the status of slaves in explicit legal terms. According to the colony's 1705 law, all blacks, mulattoes, and Native Americans, all non-Christian persons brought into the colonies as servants (even should they later convert to Christianity) were considered slaves.
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, and used by enslaved African-Americans to escape into free states and Canada. The scheme was assisted by abolitionists and others sympathetic to the cause of the escapees.
Slaves were fed very little during the Middle Passage. The best slave ships fed the slaves beans, corn, yams, rice, and palm oil. However, the slaves were not always fed every day. If there was not enough food for the sailors and the slaves, the sailors would eat first, and the slaves might not get any food.
"Day-to-day resistance" was the most common form of opposition to slavery. Breaking tools, feigning illness, staging slowdowns, and committing acts of arson and sabotage--all were forms of resistance and expression of slaves' alienation from their masters. Running away was another form of resistance.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, African slaves were traded in the Caribbean for molasses, which was made into rum in the American colonies and traded back to Africa for more slaves. The practice of slavery continued in many countries (illegally) into the 21st century.
Between 1500 and 1866, Europeans transported to the Americas nearly 12.5 million enslaved Africans, about 1.8 million of whom died on the Middle Passage, their bodies thrown into the Atlantic.
During the early 18th century there were slave uprisings in Long Island in 1708 and in New York City in 1712. Slaves in South Carolina staged several insurrections, culminating in the Stono Rebellion in 1739, when they seized arms, killed whites, and burned houses.
The Middle Passage was the part of the Atlantic slave trade where African slaves were brought to the Americas on slave ships. Millions of African people were shipped to the Americas over the Middle Passage. Slaves were treated so badly on the slave ships that about 15% of them died during the Middle Passage.
On the plantations, many enslaved Africans tried to slow down the pace of work by pretending to be ill, causing fires or 'accidentally' breaking tools. Whenever possible, enslaved Africans ran away. Some escaped to South America, England or North America. All of these acts made slavery less profitable.
Unhygienic conditions, dehydration, dysentery and scurvy led to a high mortality rate, on average 15% and up to a third of captives. Often the ships carried hundreds of slaves, who were chained tightly to plank beds. For example, the slave ship Henrietta Marie carried about 200 slaves on the long Middle Passage.
In bad weather the oppressive heat and noxious fumes in the unventilated and unsanitary holds caused fevers and dysentery, with a high mortality rate. Deaths during the Middle Passage, caused by epidemics, suicide, “fixed melancholy,” or mutiny, have been estimated at 13 percent.
Slave resistance on plantations
Some African slaves on the plantations fought for their freedom by using passive resistance (working slowly) or running away. The problem of runaways became so serious that most West Indian islands passed laws to deal with this and other forms of resistance.
