slavery_resistance

** Student Questions: **
__**Question answers:**__ 1. How did slaves resist or cope with slavery? Why didn't the slaves rebel when their population was over 5 times greater than the others in the country? Slaves resisted slavery in many different ways. Sometimes they would purposely work as slowly as they could. or pretend to be sick and not work at all. They would even purposely break machines and equipment. Very rarely did this grow to the extent of rebellion but their were a few. This was sometimes referred to as "shamming." This is gay where they would avoid work by feigning illness or acting as if they were incapable of some tasks. Day to day resistance includes slaves breaking tools, faking illness, committing acts of sabotage and arson and slowing down in stages. Other ways they would resist are, running away, but not permanently, and they would with hold labor as a way of negotiation. They would negotiate things such as religious laws, marriage laws, free time, and work pace. But some fugitives did try and run away for good. Most of the slaves who wanted to run away permanently were usually privileged and were familiar with the outside world. They were also assisted by some citizens who sympathized with their situation or past slaves who have succeeded in escaping. They would head southward and toward cities. Finally slaves would revolt if they outnumbered the whites and the master was absent. The first revolt was in Hispaniola in 1522. All the information listed came from the link, [|Digital History]

2. Did the slaves ever try to express their opinions about their treatment? Yes, and when slaves resisted they would receive cruel punishment for disobeying their master. In addition they would be flogged or killed for not following the slave codes and would have to have badges with their ID number and there occupation on them. Slaves who were caught in organized rebellions were often captured and hanged. From: [|the African American: A Journey from Slavery to Freedom] and [|msnbc]

Several slaves tried to escape from their masters, but few succeded. Henry "Box" Brown tried another method of escaping slavery; he shipped himself from Virgina to Philadelphia in a box. "Box" Brown thought the usual ways of trying to escape slavery were too riskey, and he was willing to die in his box. After being shipped for 26 hours, ""Box" showed up in Philadelphia unscathed. Frederick Douglass was one of the few slaves who managed to escape his master. He borrowed a friends "sailor's protection," an official paper having the same effects as "free papers." With the documentation he was allowed onto a train in Maryland and a boat in Delaware without strugle. Douglass was fortunate enough to make his escape to Philadelphia, whereas many others had failed in the attempt. From: [| Douglass Book Summary] [|Afroam History]

Sometimes the slaves, would pretend to be sick and not have to work, and also they would sometimes ruin the crops and not have to work. The slaves also, stole things. They would steel crops, which was very common. They also, sometimes were more obvious and they would use physically and fought their masters. Resisting was hard though, sometimes having your family and your religion didn't always help, they needed more. As described on this website: [|msn]

 3. Did slaves ever join together and rebel? Yes, more than once. For example, the Stono Rebellion, Amistad Rebellion and Nat Turner Rebellion are all soem examples of slaves fighting back.  [|From: Fugitive Act of 1793] The Nat Turner Rebellion was a three day rebellion that took place in 1831. About forty slaves in rural Virginia, led by Nat Turner, left fifty five whites dead. Many times they would burn buildings. In the violent rebellions, the angry, large groups of slaves would obliterate towns and kill many of the rich whites. However, they would only kill or injure the whites that knew held themselves higher than the slaves.They would spare the humble people who looked at everyone equally. The ultimate form of rebellion though, was what is known as a "Maroon Society." A maroon society is when groups of runaway slaves form together to form new colonies. Gabriel Prossers' rebellion in Richmond, Virginia consisted of 1,000 slaves. It was the first organized mass slave revolt. [|Slave Protest and Revolt] [|msnbc]

4. Could a slave who had escaped be captured by another slave owner? Yes, an example of this was Anthony Burns. He was a slave who was very privileged. He was a slave who could hire himself out, also he was in charge of hiring and selling slaves. He wasn't satisfied at his position yet, he wanted to become free. He did come to the free land but, then he sent a letter to his brother on the plantation and, some how it got in the hands of his brother and Charles Suttle his master came and got him. He was an example of being re-captured but, he wasnt captured by another slave owner. [|Anthony Burns]

5. How many slaves escaped to freedom before or during the civil war? There is no exact number but it is estimated that about 50,000 to 100,000 people used the underground railroad alone to escape slavery. [|Slavery During the Civil War] [|Digital History] A lot of slaves did not run away because they did not want to leave their families behind or they did not want to be sold away form their family as a punishment.

 7. What really went on with the Underground Railroad? The Underground Railroad was a series of safe-houses or "stops" in which slaves could hide until they were able to go in safety to the next "stop". The houses were of sympathizing whites and free blacks, who also escorted slaves to the next houses. "Conductors" from the North came to help lead the slaves to freedom. The slaves were hidden in covered wagons and taken from "station" to "station," which were usually 20 miles apart. The "Railroad" had 14 routes through the Northern States and Canada. [|Underground Railroad Simulation] [|Spartacus Schoolnet]

8. Where did escaped slaves go? Most slaves went to the Underground Railroad where they would journey to the north where they could be free. The Underground Railroad led from the south all the way to Canada, where they could be free. [|A Map of the Undergound Railroad] But escaping slavery was very dangerous with cruel punishments and it was against the law in the Constitution. A law was passed that if you helped an escape slave run away then you would be fined 1000 dollars and thrown in jail. This law was also present in the Northn so the North was not toataly safe place for slaves to go.

9. What were slave owner's reactions to the escaping of slaves? What were some reactions? Some were more strict than others, some were benevolent and some were cruel or harsh. Either way, slaves slaves got punished when they ran away. There were many forms of punishments. Often times they were brutally beat, and sometimes sold and separated from their families, but the standard form was whipping. [|Underground Railroad][| or A Slave Caught In the Process of Escaping]

__**Pictures and videos:**__



Slaves had to work for several hours in a day to avoid being punished by their master.

Women and children were forced to work long, hard days as slaves. They didn't dare rebel for fear of punishment.

A picture illustrating what a slave rebellion might look like (South's point of view)

media type="youtube" key="Q8nwJDR2O40" height="344" width="425"

Henry Box Brown, as he is preparing to ship himself to the north.

media type="youtube" key="DsfXg3JLFuI" height="344" width="425"

media type="youtube" key="4Oad2tY-RPc" height="344" width="425" Story of Nat Turner's rebellion. In this rebellion, 55 whites were left dead and it increased the intensity of slave laws.

media type="youtube" key="fCy-c4EQVWQ" height="344" width="425" This is a video about a woman who escaped away from her plantation, and she was trying to find someone, but when she run's away she doesn't find that person, and runs back into the church. Then out comes a man from a box and it was obviously the person she was looking for. Its about how the slaves ran away from slavery through the Under Ground Railroad.

[|Nat Turner's Rebellion- a video]

[|A video on the Stono Rebellion] - The Stono Rebellion was a violent uprising of slaves from Florida (then owned by Spain,) it is known as one of the largest slave uprisings in American History.

media type="youtube" key="pMQK7Dnipr0" height="344" width="425" This is a video explaining how slaves escaped and about the Underground Railroad. The underground railroad was an organization of people trying to help slaves escape. They let slaves stay in their homes and fed them and supported them.

This is a picture of Anthony Burns and what he had to go through. He went to jail he became free and he also had to work. These were some of the things Anthony Burns had to go through to become a free slave, but then get captured again.

**__Links:__**
1 [|Nat Turner's Rebellion] - This is an article about when slaves revolted in both peaceful and violent ways, a rebellion known as Nat Turner's rebellion resulted in the deaths of 55 white people. 2[|American Slavery Overview] - This is a summary of American Slavery. 3[|Amistad mutiny]- A slave mutiny occurred on the slave ship Amistad. When the rebels were tried they were set free, a great victory for the slaves. 4 [|List of slave rebellions]- A list of many of the American slave rebellions throughout history. 5. [|Slave Resistance] 6. [|Digital History] - This explains the day to day resistance and revolts that the slaves would perform. 7.[|The African American: A Journey from Slavery to Freedom] - This link explains the slave codes and resistance. 8. [|Follow the Drinking Gourd] - This site explains the song that describes the traveling of slaves to freedom, following the big dipper or "drinking gourd". Also has samples of the song, "Follow the Drinking Gourd" 9. [|Biography of Harriet Tubman, Worker on the Underground Railroad] - Biography of Harriet Tubman. 10. [|Understanding Race] - List of slavery resisting events in the 1800s 11. [|National Underground Railroad Museum] the national Underground Railroad Museum in Ohio. 12.[|Brief Info on Harriet Tubman] some brief information on Harriet Tubman. 13. [|Underground Railroad] underground railroad info