Dbq Slavery Research Paper

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Most wonder why slaves didn’t just simply run away or physically retaliate against their slave masters. It isn’t that hard, right? Wrong. I am not a shaman. The truth is the repercussions of fighting back involved much more bloodshed than people think; but enslaved people would resist their enslavement in various ways, no matter how big or small. For context, slavery is when someone is dehumanized by being stripped of their rights and treated as property. The first slaves were brought to America in 1619 and millions of African Americans were taken through the middle passage and forced to do unpaid labor in horrible living conditions. Enslaved people resisted their enslavement by refusing to do work, running away, and fighting back. This is …show more content…
This means that the slaves on the boat fought back against the crew and captain to obtain freedom by navigating the Creole to Nassau, where slavery was illegal. Additionally, the text in Document A: The Daily Madisonian, clarifies, “He. told [the slaves] they were freemen. They could go on shore and never be carried away from there”. This evidence confirms that the lives of the enslaved peoples on the Creole were affected permanently. They had triumphantly resisted their enslavement by rebelling so once all slaves were off board, they were set free and that liberty would never be taken from them again. The last way enslaved people would resist their enslavement was by refusing to do work. This is historically significant because it shows the methods slaves used to avoid doing forced labor. One quote that supports this can be found in Document C, the autobiography of James Lindsay Smith, “Jinny came to me and asked me if I would have something to eat; I told her I was in too much pain to eat. (Just that moment I was so hungry that I could have eaten the flesh of a dead horse.)”. This demonstrates that Smith would have rather starved than have to attend to his daily …show more content…
This shows how desperate and extreme slaves' attempts at resistance would go to combat forced labor. Furthermore, according to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave in Document D, “He told me to bring my tools and clothing home forthwith, I did so; but instead of seeking work, as I had been accustomed to doing previously to hiring my time, I spent the whole week without the performance of a single stroke of work. I did this in retaliation”. This information addresses how Douglass decided to resist his enslavement by refusing to do work. The reason for this is that he was mad at his master for revoking his privilege of finding employment and making some money. When Douglass did not work, there were no wages for that week so his master could not receive a part of his earnings. To conclude, slaves resisted their enslavement in a variety of different ways, such as refusing to do work, running away, and fighting back. This is historically significant because it changed millions of enslaved people's lives and is still relevant today. Slaves did not allow themselves to be held captive in forced labor any longer so they would run

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