Causes Of Slave Rebellion

Rebellion is defined as being an action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention, this is exactly what some slaves attempted to do on a daily basis. Those who resisted were known as “quiet rebels”, they used subversiveness, and faked sickness, anything to slow work as a rebellion. Slave owners were constantly in fear of rebellious slaves, and did everything in their power to stamp out rebellion. Ruthless overseers were hired to frighten slaves, other slaveowners used beatings, threats, or paternal kindness as a way of keeping their slaves loyal or submissive. Generations of slave children were taught from a young age that they were inferior. They were taught that it was their duty to be servants. While slaves were …show more content…
She was brutally beaten but she was able to stay with her family. In another most surprising case a man sold his owner. The slave had very light skin and when his owner came back from booking a hotel room he was bound in chains. While attempting to explain the situation the real slave escaped. In my opinion this might be the most amazing escape story ever told. In a more devastating instance a group of men, women, and children committed mass suicide rather than having to live through slavery. A legend that goes along with the event says that “in their deaths they flew away to their homeland-- free and unfettered”(20). A more aggressive form of rebellion was armed revolts. These mostly began in acts of desperation and ended in death or extremely violent beatings. One such revolt occurred on April 7th, 1712, when twenty-seven armed slaves gathered in an orchard. The group set an outhouse on fire, and when the owners came, they shot at them. That night nine white men were killed before the militia stopped the revolt. The men were executed in a range of ways including, public burning, and …show more content…
There were some people who were so active in their revolt against slavery that they are still very prominent figures of our history. Fredrick Douglas was one of these people. Miraculously when Douglas was twelve he was taught the alphabet by his master’s wife Sophia. He also learned from white children who lived in close proximity. When he was sixteen he was nearly broken by Edward Covey known as the “slave breaker”. However Douglas fought back, and when he beat Covey physically Covey stopped beating him. It took him three attempts before he successfully escaped. After gaining his freedom he began speaking at anti slavery conventions all over the east coast. Douglas became one of the most famous black men in the country, and did many things throughout his life for black rights as well as women 's. He was even became the first black man to be nominated for vice president. Douglas did not campaign because he was nominated unknowingly. Douglas was an inventive and influential leader of the antislavery movement. When asked to speak at a celebration on the fourth of July he said, “I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us… The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by