Stampps: A Troublesome Property

In Stampps ¨A Troublesome Property¨, Stampp explains tactics slaves used in order to gain freedom, even if it was the smallest taste of freedom such as faking an illness or injury, damaging property and to run away. “Slave resistance, whether bold and persistent or mild and sporadic created for all slaveholders a serious problem of discipline.” (Stampp 260). Some example of slave resistance involved only working when an overseer was present. An account from a Virginia planter said ¨ I left the field at 12 with all going on well, but very little done after that.¨ (Stampp 262). One of the more common ways to retaliate shown by slaves was faking an illness or injury. Women would fake a protracted pseudopregnancy, during which she ¨continued to reap increased ration as the reward of her expectation, till she finally had to disappoint and receive a flogging. …show more content…
Other examples of illness or injury was faking paralysis and blindness. A small but persistent way for slaves to show resistance was to damage property, some slaves would destroy everything that they touched, from livestock to the crops. One of the most feared ways of rebellion was for a slave to run away, one slaveholder said he would ¨rather a [slave] would do anything else than runaway.¨ (Stampp 266). The slaves who performed these actions were all punished accordingly. According to a Dr. Cartwright there was a ¨disease¨ called Drapetomania, which caused slaves to run away, if slaves showed signs of this disease the preventative measure was to ¨whip the devil out of them.¨ (Stampp 266). While all of these reasons perfectly answer the asked question there are some flaws to Stampp´s