Resistance and Revolt Notes

Slave resistance 1. First and foremost foremost is the basic desire for freedom. They rebelled against their owners- they did not want to be owned and treated as if they were a mere piece of property. 2. Abuse of the masters. Women in particular were raped, denied the right and time to bond with their children, name their children and so on.

A female slave tied to a tree

3. Severe 3. Severe Punishments that did not t the crime, but was far greater than the crime or oence. ethods of punishments included branding, of course whipping, putting them in stoc!s or amputating a limb.

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Slave punishment













A slave being beaten beaten

4. Forced labour: "he labour: "he e#-slaves e#-slaves wor!ed wor!ed without wages wages or reward reward for their labour. labour. "his was made even more di$cult to bear when they considered that the planters were able to live in great houses, eat well and wear ne clothes because of the prot from the sugar that the slaves grew% 5. Denial of Rights. "he Rights. "he slaves slaves were denied the most most basic human human rights. &frican &frican slaves slaves were not allowed to !eep the name that they received at birth but were forced to ta!e on the name that their master gave them. "hey were forbidden to marry without the master's permission. . African slaves !anted to return home. "hey longed for their familiar familiar sights and and scenes of ama &frica. "hey missed parents and siblings and friends bac! home. Some of them were leaders leaders in their homeland and found it more di$cult to ad(ust to a life of bondage) for e#ample, "ac!y was a chief in *hana . ". #nhumane treatment: slaves rebelled against and resisted the inhumane conditions under which they were forced to live and wor!. "hey wor!ed from sunrise to sunset













Passive resistance may be dened as the subtle methods used by the slaves to e#press their re(ection of slavery. 2t is not easily detected. Ty&es of $assi%e Resistance 'a( )uicide: the )uicide: the &frican slaves in particular believed that after death their spirit returned to &frica. "hey were therefore willing to obtain the ultimate irreversible freedom. 'b( *alingering: we !now this as 0go slow'. "he slaves would deliberately wor! slower or below their productive capacity. 'c( #ll+treatment of estate animals: the slaves would deliberately wound the estate animal with intent to harm or !ill them. #t !ould cost the planter 0a pretty penny' to replace these animals. 'd( *urder by &oison: arsenic was probably probably the most common form of poisoning but the slaves also used 0potions' that they obtained from the obeah men as well as their own concoction from trees and shrubs. For e#ample, in 334, an overseer on a 5arbadian plantation was murdered +poisoned by his slaves.

'e( Feign madness: a slave would pretend to completely misunderstand every order given to him or her. 2n essence he would pretend to be 0stupid' or insane. We refer to this as the 06uashie' syndrome. Some planters would !eep such a slave for entertainment purposes. 'f( Feigning illness: the illness: the slaves would sometimes feign illness, prolong an old illness or even in7ict fresh in(uries. 'g( Runa!ays: running away or 0pulling foot' was a fairly common means of resistance. resistance.

,hat &articular !ays did female sla%es rebel•

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"hey prolonged prolonged the weaning weaning process-ta!ing process-ta!ing up to two two years, so that she could could ma!e ma!e full advantage of the one hour in the morning and the one hour release given before the end of the day by some planters for breast feeding activities. Painful though the e#ercise was some women opted to deliberately miscarry or commit infanticide. /er tongue she discovered was also a very eective weapon. "hus insolence was a common charge or oence that the slave woman was incessantly charged for and found guilty%













The ush /egroes 1unaway slaves in Surinam were called 0the 5ush 8egroes of Surinam'. "he 5ush 8egroes of Surinam were given this specic title because of their choice of base when they ran away from the plantations. "hey hid in the tangled forest and swampy interior of the forest. "he rst runaways runaways escaped escaped from the plantations plantations set up by 9ord Willoughby, Willoughby, the *overnor of 5arbados +:;. "his e#plains why the 5ush 8egroes spo!e
Bush Negroes

/owever, during the Second &nglo->utch war, +::;-::3, the territory was captured captured by the >utch. >utch ownership was made o$cial by the Treaty of reda in ::3. >uring these two years of warfare the slaves too! the opportunity to escape to the mountains, where where they established established independent communities?settlements. communities?settlements. "he 5ush 8egroes 8egroes lived lived in the forest forest clearings clearings with their their houses, +circular +circular huts, surrounded surrounded by groves of plantations and cash crops from their small farms. "hese villages were often barricaded barricaded with moats, +deep holes lled with water, pits and stoc!ades, stoc!ades, which they used for protection. "hey also organi@ed raids on the =uropean plantations plantations on military lines.













"here were were si# 5ush 8egro 8egro groups) D0ua )aramaa Alubu uca *ata!ai and $aramaa. "hey lived inland inland along Sarama!a, Sarama!a,
Terms of the Treaty '1"1( •

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&n annual gift of arms and ammunition was promised to the 5ush 8egroes in return for their co-operation. "he 5ush 8egroes 8egroes were were to return return all new new runaway runaway slaves that that they encountered. encountered. "he 8egroes 8egroes promised promised never to appear armed armed at Paramarib Paramaribo o to more than than or si# at at a time. "he 5ush 8egroes 8egroes were were to !eep !eep their settlements settlements at a certain distance from from the towns and plantations.

Slave


























Siete Partidas

Code Noir

ou ou may imagine that at the same time it seemed lie lie a mar%elous idea. ,hy2t saved =ngland the 0trouble' and time of writing these laws that might not even be t for the colonies. 2n the same vein, she felt it best that the planters through their representatives representatives













marriage and manumission therefore, were not encouraged. "he Spanish, on the other hand, considered the slaves to be human beings-albeit lesser human beings% "hey ac!nowledge that slavery was wrong, but argued that it was a necessary evil. "he Spanish felt felt that they had a
5oth the 5ritish and the French planters tried to control the economic life of their slaves in terms of property, time and earnings. - Slaves who stole animals would be put to death. - Slaves could not legally possess property or legally ma!e contracts. - Slaves could not be paid for any wor! that they did. - &s personal property slaves could be sold in debt or left on the will for someone to inherit. - Slaves could not own land, they were allowed a small plot to plant ground provisions on so as to save the planter money that would have been used to import food.

$sychological6#deological ontrol "he whites argued argued that that the &fricans &fricans were were barbaric barbaric and uncivili@ed uncivili@ed heathens. heathens. "hey were doing them a favour by e#posing them to =uropean civili@ation and












A ght with the Ashanti Ashanti

"hey were were stripped of their identity, identity, especially especially the &frican &frican born born slaves who who were forced to ta!e the name given to them by their owner. "hey were stripped of their dignity- made to feel less than a human. en were not allowed to have any ego. When placed in leadership positions it was of such that the slaves that they were in charge of hated them and saw them as traitors, for e#ample) Slave >rivers.

)ocial ontrol













$hysical ontrol

The slaves' every movement movement was watched by the owners. owners. The overseers, drivers drivers and watchmen had a vital role to play in this form of control . Punishment was the biggest form of control. "he whip was a stimulus to labour and a constant form of punishment. For fear of the hundreds of lashes the slaves 0!ept in line' and did basically as they were told. "he slaves could not move o the estate without a pass. "hey wor!ed wor!ed for fourteen hours a day day under strict strict and constant constant supervision. supervision.

ultural ontrol "he slaves were not not allowed to practice their their own religion. religion. 2nstead, 2nstead, they were were forced forced to ac!nowledge their their owner's religion. religion. "hey were only allowed allowed to sit at the bac! of the &nglican?espite all of these various methods of control, the slaves resisted the system of slavery. "he period of slavery in the 2ndies is punctuated with acts of resistance resistance as well as as bloody violent revolts.

/aitian 1evolution















/aving gained control of the &ssembly the *rand 5lancs proceeded to defy colonial authorities and the












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arry any white person, not even a poor one%

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vote or of course hold any political position

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&ttend the same theatres or plays as the whites. 2f they chose to attend the same
"he slaves revolted for pretty much the same same reason reason as their counterparts in the 5ritish 5ritish West 2ndies. =ach group on the French island felt the other to be its enemy. "he planters hated the o$cials, despised the poor whites, and distrusted the growing class of the coloureds and poor whites who wanted the privileges privileges of the planters.

ourse "he slave rebellion rebellion was was initiated by a voodoo ceremony ceremony on the night night of &ugust 14 1"81. 2t was led by a slave !nown only as ouman. 5y dawn the rebellion was in full swing, within a wee! elds and buildings had been set abla@e. "he white and colored masters were slain.





































Toussaints Reforms 2n E he conDuered conDuered Santo >omingo. /e created a central assembly to ma!e laws. /e banned slavery and discrimination based on colour. /e proclaimed himself *overnor for life. 8apoleon sent an army led by 9e


























'i%( "he 'i%( "he troops sent from France to reinforce the local militia lost a number of their men within a few days. "hey died from tropical diseases such as yellow fever. '%( "he '%( "he division and rivalry between the *rand 5lancs and the Petit 5lancs gave the blac!s time to gather and plan their strategies. '%i( "he '%i( "he whites, engrossed in their own struggle were ta!en by surprise. Some 7ed the country leaving their property behind. any of these became bases of operation and headDuarters for the rebel groups. '%ii( "he '%ii( "he slaves, unli!e the whites, were determined to ght to the end, even if it meant death. &fter all, they had little to lose in a society where they were seen and treated (ust a little better than animals. '%iii( "he '%iii( "he slaves were united by the strong bond of religion. "hey believed that they were indeed invincible and that the victory was theirs%













1. 2n 1. 2n both artiniDue and *uadeloupe, there was a rapidly e#panding group of free colored who were not only prosperous prosperous but did not e#perience much of the legal discrimination discrimination enforced against counterparts in Saint >omingue. 2. 5ecause 2. 5ecause the revolution occurred at the time when &bolition was in the air in the omingue >omingue had in7uenced in7uenced them. 2t was felt that, the /aitian 1evolution was giving Jamaica's blac!s and mulattoes













*arch 3:I) >o? nominates himself as *overnor of 5erbice and elects Accra as second in command. "roops numbering one hundred arrived. "hey were sent to some many areas that they in turn were outnumbered. April 3:I) the troops obtained the help of the native 2ndians. "hey attac!ed the












5ussa















The aforementioned causes led to the careful planning and organi@ation of this revolt that !as the ?rst in arbados in one hundred and twenty four years. "his rebellion therefore represented an attempt by the slaves to in7uence the structure and conditions of the society in which they lived. &s a result the actual planning begun after the /ouse of &ssembly refused refused to conform to the 2mperial 5ill in ;.












argue that the revolt lasted for four days since both the re and the ght had ceased by Wednesday.













the mortality rate of the rebellion. "hey feared an even worse 0bloodbath' if the slaves were not freed in the near future. . "he . "he colonial authorities increased security in the colony while planters increased security on the estates. & chain lin! of signal stations were erected along the 5arbadian coastline.























































































Resistance and Revolt Notes

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