Slave Resistance Thinking Question Why did slaves not run away from the plantations OR FIGHT BACK?

Resistance LI: We are learning about life on the plantations for slaves. Success Criteria: Recall 5 things that slaves could do to resist. Put these in an order from least to most severe. Explain why resistance was difficult/unsuccessful.

Resistance 17 July 1767: Lucy miscarried having, I am told, drank a herbal potion lately every day on purpose. 20 April 1765: Grabbed Sancho but after a struggle he slipped off his jacket and escaped. Mr Dorrill found him and sent him home. 4 April 1765: Last night heard loud cheers from the Negro houses for joy that one of my Kinsmen is dead, I imagine. Strange impudence. 28 July 1767: Rode out to the Pen … My Negroes were not up. I flogged every one of the field slaves for laziness. Still they finished them in a very slight manner, not half as good as they should be. March 1770: Sent Cyrus and Chub out fishing. They brought back about enough fish for a cat. I suspect they return with less than they caught. 15 November 1771: Feeling ill and very tired. Jimmy made me a warm drink at night and an hour or two after I had been in bed thought I had been poisoned … suspect him very much, he is very impudent. 27 December 1752: Sam struck at me with a billhook and shouted I will kill you, I will kill you! I gave them 100 lashes each. 6 June 1771: Jimmy is daily becoming more careless, stupid and ignorant through Abba’s encouragement. May 1760: Fifty whites killed. It was thought necessary to make a few terrible examples of some of the most guilty one was condemned to be burnt. He uttered not a groan and saw his legs reduced to ashes with utmost firmness. He snatched a burning branch from the fire and threw it in the face of his executioner. 24 November 1770: Jimmy and Damsel took an intolerable time to fetch water. Strapped them both. 20 May 1770: Flogged Jimmy for getting drunk last night and burning a hole in my piazza floor.

Task Slaves could resist in many ways… Think about these resistance methods. Which ones are extreme/severe and which ones are easier to do? Add these under ‘Resistance’ in your jotters in an order from 1-9 (1 = minimal 9 = most severe). Slaves could resist in many ways… Doing a job slowly or poorly Breaking tools, machinery, equipment, owner property Stealing Strike their overseer Suicide/children Run away/escape Start a rebellion Keeping their African culture alive Poisoning their owners

Why was it so difficult to resist? (fight back)

Reason 1: Branding Runaway slaves found it difficult to survive and were easily identified by their skin colour and the brand mark of their owner. This made it difficult to resist (fight back) because…it made it easy to return the slave to their owner.

Reason 2: Language Barriers Many slaves had been kidnapped from different parts of Africa and they all spoke different languages. This made it difficult to resist because they would not be able to communicate with each other to organise a rebellion.

Reason 3: Punishments Slaves would be beaten if they tried to run away or if they worked too slowly. They could be whipped, have limbs cut off or even have teeth extracted. This made it difficult to resist because… …even if slaves wanted to resist, they would be too afraid to do so.

Reason 4: Army Slavery was legal and slaves who tried to fight their owners or run away were seen as breaking the law. This made resistance difficult because… The army would be called in to help ‘squash’ rebellion.

Reason 5: Weapons Slaves did not have weapons and slave owners had guns. This made resistance difficult because… Slave rebellions could be put down by better armed and trained white masters.

Reason 6: Lack of Leaders Many of the slaves had little or no education and as a result there were no strong leaders to create a successful plan This was important in preventing resistance because… without effective leadership the resistance had no direction

Reason 7: Slave Hunters Slave Hunters were employed to catch runaway slaves and return them to their owner. They would ride on horseback and use nets to capture them. They even cut off their limbs to prevent them from escaping in the future. This made resistance very difficult because… These men were very effective at tracking down escaped slaves.

Reason 8: Location Another reason was because many of the islands were small and there was little hope of fleeing the island. This made it difficult to resist because… The number of places slaves could escape to were limited.

Other reasons: Slaves were also shackled together when they were out in the open making it impossible for individuals to run away into the fields. Slaves were also punished for speaking their own language or banging drums which made it hard to plan any resistance as they couldn’t communicate. Owners eventually employed black overseers which made it hard to distinguish who was or was not going to help with resistance or inform the master. ALL FORMS OF RESISTANCE CARRIED A PUNISHMENT IF CAUGHT!

Passive Resistance Many slaves pretended to be stupid, worked slowly and broke tools and machines or committed acts of individual revenge. However this was also a dangerous tactic as overseers were always watching and a slave would be whipped if they were seen to be lazy.

“Explain the reasons why resistance on plantations was difficult.” (6) Remember in ‘Explain’ questions you have to link back to the question and really explain why the factor made resistance very difficult. E.G Slaves were shackled together when at work which made resistance on plantations difficult because slaves were physically unable to run away or escape without being noticed or stopped. FACTOR LINK EXPLANATION