10+b.+Resistance+of+slavery+by+the+enslaved+Africans


 * __RESISTANCE OF SLAVERY BY THE ENSLAVED AFRICANS__**


 * __Causes of Slave resistance__**


 * 1) The desire for freedom
 * 2) Harsh treatment by slave masters
 * 3) Slaves being denied some basic rights and privileges, especially those related to the supply of food, clothing, housing and medical care.
 * 4) Slave dislike of a particular scheme proposed by their master such as separating hem from their families.
 * 5) The presence of many slaves on a plantation from tribes in Africa known for being fierce.This made it easier for slaves to come together to organise rebellions.
 * 6) Emergence of a leader amongst the slaves who had respect of the other slaves.
 * 7) In some islands slaves kept on practicing African religion and this served as a bond amongst slaves.
 * 8) The fact that on many plantations, slaves outnumbered the white settlers.
 * 9) Owner absenteeism and the control of plantations by attorneys, managers and even overseers who would treat slaves harsher because the owner was absent. This caused great resentment amongst the slaves.
 * 10) The character of the white population. They tended to be smug, arrogant, cruel and inefficient in taking care of the slaves.
 * 11) Geography of the island. The mountainous terrain of most West Indian islands provided ideal areas for slaves to hide out and even set up maroon settlements if they escaped from plantation

The following pictures show slaves being cruelly treated which makes it understandable why there was resistance by slaves.






 * __Types of slave resistance__**

__(1) Non-Insurrectionary resistance/ Passive resistance__ - Non violent or indidvidual actions against enslavement. There were different types of non- insurrectionary resistance, they were as follows;
 * Malingering, skylarking or wasting time in the field when overseers were not looking.
 * Refusal to work either individually or in groups.
 * Sabotage- destruction of plantation vehicles, machineries and 'accidental' fires.
 * Apathy - This is a sense of hopelessness that new slaves experiences as a result of being separated from their homes and families. Apathy could result in slaves being unwilling to work.
 * Slaves would pretend to play up to the master's opinion of them as child-like or foolish as a way of deflecting aggression and hence get away from punishment which they would be subject to if they acted openly aggressive.
 * Faking Illnesses or deliberately prolonging a real illness after recovery. For example slaves would continue to lie in hospital long after they had recovered. Women especially would exaggerate menstrual difficulties and they would also breast feed their children for as long as possible to keep from doing hard work.
 * Stealing- Some slaves would steal from the plantations in order to improve their standard of living but mostly to reduce the economic success of their masters.
 * Domestic female slaves were sometimes able to poison their slave owners.
 * The drum was used to transmit messages to other enslaved people on other plantations.

Methods of Resistance by enslaved women included;
 * Prolonging the breast feeding and weaning periods of their babies
 * Poisoning masters (especially those women who were cooks)
 * Infanticide, a few slave mothers would kill their babies as soon as they were born so that they would not live to become slaves
 * Some slave women would kill the white babies and toddlers that they would have to take care of.
 * Cultural resistance- Mothers would pass on African traditions to their children although the slave masters forbade it.
 * Enslaved women also used dress as a form of resistance. Their imitation of the white women was intended to show that they were on equal footing with these women.They also tied their heads in ways that were symbolic to slaves alone and in doing so were able to carry messages. This was especially prevalent in the french islands.
 * Acting as communicators between slaves on different plantations who were planning rebellions (especially at the Sunday Market where slaves from different plantations would meet).
 * Running away and joining Maroon settlements.
 * Concubinage- Some slave women would use their sexuality and their bodies to get into sexual relations with the planters/ slave masters so that they would be able to improve their daily condition by getting such benefits as better meals, better accommodation and better opportunities for their mixed race children who were always born free. They would also use their concubine status to undermine the role of the planter's wife and increase their own status.

__Impact of resistance by enslaves women on the Emancipation process__
 * Female slaves played a significant role in cultural resistance, for example through dress.
 * Some enslaved women emerged as leaders in the resistance movement, for example Nanny of the Jamaican Maroons was a notable military leader.
 * Enslaved women played a significant role in undermining the entire system of slavery by acting as communicators.During the Sunday markets, for example, enslaved women spread information on planned revolts and other uprisings

__(2) Insurrectionary resistance or active resistance-__ violent actions against enslavement carried out by groups.

The main insurrectionary form of resisitance was slave revolt.

The first revolt on a sugar colony happened in 1656, on the French island of Guadeloupe.There were more revolts as time went on with each century having more revolts than the last. This was because as time went on there were more Creole slaves (slaves born in the Caribbean) than African slaves which made communication easier and also saw that any ancient African rivalries amongst different tribes did not get in the way of organising revolts.

Below is a table showing revolts by century in the British Caribbean.
 * **Century** || **Total Revolts** ||
 * 17th || 15 ||
 * 18th || 36 ||
 * 19th || 23 ||