Enslaved African People & Attempts to Gain Freedom (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary

Enslaved Africans did not accept the suffering, violence and inhumanity they faced. Resistance was widespread on all plantations. Maintaining African cultures and traditions was vitally important to the enslaved people and was perhaps one of the most significant forms of resistance, as it could help form strong community bonds amongst the enslaved people. 

Many enslaved people attempted to gain their freedom by running away from the plantations. Others were prepared to injure or harm themselves so that they could not be forced into field work. Outright revolts where enslaved people attacked their enslavers and attempted to take control of whole plantations also occurred. However, these were risky and challenging to plan, due to the massive differences in weapons and resources between the enslaved people and their enslavers.

Enslavers would use brutal and public punishments in an attempt to prevent outright revolts. 

Resistance

• Resistance to enslavement came in many forms

• Spirituals were songs sung by enslaved Africans on plantations

  • They were influenced by Christianity and by the experiences and hardships faced by the enslaved people

  • Spirituals helped enslaved field labourers work to the same pace, meaning none could be targeted for working slowly

    • Frederick Douglass, an enslaved African-American who later gained his freedom, believed that:

Common forms of resistance

• Deliberately working slowly

• Pretending to be ill

• Stealing food or resources

• Acts designed to damage the profits of enslavers, such as:

  • Breaking tools and equipment

  • Damaging crops

  • Allowing sugar to spoil in the boiling house 

  • Arson

    • This destroyed buildings and crops

• Killing livestock belonging to the plantation owner

• Maintaining African cultures and traditions

• Poisoning food intended for the plantation owners and staff

• Running away

How did a person's role affect the type of resistance?

• Enslaved people had different opportunities to resist

  • Those who were forced to work in the Great House could steal equipment or attempt to poison food intended for the plantation owners

  • Enslaved domestic servants would also know when enslavers were away from the plantation

    • This meant they could time acts of resistance more effectively

  • Enslaved people in the boiling house could deliberately spoil sugar and so damage the profits of plantation owners

What is fugitivity?

• Fugitivity (running away) was one of the most common forms of resistance

  • Fugitives were most likely to be successful if they could make it to towns or ports where they could try to hide amongst the 'free coloured population'

  • On larger islands like Jamaica, it was possible to escape into mountainous regions and escape capture

    • In these areas, Maroons established their own communities and helped other enslaved people escape

Revolts

• Armed revolts were an attempt to kill enslavers and gain freedom

• These were often unsuccessful, as enslavers had access to far more weapons and resources

  • Plantation owners sometimes had support from British Army soldiers and sailors from the British Navy

• Successful armed revolts sometimes spread to multiple plantations

  • These were very difficult to maintain as the enslaved people often ran low on resources, weapons and equipment the longer their revolt lasted

• In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, there was an increase in armed revolts across the Caribbean 

  • In Jamaica, there were over a dozen major uprisings in the 18th century, some of which resulted in enslavers losing control of some areas in Jamaica

  • Tobago experienced large-scale revolts in 1774

  • In St Lucia in 1795, enslaved people began a mass revolt, successfully taking control of many plantations

    • It took the British Army two years to defeat the uprising

  • In Grenada, also in 1795, enslaved people began a revolt under the leadership of Julien Fédon

Maroons, resistance and revolt

• The Maroons are one of the best examples of effective resistance in the British Caribbean

• Most prominent on the island of Jamaica, the Maroons were communities of escaped enslaved people who used guerrilla tactics to prevent capture

• The Maroons were so effective that in 1739, the British were forced to sign a treaty with them, granting the Maroons land and their freedom

  • The Treaty stated that the Maroons were not to accept any more fugitive enslaved people into their communities

  • The Maroons ignored this and continued to resist

• In 1795, the Maroons used guerrilla tactics to launch raids on plantations across Jamaica

  • This revolt took the British over 6 months to defeat and cost the British force over £500,000

Why was successful resistance difficult on the plantations?

• Small-scale resistance was often successful

  • Acts like working slowly or breaking equipment could be difficult to detect

• Organising and carrying out successful large-scale resistance was much more challenging

• Enslavers used violence, terror, manipulation and emotional blackmail to try to prevent acts of resistance

  • Those people suspected of committing acts of resistance would often be publicly punished, with other enslaved people forced to watch

    • Whipping and flogging were the two most common forms of terror used

• One of the most effective deterrents used by enslavers was the threat of selling the family members of enslaved people to other plantations or even other islands

  • Meaning they would be unlikely to see one another again

• Enslavers would attempt to turn enslaved people against one another or start rumours so that enslaved people did not know who they could trust

  • This made the planning of effective resistance challenging

• Revolts would require access to weapons

  • Enslaved people were denied access to these on plantations, making resistance challenging

    • When enslaved people gained access to weapons, they were often unable to secure enough supplies of ammunition

    • This meant the revolt could not continue for more than a few days

• When revolts did happen, enslavers could call upon the British military to help put down the uprising

• Fugitivity was challenging as enslaved people would have to ensure they had supplies of food and shelter whilst remaining undetected

  • Adverts were placed in Caribbean newspapers describing enslaved people who had run away and offering rewards for their return

  • Enslaved people were always branded with the initials of their enslaver, meaning they could be easily identified

  • Runaways who were returned to plantations were publicly punished to set an example to others

    • Public whippings, amputations and executions were used as punishment for recaptured runaways