Fears of Enslaved African People (SQA National 5 History): Revision Note

Summary

Despite the massive imbalances of power between enslavers and enslaved African people, many enslavers lived their lives in fear of a violent uprising by enslaved people. These fears were because on most plantations, enslaved people outnumbered their enslavers by at least 10 to 1 and were heightened by the fact that many plantations were isolated. 

Plantation owners often built houses with strong defences. Great Houses often overlooked the slave villages, and many houses were fortified and protected by cannons. 

Fears of revolt increased towards the end of the eighteenth century when many Caribbean islands experienced armed uprisings by enslaved people. The Haitian Revolution in the former French colony of Saint-Domingue increased plantation owners' fears of revolt. 

Plantation owners tried to prevent resistance and revolts through a legal system which denied enslaved African people even the most basic of human rights. The same legal system also legalised the violence of plantation enslavement. Terror was also seen as a key way of preventing resistance and rebellion.

Fear of revolt

• Enslaved people outnumbered white enslavers

  • On plantations, enslaved people might outnumber white people by ten to one

  • Knowledge of their own mistreatment and abuse of enslaved people created unease amongst the enslavers and their families, who were fearful of violent retributions

• This fear of rebellion increased the levels of violence and terror inflicted upon the enslaved people

• Enslavers tried to monitor enslaved people at all times

  • Pressure would be applied to drivers to help gather information about potential acts of resistance

    • Threats would be made towards people's families to encourage enslaved people to reveal any planned resistance

• The houses of the overseers were usually placed overlooking or near the slave village

  • This meant overseers could keep an eye on enslaved people even when they were not labouring in the fields

Slave codes

• A system of Slave Codes emerged throughout the British Caribbean

  • These were laws used to protect plantation owners and overseers from the threat of revolt

    • They also legalised the violence that underpinned slavery

• Racism was a significant factor in the treatment of enslaved African people

  • Most enslavers incorrectly believed Africans were ‘inferior’ and viewed the enslaved as no more than 'property'

  • Many plantation owners felt that this justified their treatment of the enslaved people

• The Barbados Slave Code was the first to be passed into law in the British Caribbean in 1661

  • It provided extensive protection for plantation owners and enslavers

  • The law required enslavers to provide each captive with one set of clothing per year

    • It set no standards for captives' diet, housing, or working conditions

  • It denied captives even basic rights guaranteed under English common law, such as the right to life

  • It allowed the enslavers and overseers to do entirely as they wished to the enslaved people, including rape, mutilation and murder

    • They were not tried or punished for these crimes

• Other Caribbean islands soon adopted or adapted the Barbados Slave Codes

  • In Antigua, any captive running away for a period of three months could be killed, whipped or have a limb amputated

    • The level of punishment was decided by two judges, who would usually take into consideration the needs of the plantation owner 

  • In Montserrat, any white person who returned a runaway enslaved person alive to a plantation was given a reward of 500lbs of sugar

    • The enslaved person would be executed if they had been a fugitive for longer than three months

  • In St Kitts, any enslaved person leaving a plantation needed a written pass from an enslaver

    • Any white person had the right to whip any enslaved person they encountered off a plantation without a pass

• The Barbados Slave Codes also stated that any enslaved person who was deemed to have offended a white man would be whipped, have their nose slit, and have their face branded with an iron

Terror

• Terror was used to control enslaved people

• Before arriving on a plantation, enslaved people were stripped of their identity

  • Enslavers would force enslaved African people to use English first names

    • Often, enslaved people were forced to take the surname of their enslaver

  • Enslaved people were branded with the initials of their owner

    • This acted as a torture method, a symbol that they were now ‘property’ and meant fugitivity was more challenging

• On plantations, enslavers sought to 'control' enslaved African people through:

  • Physical and mental torture

  • Threats

  • Abuse

• Overseers and drivers would whip enslaved people who were not deemed to be working hard enough in the fields

• The threat of having family members sold to other plantations was one of the most common methods used by enslavers to control and terrorise enslaved people

• Public humiliation and beatings were used in an attempt to spread fear amongst other enslaved people

• Enslavers used public executions to instil fear

  • These included hanging, burning victims alive, or even forcing people into boiling sugar pots

    • The bodies of the executed people would often be left on public display for days as a warning to others

    • These punishments were intended to terrorise others

• The terror methods created a cycle of violence

  • Rather than forcing enslaved Africans into ‘obedience’, terror often meant enslaved people were more determined to resist and fight back

    • The responses from enslavers to resistance often caused even more violence to be used

• Sexual violence was also a common feature on plantations

Impact of the Haitian Revolution

• In 1791, on the French colony of Saint Domingue, groups of enslaved people from several plantations launched an uprising; they

  • Attacked plantation owners

  • Setting fire to houses and crops

  • Destroyed sugar mills and boiling houses

• The revolt soon spread to other plantations

• The enslaved people were led by Toussaint L’Ouverture, who made use of guerrilla tactics to maintain the revolt

• This revolt became known as the Haitian Revolution, lasting from 1791 until 1804

  • It is the only instance where enslaved people successfully fought their enslavers and gained their freedom

  • On January 1st 1804, the Republic of Haiti was declared

    • Haiti became the first country to abolish slavery permanently

• The enslaved people were successful despite the French military being supported by Spanish and British forces

• The Haitian Revolution inspired other enslaved people across the Caribbean, undoubtedly influencing further resistance by enslaved people