NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Rebellions of African Slaves Through the 17 th, 18 th and 19 th centuries, there were hundreds of slave rebellions. However, violent rebellions rarely achieved their goals. Black freedom fighters most frequently used terror to fight for their ideas and that might be one of the reasons why slavery was abolished in the 18 th century. As history shows, violence is never as effective as intellectual ways of fighting for a certain idea. The first slave rebellion of significance occurred in South Carolina in 1739. On the morning of Sunday, September 9, 1739, hundreds of slaves gathered along the banks of South Carolinas Stono River to fight for their freedom.
The rhythmic cadence of African drumbeats, combined with cries of Liberty! followed a small army of slaves as they marched along the river, freeing fellow slaves, killing their masters, and torching plantations. The uprising, which occurred near Charleston, South Carolina, began while whites were attending church services and lasted until nightfall, when state militias crushed it. At least 60 people were killed in the fighting, roughly two-thirds of who were slaves. In response to the Stono Uprising, South Carolina officials tried to reduce the provocation for insurrection, imposing penalties on masters who overworked their slaves or beat them excessively.
Colonial officials established a Negro school in Charleston, largely to teach slaves selected Christian values, such as obedience and submissiveness. But the benevolence of colonial officials was overshadowed by the severe legal attacks on the mobility and limited personal liberties of South Carolina slaves. One of the most definitive measures of the Negro Act of 1740 led to the abolition of the talking drum, the beating of African drums during slave gatherings. According to historian Peter H.
Wood, freedom of movement and freedom of assembly, freedom to raise food, to earn money, to learn to read English were also restricted in some cases and abolished in most. Strict laws were passed that closely monitored the ratio of blacks to whites. The Stono Rebellion did not succeed, but it persuaded many whites to leave South Carolina. Hundreds fled to neighboring colonies. Armed white patrols increased in and around Charleston, and after the uprising, slaves were routinely beaten and harassed.
But despite the consequences, as Wood explains, the troubled waters of resistance did not subside any more abruptly than they had risen. The Gabriel Prosser Conspiracy in 1800 and the Denmark Vesey Conspiracy in 1822 are two noteworthy examples of later acts of resistance. In 1811, five hundred slaves revolted at a sugar plantation near New Orleans. Terrified whites fled the area in large numbers. Both the local militia and the US military were required to put down the revolt. Numerous businesses as well as plantations were destroyed, and their occupants were murdered.
When it was all over, ninety-nine blacks lay dead. To warn other blacks of the repercussion of such an action, the heads of these slaves were mounted on post along the Mississippi River. In 1831, Nat Turner led another rebellion of slaves. On the evening of August 20 th, Turner and six other men met in the woods, and at 2: 00 a.
m. they set out for the house of Turners master. There they killed his masters entire family and proceeded to go house-to-house, sparing no one. In the process, they had gained the assistance of 40 slaves who helped kill at least 55 white people. The rebellion came to an end when the militia pursued Turner and the other slaves. During the pursuit, some slaves were captured, and about 15 were hanged.
Turner escaped and hid out for about six weeks until he was captured, imprisoned, and on November 5, 1831, he was sentenced to execution. On November 11, he was hanged and skinned. As a result of the insurrection, Virginia debated about ending slavery but decided against it. Instead, more stringent laws were imposed upon both free blacks and slaves (Archer, 3). The only successful rebellion of African slaves in the Americas was the Amistad rebellion.
The Amistad was a Spanish slave ship that was attempting to bring slaves to the West. After picking the locks, the freed slaves overpowered the crew and attempted to force them to return to Africa. For nearly two months two crewmembers sailed the ship east during the day, as if headed for Africa. However, at night they turned north, hoping to reach one of the southern ports of the United States.
Eventually Amistad ended up off the coast of Long Island, New York. It was almost entirely out of food and water, and some of the Africans had died. In late August, a commander of a U. S. Coast Guard ship, boarded Amistad and towed it to New London, Connecticut. On board he found the two surviving crewmembers, the cabin boy, and 39 surviving Africans.
Since both the United States (1808) and Spain had previously banned the import and export of slaves, the U. S. Supreme Court granted freedom to the native Africans. They later returned to their homeland. Other revolts included the Gabriel Prosser rebellion in 1800, the Denmark Vesey rebellion in 1822, and John Browns raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 (Microsoft Encarta).
People can seldom keep up with being enslaved and deprived of their rights. African slaves, who were forcefully taken from their homes, separated from their families, deprived of their humanity, were also forced to live and work how their master wanted them to. However, one thing that no one could take away from them was their desire to be free. Many of them gave their lives for that idea. Even though many succeeded in their fights, violence always led to violence. Black freedom fighters, which were politically powerless at that time, had no chance of gaining their freedom though terror against whites, which had the power and were in majority.
Instead of building the new social structure, they were trying to break the old one but those attempts were doomed for failure. Works cited: Jules Archer, They Had a Dream, New York, NY, Viking, 1993 Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, Microsoft Corporation, 2002 web web web
Free research essays on topics related to: rebellion, carolina, african slaves, south carolina, freedom fighters
Research essay sample on Rebellions Of African Slaves
