Slave Uprisings
Numerous black slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Rebellions were rooted in the exploitative conditions of the Southern slave system. There is evidence of more than 250 uprisings or attempted uprisings, each involving 10 or more slaves, during this time period. Three of the most infamous uprisings that took place in the United States during the nineteenth century are the revolts by Gabriel Prosser in Virginia (1800); Denmark Vesey in Charleston, South Carolina (1822); and Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia (1831).
Although it involved only about 70 slaves, Turner's rebellion is considered to be a landmark event in American history. Around 55 to 65 people were killed—the highest number of fatalities caused by a slave uprising in the South—as Turner and his fellow rebel slaves rampaged from plantation to plantation throughout Virginia. Turner and the other slaves’ ammunition ran out within a few days and they were apprehended, with Turner evading capture for more than two months. Eighteen slaves, including Nat Turner, were hanged for their part in the rebellion, and 100 to 200 African Americans were killed by militias and angry mobs in retaliation, exceeding the fatalities of Turner’s rebellion itself. As a direct result of the fear the rebellion inspired among slave owners and supporters of the institution of slavery, Southern states passed legislation prohibiting the movement, assembly, and education of slaves, and reduced the rights of free people of color.
One of the largest slave rebellions in U.S. history took place in 1811. The German Coast Uprising took place outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, and involved upward of 500 slaves, according to accounts; however, it only was responsible for the casualties of two white men. The rebellion was suppressed by volunteer militias and a detachment of the U.S. Army. Ninety-five black people were killed via executions and direct confrontations with opposing militia forces, and in the weeks following the uprising, an additional 44 accused insurgents were captured, tried, and executed.
Slave uprisings were not always opposed by white society. John Brown, a white abolitionist, initiated and led the armed raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 following a personal history of clashing against proslavery forces in Kansas. The raid was a joint attack by former slaves, freed blacks, and white men who had corresponded with slaves on plantations. Brown had asked for both Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass’s support, but was denied. Tubman had recently fallen ill, and Douglass was convinced the raid would not succeed. Though hundreds of slaves left their plantations to join Brown's force, and many others left their plantations to join Brown in an escape to the mountains, the force was quelled by a platoon of U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Nonetheless, slave disobedience and the number of runaways increased markedly in Virginia following the uprising, demonstrating how powerful these forms of resistance could be in moving individuals to act.
African Cultural Conservation
African culture and traditions were maintained throughout the generations by slaves, which in itself, constituted a form of resistance. Slaves shared folktales, religion and spirituality, music and dance, and language among themselves and their families as a means of lightening burdens, sustaining hope, building community, and resisting control.
Researchers note that many slave folktales have been traced by African scholars to Ghana, Senegal, and Mauritania, and to peoples such as the Ewe, Wolof, Hausa, Temne, Ashanti, and Igbo. One prominent example is the Ewe tale, “Why the Hare Runs Away,” a trickster story told by Southern slaves and later recorded by writer Joel Chandler Harris in his "Uncle Remus" stories. Southern slaves often included in their folktales African animals such as elephants, lions, and monkeys as characters.
Due to the role of drums in signaling the Stono Rebellion of 1739, slave owners and state governments tried to prevent slaves from making or playing musical instruments. In spite of such restrictions, slaves were able to build a strong musical tradition drawing on their African heritage. Music, songs, and dances were similar to those performed or played in Africa, and instruments reproduced by slaves included drums, three-stringed banjos, gourd rattles, and mandolins.
Cross-cultural exchanges that occurred between African slaves and the individuals they encountered of Western European heritage also contributed to African-American culture and resistance. For instance, Christianity slowly replaced surviving African religious practices over time to become another important aspect of plantation life and more generally African-American culture. While ministers preached obedience in the presence of slave owners and other white people, slaves often met in secret, unsupervised, "invisible" services to discuss freedom, liberty, and the judgment of God against slave owners.