slave rebellion

(noun)

A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves. Slave rebellions have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery and are amongst the most feared events for slaveholders.

Related Terms

  • Nat Turner
  • loyalist

Examples of slave rebellion in the following topics:

  • Anti-Slavery Resistance Movements

    • Numerous black slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries.
    • Numerous black slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
    • Aptheker stressed how rebellions were rooted in the exploitative conditions of the Southern slave system.
    • Turner's 1831 rebellion was considered by some to be the largest slave revolt in the history of the southern United States, involving up to 75 slaves.
    • The historian Steven Hahn proposes that the self-organized involvement of slaves in the Union Army during the American Civil War composed a slave rebellion that dwarfed all others.
  • Early Opposition to Slavery

    • The early 1800's witnessed attempted large-scale slave rebellions, including those planned by Gabriel Prosser.
    • Gabriel Prosser was a literate enslaved blacksmith who planned a large slave rebellion in the Richmond area in the summer of 1800.
    • On August 30, 1800, Gabriel intended to lead slaves into Richmond, but the rebellion was postponed because of rain.
    • After the rebellion, many slaveholders greatly restricted the slaves' rights of travel when not working.
    • Prior to the rebellion, Virginia law had allowed education of slaves to read and write, and the training of slaves in skilled trades.
  • Gabriel's Rebellion

    • Gabriel's Rebellion was a planned slave revolt in Virginia in 1800 that was quelled before it could begin.
    • Numerous black slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
    • After plans for the rebellion were quelled, many slave holders greatly restricted the slaves' rights of travel.
    • For many southern white slave owners, Gabriel's Rebellion proved that slaves would tend toward rebellion and resistance if not kept forcibly contained and controlled.
    • For many slaves and free African Americans, the rebellion proved the power of strategic organization and resistance.
  • Forms of Resistance

    • 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.
    • Although it involved only about 70 slaves, Turner's rebellion is considered to be a landmark event in American history.
    • One of the largest slave rebellions in U.S. history took place in 1811.
    • 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.
  • Nat Turner's Rebellion

    • Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was the era's largest slave insurrection.
    • Nat Turner's Rebellion (also known as the Southampton Insurrection) was a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia during August 1831.
    • In the aftermath of the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion, the Virginia General Assembly passed new legislation making it unlawful to teach slaves, free blacks, or mulattoes to read or write.
    • Overall, the laws enacted in the aftermath of the Turner Rebellion enforced widespread illiteracy among slaves.
    • Evaluate the effect of Nat Turner’s rebellion in the southern black community
  • Resistance to Slavery

    • Slaves resisted oppression in several ways ranging from rebellions and uprisings to sabotage, running away, and destruction of plantation property.
    • African slaves resisted enslavement and the southern plantation economy in a variety of ways, ranging from violent rebellion to sabotage, infanticide, suicide, running away, and the deliberate destruction of plantation property.
    • The militia suppressed the rebellion after a battle in which both slaves and militiamen were killed, and the remaining slaves were executed or sold to the West Indies.
    • In the wake of the Stono Rebellion, South Carolina passed a new slave code in 1740 called An Act for the Better Ordering and Governing of Negroes and Other Slaves in the Province—also known as the Negro Act of 1740.
    • In addition, one in five New Yorkers was a slave, and tensions ran high between slaves and the free population, especially in the aftermath of the Stono Rebellion.
  • Treatment of Slaves in the United States

    • After well-known rebellions, such as that by Nat Turner in 1831, some states even prohibited slaves from holding religious gatherings due to the fear that such meetings would facilitate communication and possibly lead to insurrection or escape.
    • For instance, there were slaves who employed white workers, slave doctors who treated upper-class white patients, and slaves who rented out their labor. 
    • In 1850, a publication provided guidance to slave owners on how to produce the "ideal slave":
    • Most slaveholders attempted to reduce the risk of rebellion by minimizing the exposure of their slaves to the world beyond their plantation, farm, or workplace, restricting access to information about other slaves and possible rebellions, and degrading the slaves by stifling their ability to exercise their mental faculties.
    • In the mid-nineteenth century, slaving states passed laws making education of slaves illegal.
  • Slave Codes

    • Slave codes were laws that were established in each state to define the status of slaves and the rights of their owners.
    • In practice, these codes placed harsh restrictions on slaves' already limited freedoms and gave slave owners absolute power over their slaves.
    • Many provisions were designed to control slave populations and preempt rebellion.
    • Occasionally slave codes provided slaves with legal protection in the event of a legal dispute, but only at the discretion of the slave’s owner.
    • Owners refusing to abide by the slave code were fined and forfeited ownership of their slaves.
  • Forming a Slave Community

    • The importance of The Slave Community as one of the first studies of slavery from the perspective of the slave was recognized by historians.
    • Slaveowners and state governments tried to prevent slaves from making or playing musical instruments because of the use of drums to signal the Stono Rebellion in 1739.
    • The family unit was also an important means of survival and hope for slaves.
    • Slave marriages were illegal in southern states, and slave couples were frequently separated by slaveowners through sale.
    • African-American slaves dancing to banjo and percussion.
  • Slave Religion

    • Slave owners and state governments tried to prevent slaves from making or playing musical instruments because use of drums signaled the Stono Rebellion in 1739.
    • Slave marriages were illegal in southern states, and slave couples were frequently separated by slave owners through sale.
    • Blassingame grants that slave owners did have control over slave marriages.
    • They encouraged monogamous relationships to "make it easier to discipline their slaves. ...
    • Explain the growth of slave religion in the United States according to Blassingame's argument
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