Resistance and rebellion
- Slaves were notoriously lazy and ill disposed to labour
- Enslaved Africans would resort to more open or violent means of resistance,
including the poisoning of animals and owners, and sometimes turned it against
themselves by committing infanticide, self-mutilation and suicide
- Resistance to slavery had a long history, beginning in Africa itself. Rebellion
would reach its peak in 1791, when the enslaved people of the French colony of
St Domingue defeated three European powers to establish the first Black
republic: Haiti
Resistance in Africa
- In African societies, there are many examples of opposition to the transatlantic
slave trade. One of the earliest documented is the correspondence of the Kongo
ruler Nzinga Mbemba (also known as Afonso I, c. 1446–1543) who wrote to the
king of Portugal, João III, in 1526 to demand an end to the illegal depopulation of
his kingdom. The Kongolese king's successor Garcia II made similar
unsuccessful protests
- Several Muslim states in West Africa, including Futa Toro in the Senegal River
basin in the late 18th century and, in the early 19th, Futa Jallon in what is now
Guinea, were opposed to the trafficking of humans. In Futa Jallon, the religious
leader Abd al-Qadir wrote a letter to British slave traders threatening death to
anyone who tried to procure slaves in his country
The Middle Passage
- It is now estimated that, during 1 in 10 of all Atlantic crossings - the so called
'Middle Passage' – there was some kind of rebellion, Africans continuing on
board the resistance that had failed ashore. Alexander Falconbridge, a slave-ship
surgeon who became an abolitionist, certainly believed that rebellions on ships
were common and expected, and the Middle Passage became increasingly
dangerous for crews. As a result, slave traders demanded more shackles and
arms to hold their captives securely, increasing production in England
- In many of these rebellions, it appears that women played an important role, as
they were sometimes permitted more freedom of movement on board ships. On
numerous occasions, however, maritime rebellion might simply consist of
jumping overboard and committing suicide rather than continuing to endure
slavery. It seems that the idea that, in death, there was also a return home to
Africa was widespread among the enslaved both on the slave ships and in the
Americas
- Slaves were notoriously lazy and ill disposed to labour
- Enslaved Africans would resort to more open or violent means of resistance,
including the poisoning of animals and owners, and sometimes turned it against
themselves by committing infanticide, self-mutilation and suicide
- Resistance to slavery had a long history, beginning in Africa itself. Rebellion
would reach its peak in 1791, when the enslaved people of the French colony of
St Domingue defeated three European powers to establish the first Black
republic: Haiti
Resistance in Africa
- In African societies, there are many examples of opposition to the transatlantic
slave trade. One of the earliest documented is the correspondence of the Kongo
ruler Nzinga Mbemba (also known as Afonso I, c. 1446–1543) who wrote to the
king of Portugal, João III, in 1526 to demand an end to the illegal depopulation of
his kingdom. The Kongolese king's successor Garcia II made similar
unsuccessful protests
- Several Muslim states in West Africa, including Futa Toro in the Senegal River
basin in the late 18th century and, in the early 19th, Futa Jallon in what is now
Guinea, were opposed to the trafficking of humans. In Futa Jallon, the religious
leader Abd al-Qadir wrote a letter to British slave traders threatening death to
anyone who tried to procure slaves in his country
The Middle Passage
- It is now estimated that, during 1 in 10 of all Atlantic crossings - the so called
'Middle Passage' – there was some kind of rebellion, Africans continuing on
board the resistance that had failed ashore. Alexander Falconbridge, a slave-ship
surgeon who became an abolitionist, certainly believed that rebellions on ships
were common and expected, and the Middle Passage became increasingly
dangerous for crews. As a result, slave traders demanded more shackles and
arms to hold their captives securely, increasing production in England
- In many of these rebellions, it appears that women played an important role, as
they were sometimes permitted more freedom of movement on board ships. On
numerous occasions, however, maritime rebellion might simply consist of
jumping overboard and committing suicide rather than continuing to endure
slavery. It seems that the idea that, in death, there was also a return home to
Africa was widespread among the enslaved both on the slave ships and in the
Americas
