Question

Outright slave rebellions were rare in the Antebellum South. What methods did slaves use to diminish and resist slavery? On the other hand, what kept African-Americans enslaved? What were the “invisible chains” of slavery?

Answer 1

Slaves had three available methods to diminish and resist slavery:

• They could rebel against slaveholders.
• They could run away.
• They could perform small, daily acts of resistance, such as slowing down work.

African-Americans slaves played a major, though unwilling and generally unrewarded, role in laying the economic foundations of the United States—especially in the South. They also played a leading role in the development of Southern speech, folklore, music, dancing, and food, blending the cultural traits of their African homelands with those of Europe. During the 17th and 18th centuries, African and African Americans (those born in the New World) slaves worked mainly on the tobacco, rice, and indigo plantations of the Southern seaboard. Eventually, slavery became rooted in the South’s huge cotton and sugar plantations.

After Slavery, The trauma continued long after slavery ended through terrorism from violent white supremacist groups. Black people lived in constant fear of getting lynched at the whim of white people–without having any access to justice. After Slavery, During the Civil Rights Movement, peaceful demands were there.