Although it was unlawful to raise your have at your master slaves all probably had the thought run through their minds on numerous occasions, but just were never brave enough to do it. Frederick Douglass, on the other hand, thought about it and in fact put his plan into action. He was assigned to “the slave breaker” and after a number of beatings he finally decided that enough was enough and figured it was time to fight back and surprisingly he was successful. From that day forward his master never raised another hand at him. Fighting back physically was not the only way slaves rebelled against their masters.
As time went on slaves found different ways to get under their masters skin and beat the system. While the slaves were working in the fields their masters would act as overseers to make sure they were working as hard as they possibly could all day. The overseers would appoint the youngest men to set the pace and everyone else was expected to keep up. The slaves would do things such as working slow, breaking tools and even pretending they did not understand English to avoid doing the tasks at hand. Slaves got introduced to the task system, which is where they all had tasks that they were expected to have completed by the end of the day. The creation of the task system was positive for slaves because the overseers were now likely to be African American.
Slaves also had to deal with false hope. They planned rebellions such as the Stone-O Rebellion in South Carolina. The Spanish and the British were on bad terms and due to their disputes the Spanish promised freedom to slaves if they could make it to Florida. Unfortunately, the South Carolina militia caught them before they made it to Florida and passed a law to fine slave owners who did not appropriately punish their slaves. Another hope for African Americans was when President George Washington passed the Northwest Ordinance banning slavery.
The Northwest Ordinance banned slavery strictly in territories in the North West. The Northern and Southern parts of America were still split in their views towards slavery. In the North they felt as if slaves were okay to be let free, but in the south they wanted to keep slavery alive because slavery was vital to southern prosperity. The issues of Emancipation versus Manumission started to arise which made Congress decide in 1780 that any child born into slavery would be a slave and once they turned 28 then they can be set free. Later, in 1787, slavery is recognized in the Constitution in the form of the two thirds clause. The south practiced legal slavery, while those in the North practiced social slavery. African Americans understood themselves to be Americans because as generations went on they were not imported but born and raised in America.
There were various attempts at ending slavery. William Garrison published “The Liberator” which was an anti-slavery newspaper that was pushing the abolition movement and the immediate and absolute end of slavery. Garrison also founded a racially integrated anti-slavery society for full and equal rights for African Americans and even with all the attempts Garrison still fell short of accomplishing his plan of the immediate end of slavery.
While William Garrison and the rest of the abolitionists were trying to put an end to slavery, Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793 would pro-long slavery. This invention caused America to be producing three-fourths of the cotton in the world. As cotton spread, slavery did as well. At this time majority of white Southerners did not own slaves farther south.
Religion played a big role in the lifestyles of slaves. Slaves saw religion as a source of emotional support. They broke away from the church their masters made them attend and started attending their own services. When whites became aware of this they passed a series of statements making it illegal to teach slaves to do things such as read, become preachers, own firearms and they banned them from attending Sunday afternoon sermons. However, the slaves still had their church services in secret. Slaves such as Frederick Douglass were eager and determined to learn how to read and found ways to receive secret lessons.
Slavery was not in every state, in fact there were a few states that went by popular sovereignty. Due to popular sovereignty a lot of slaves tried to escape to Free states so that they would be able to live their lives freely. Unfortunately, for them Congress passed a law known as the Fugitive Slave Act in an effort to capture all runaway slaves. The problem with this act is that a lot of free African Americans became enslaved due to lack of accuracy in the descriptions made by the slave owners. The Fugitive Slave Act led to many African Americans fleeing to Canada to avoid being falsely captured.
Slavery had a lot of contradictions and one popular contradiction is that of the Dred Scot decision. Is it really lawful to go from being a slave to a free man and then back to a slave again? This is the exact same question that pondered in the mind of Dred Scot.
In the mid-19th century a presidential candidate by the name of Abraham Lincoln comes along and helps pave the pathway that would soon put an end to the drawn out disputes over slavery. He agreed with the idea of Free Soilers, meaning residents that lived on free land, were in fact free. He stated, “Free soil is a step to the absolute extinction of slavery.” Abraham Lincoln would go on to win the Election of 1860 and shortly after on January 1, 1863 during the Civil War, he passed the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all slaves forever.
Overall, there were a lot of circumstances and situations that African Americans encountered on their road to get through and eventually surpass slavery. All the hard beatings, long hours in the fields and failed attempts at running away were small stepping stones on route to a better life for themselves as well as their families. They helped to shape America into a better place for all generations that have followed and will continue in years to come.
Works Cited
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
George Stade, New York, NY: 1845. Print. © 2003.
Johnson, Michael P. Reading the American Past: Richard Allen Founds the First
African Methodist Church. New York. © 2012.
Johnson, Michael P. Reading the American Past: Nathaniel Bacon Declaration, 1676.
New York. © 2012.
