The Slave System

Slaves and SlaveryThe South and SlaveryCotton leads to a boom in slavery.1790 500,000 slaves18604,000,000 slaves

Slave Culture The formation of a solidified slave culture was also an important mechanism of survival for bonds people

Definition: defined as a melding of African and Western religious principles and customs under slavery

3Slaves attempted to preserve the culture that they had brought with them from Africa. Jeanette Murphy recalled: "During my childhood my observations were centered upon a few very old negroes who came directly from Africa, and upon many others whose parents were African born, and I early came to the conclusion, based upon negro authority, that the greater part of the music, their methods, their scale, their type of thought, their dancing, their patting of feet, their clapping of hands, their grimaces and pantomime, and their gross superstitions came straight from Africa."

Slave culture was an autonomous space apart from oppressive white-American society, where enslaved people might simply carry on certain religious practices and celebrate in a particular manner.Customs: Ring ShoutNaming practicesCultural patterns Linguistic systems

4Slave culture represented the beginning of a black nationalist ethos with direct connections to African custom and belief. ring shout, a dance derived from African religious ceremonies. SHOUTSAfter regular a worship service, congregations used to stay for a ring shout. It was a survival of primitive African dance. So, educated ministers and members placed a ban on it. The men and women arranged themselves in a ring. The music started, perhaps with a Spiritual, and the ring began to move, at first slowly, then with quickening pace. The same musical phrase was repeated over and over for hours. This produced an ecstatic state. Women screamed and fell. Men, exhausted, dropped out of the ring

naming practices: While slaveholders often insisted on naming slave children (as a means of control), African Americans renamed them in honor of ancestors, parents, and African customs.Slave culture was not uniform throughout the United States, however.

African-derived cultural patterns and linguistic systems developed more fully in South Carolina than anywhere else, and some still survive (such as Gullah). Afro-English language

FamiliesSlave marriages were not legally recognized Subject to being split up by the sale of individual members

Extended family ties to include distant as well as close relatives

5Religion and MusicServices were a rich blend of Christian elements and traditional African beliefs, music and dance Spirituals were sung for work, relaxation and worship

6-central to the slaves religion was their belief that they were Gods chosen people who would eventually reach a promised land free from their oppressors

Attempts were made to stop slaves from continuing with African religious rituals. Drums were banned as overseers feared that they could be used to send messages. They were particularly concerned that they would be used to signal a slave uprising.

Slaves would often sing while at work. In his autobiography, Frederick Douglass recorded how slaves "would make the dense old woods, for miles around, reverberate with their wild songs, revealing at once the highest joy and the deepest sadness." The songs told of the slave's loves, work and floggings and served as rhythmic accompaniment to labour. Folktales and Humor Means of passing on their culture Based on African stories but related local situations, family histories and personal experiencesTrickster tales

7-most of the tales concerned everyday human relationships, detailing the importance of friendship or a parents love and caring -storytelling gave African Americans a way of talking about whites and slavery in a guarded form -trickster tales allowed African Americans to reverse at least in the mind the harsh fact of the master-slave relationship Out of these dire circumstances arose a spirit that made life bearable. This was often expressed in the riddles and jokes made up and in the tales that were told. The stories were often an expression of the experiences which they underwent. In the introduction to her book The People Could Fly , Virginia Hamilton tells us that the slaves created tales in which various animalssuch as the rabbit, fox, bear, wolf, turtle or terrapin, snake, and possumtook on the characteristics of the people found in the new environment of the plantation. (p. x) Brer or Bruh Rabbit became a favorite of the storytellers. He was small and apparently helpless compared to the powerful bear, the wily fox, and the ferocious wolf. But the slaveteller made the rabbit smart, tricky, and clever, the winner over larger and stronger animals. Still, Bruh Rabbit sometimes got into trouble, just as the slaves did, which made him seem all the more human. (p. x).

-the ability to maintain hope in the face of overwhelming abuse was perhaps enslaved African Americans most remarkable form of resistanceAttempts at Resistance Fake an illness Slow their work paceDamage tools or other propertySlaves mutilated themselvesRun away

8Despite their lack of legal power, slaves used several strategies to improve their living and working conditions. -running away-working slowly-open rebellion

Slaves mutilated themselves-cutting off toes or hands -hoping to avoid being sold or to escape harsh treatment and overwork Attempts at Rebellion 1800 An uprising by slaves is stopped near Richmond, Virginia led by Gabriel Prosser.Thirty-seven slaves are hanged. 1811 Slaves revolt in Louisiana. Sixty-six slaves are beheaded; their heads are displayed along roadways 1822 Rebellion of slaves led by Denmark Vesey, who plan to seize Charleston, South Carolina, is stopped by the militia.

9In the first half of the 19th century there were several small uprisings involving slaves in the south 1800 An uprising by slaves is stopped near Richmond, Virginia led by Gabriel Prosser. Thirty-seven slaves are hanged.-Prosser's plan involved an attack on the city of Richmond, chosen because of the four-to-one ratio of blacks to whites in the city's immediate vicinity. He hoped that after capturing Richmond and its arsenal and killing aall whites except Methodists, Frenchmen, and Quakers (who were considered sympathetic to the slaves' plight), the rest of Virginia's 300,000 slaves would rise up to join the rebellion. If they did not, Prosser planned to conduct a guerrilla warfare campaign. On August 30, 1800, as many as 1,000 slaves marched on Richmond, but heavy rains washed out essential roads and bridges, which slowed the African Americans in their progress. The rebellion was quickly put to an end by Virginia militia forces, and nearly 30 slaves were captured, tried, and executed.Prosser himself was captured,tried and hanged1811 Slaves revolt in Louisiana. Sixty-six slaves are beheaded; their heads are displayed along roadways1822 Rebellion of slaves led by Denmark Vesey, who plan to seize Charleston, South Carolina, is stopped by the militia. -he called for a massive slave uprising in Charleston and the surrounding area -they were all tried and executedStruck terror into the hearts of southern whites -slaves held the majority in Charleston (57%) Turners RebellionTime: August of 1831Plan: murder as many whites as possible Place: Southhampton County, Virginia Who: 6 coconspiratorsDead: 55 whitesAftermath: vindictive legislation

newspaper cartoon depicts the violent slave uprising 10Nat Turner led a slave rebellion that terrified white Southerners and led to increased restrictions on African Americans, both slave and free, living in the South. Turner was a religious mystic who felt that he was ordained by God to lead the struggle to destroy slavery. Turner's plan was to murder as many whites as possible and conduct a guerrilla campaign from swamps on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Turner and six co-conspirators killed his master and the master's family on August 22, 1831. The group then traveled to nearby plantations and killed any whites they encountered. Dozens of slaves joined Turner as news of the murders spread to surrounding plantations, so that he eventually commanded a force of approximately 60 men. In one night, some 55 whites were killed before most of the rebels were killed or captured in the following days by local militia and U.S. Army troops numbering roughly 3,000 men. . While awaiting trial, Turner dictated his autobiography On November 5, Turner was tried and convicted; six days later, he was executed by hanging. Nat Turner's Rebellion caused a wave of vindictive legislation in the South against all African Americans, which limited their few privileges and restricted their activities. It also ended all discussions of gradually emancipating slaves in the Upper South and virtually destroyed any hopes of ending slavery by reform. The Underground RailroadEarly help provided by Quaker abolitionists in PA and NJName adapted from the popularization of the new railroadsJames Fairfield, Harriet Tubman, John Parker

11the Underground Railroad provided them the opportunity and assistance for escaping slavery and finding freedom. One of the most curious characteristics of the Underground Railroad was its lack of formal organization. No one knows exactly when it started, but there were certainly isolated cases of help given to runaways as early as the 1700s. By the early 19th century, there were organized flights to freedom. Much of the early help was provided by Quaker abolitionists in Pennsylvania and New JerseyThe name probably originated from the popularity of the new railroads coupled with several legendary and publicized escapes (though they were not via the railroads. Underground operations generally relied heavily on secret codes as railroad jargon alerted "passengers" when travel was safe. Runaways usually commuted either alone or in small groups, and were frequently assisted by African American and White "conductors" who risked their lives and property to escort refugees to freedom. James Fairfield, a White abolitionist who went into the Deep South and rescued enslaved African Americans by posing as a slave trader. Harriet Tubman escaped from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and became known as "Moses" to her people when she made 19 trips to the South and helped deliver at least 300 fellow captives and loved ones to liberation. African American abolitionist John Parker of Ripley, Ohio, frequently ventured to Kentucky and Virginia and helped transport by boat hundreds of runaways across the Ohio River.

Some images of Slavery