Today in class, our focus was on resistance to slavery. Although we read several passages in preparation for today’s class, for the most part the focus was on Levine’s “Black Culture” with little references to the other passages. I split it up into two parts just because it was easier that way.
The lecture, as I decided, had two main themes: the creation and maintenance of a slave society and resistance to that slave society. We will begin with the creation and maintenance of the slave society. It should be noted that a slave society is different from a society with slaves; a slave society is a society in which slavery is considered one of its founding principles and is therefore woven into the fabric of that society. In order to create such a society, America codified slavery in the Constitution in its three-fifths compromise and the first Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 which was later reinforced by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, both allowed slave owners to recover their slaves from anywhere in the country; by the time the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, any black person could, regardless of whether or not they were previously free, be taken into slavery. Because the Constitution only covered those considered a whole person and slaves were only considered to be three-fifths of a person, technically they were not guaranteed anything outlined in the Bill of Rights so in order to be certain that the slaves would not have access to these rights, states put into place various laws, also known as “slave codes.” In addition to codification, various slave ports were also established, ports in Charleston, SC and New York, NY were the two largest, to ensure that the importation of this “property” was possible. In order to enforce and maintain this slave society, whites made use of three methods: dehumanization, subjugation, and coercion. Means of dehumanization included, but were not limited to, preventing the slaves from gathering, reading, and writing. They did not want these things to happen because expressing feelings, telling of atrocities, being educated, having familial structures similar to that of whites, et cetera, were all things that would humanize the slaves (and give them the tools to revolt/rebel) and therefore jeopardize the vitality of the slave society. Means of subjugation included, but were not limited to, things like the fugitive slave law that allowed slaveholders to retain control of their slaves at pretty much all costs. Means of coercion included, but were not limited to, any ways the slave holders decided to threaten, mutilate, beat, et cetera, slaves; they were allowed to do anything because slaves were property. This slave society was prepared to deal with slaves who did not do what they were told whether it be by laws that granted permission, or widely accepted customs and traditions.
Onto the resistance to the slave society on behalf of those enslaved. People were all over the place when it came to their responses to slavery, in regards to how they chose to resist slavery, if they chose to do so at all. There is a spectrum that can be used when it comes to their degree of resistance (pictured below). The vast majority of those enslaved fall somewhere in the middle.
Other Notable Mentions:
-Olaudah Equiano who was captured from Nigeria and wrote a narrative about his life that does a fine job of illustrating the ills of slavery.
-In the 19th century, we saw the country becoming more and more pro-slavery. As the U.S. continued to expand, so did slavery.
-1809 slave trade ends, at least legally; it is believed to have gone on until the late 1800s.
-People who are not considered a whole person do not have standing in court.
-Although the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made people more anti-slavery, it did not make them anti-white supremacy.
-Although the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made people more anti-slavery, it did not make them anti-white supremacy.
-From the mid to late 1800s, anywhere from 20,000-50,000 slaves tried to run away.
-During war, coercive power of slavery undermined because men were off to war and were not there to enforce the means of coercion and slaves took advantage of these opportunities.
For more information: refer to your notes, re-read the assigned readings, or speak with The Detective.
I think the songs were more than just a subtle act of rebellion. They were monumental in slaves' lives because it helped them bond, commune, and allowed them to articulate their feelings. The spirituals are also huge in the sense that it let slaves interpret God, and His justice, for themselves.
ReplyDeleteGoing of of Nash's point about the spirituals, I find it amazing and intriguing at how religion is such an important factor for almost all people in the antebellum United States, particularly for the Blacks. In the South, religion fueled spirituals as well as revolt as we see in the case of Nat Turner who received a divine message. We also see the Blacks in the North cite religion and equality under God as reasons why they should have social equality and justice. We can also take a look at the slaveholders who perverted religion in order to maintain and justify the social construct which is slavery. Religion is obviously one of the most powerful forces in this time period the effect it had on the people of the time were tremendous.
ReplyDeleteI thought an interesting aspect of Levin's article that we just touched on in class was the idea that the slaves were practicing a truer form of Christianity than their masters. I thought this was an important part of the building of the communal slave society. Similar to the slave songs, these shared beliefs and intensely held concepts of their religion helped the form a tight community, and in some sense more human space. I thought this was also similar to the songs because while not actively resisting the institution of slavery with these beliefs, they still allowed for them to cope with the situation and have hope that in the end they would be better off than their masters.
ReplyDeleteThe in-class discussion was more or less everyone making their case on whether or not slaves' spirituals were a form of rebellion or a coping mechanism. And quite honestly, I still can't decide. I dunno if this is *cheating* or not, but I've read the assignments for this week, and as far as the definition of "rebellion" goes, according to our readings, nothing about spirituals, the civil war, or emancipation is considered an out and out rebellion.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's not just me, but some of what is recorded at this time seem so stupid to me. More specifically, the view on Christianity and its role in the antebellum US. Christianity is forced on slaves, it's the whites' duty to convert and guide slaves to Jesus, but it's unlawful for black folks to congregate and worship. All the while black folks are holding onto their faith, believing themselves to be saved and their masters going to hell for perverting Christianity. While at the same time, the Bible condones slavery. I find this irritating.
Although we did not discuss this topic in class on Thursday, the topic of other slave societies in relation to the institution of slavery in the American South has been brought up. Ironically, one of the paper topics in my class on the Roman Republic was the question of rather conditions for slaves were more inhumane in the American South than in the Roman Republic. Upon further investigation for the paper, I discovered that conditions were certainly more unfavorable in terms of societal rank for black slaves in the American South. The population of slaves in the Roman Empire was predominately made up of people from lands conquered by the Romans. However, it was a common practice in the Roman Empire for Roman masters to free their slaves in compensation for their hard work. Ex-slaves also had the opportunity to become Roman citizens and receive a fair amount of wealth and prominence in Roman society. Slavery was not based on racism, as it was in the American South. As we have learned in this class, it became extremely difficult for African Americans, both slave and free, to blend into American society. African Americans did not have the same sense of entitlement (American citizenship for example), that former slaves had in the Roman Empire. I was shocked that the Roman Empire, a brutal and war based society, was much more compensating towards former slaves than American society. I thought this information was interesting, and just wanted to share. Here is an article with more information:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jbu.edu/assets/academics/journal/resource/file/2011/ryan_stephens.pdf
I remember one of the sources commenting on the comparison of American Slavery with other forms of historical slavery, and we briefly discussed this in class. It seems to me with both these sources, as well as other general knowledge I have about former instances of slavery, that this was truly one of the first times that the question of an individual's humanity was used to force them into slavery. In former instances, slavery was more based on socio-economic factors, people held as prisoners of war, conquered territories, etc. It doesn't appear to me that any comparison, including the Roman Empire, can relate to the views that slaveholders had on their slaves. These individuals being viewed as property is comparable, but their status as humans never seemed to be in question in previous examples of historical slavery. In addition to the comments we had made on the chances of rising up in society, etc... this seemed to be a significant difference to me.
ReplyDeleteOff of Sarah's point, I do know that the Spanish questioned the humanity of the natives they encountered when they first explored and conquered the New World, and, although they were ultimately not able to completely enslave the indigenous (although even this point is debatable), they were denied their humanity and in practice if not in name, slaves through the encomienda and mita systems. Many comparisons can be made between the slavery of the indigenous and later mestizo and the blacks in the New World.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I think that slave spirituals are clearly not forms of resistance. As we discussed, although the penalty would most likely be death, ACTUAL resistance was still an option, in the form of some type of rebellion. I believe that this ultimately would serve as a greater form of resistance and activism than just singing and creating a more unified culture and sense of identity, even if these songs would often make fun of their masters. Ultimately, I think these spirituals served more to unify slaves and help them cope with slavery than to actually resist it.