atlantic slave trade - effectiveness of slave resistance

2. LEARNING INTENTIONS
• Explain reasons why slave resistance
was sometimes successful
• Explain reasons why slave resistance
was not always successful

3. Slaves fought back against their owners and
captors in different ways. However, was this
resistance always effective?

4. Slave resistance took many
different forms.
Passive resistance included
being late for work, working
slowly or pretending to not
understand owners.
Active resistance included
attacking owners, damaging
crops or running away.

5. The success of slave
resistance was
generally based on
two issues:
• Reduced profits for
the owner
• Better treatment
for the slaves

6. Reduced profits
An owner’s main priority
was to make as much
money as possible.
By working less, running
away, damaging crops or
other actions, slave
owners would lose money.

7. Better treatment
Owners did not want to lose
money or feel unsafe.
Some owners did improve
their treatment of slaves,
based on their resistance.
Others felt it was easier to
use workers, not slaves.

8. Slave resistance was not
always effective, for many
reasons, including:
• Threat of punishment
• Chance of worse
treatment
• Slave hunters
• Location
• Divisions between slaves
• Stronger owners

9. Threat of punishment
Many slaves would not
rebel because of the threat
of punishment.
They knew that anyone
caught rebelling faced
serious consequences,
including whipping or
even death.

10. Chance of worse treatment
Other slaves did not rebel
because they thought it
would make life worse.
They believed that even if
they were not specifically
punished, the owner
might treat all slaves
worse e.g. more work.

11. Slave hunters
Slave owners offered
rewards which encouraged
groups of slave hunters to
track escaped slaves.
Most escaped slaves were
eventually recaptured –
and then punished.

12. Location problems
Running away was difficult
for slaves in the Caribbean
because it was hard to
escape from the islands.
Slaves did not have access
to boats and so were likely
to eventually be caught.

13. Divisions between slaves
Slave rebellion also failed
because of divisions
between different slaves.
Some slaves had extra
privileges and did not want
to lose these, so would not
support rebellion, or even
warn the owner.

14. Stronger owners
Unlike slaves, owners
had weapons (such as
guns) and so resistance
might lead to death.
Also owners had better
diets and lives so might
be stronger and better
able to fight.

15. Ultimately slave
resistance had limited
impact.
This is best shown in
the fact that the trade
continued for hundreds
of years, showing it
remained very
profitable for owners.