The document discusses various methods used by enslaved people to resist slavery in the Caribbean. It describes both non-violent/non-insurrectionary forms of resistance like malingering (working slowly), feigning illness, and escaping (maroonage); as well as more violent insurrectionary forms like poisoning owners, destroying property, and organized rebellions. It also notes that while women were often stereotyped as more accommodating to slavery, they actively resisted through means like labor withdrawal, sabotage, abortion, and running away with money. Overall, the document outlines the many creative ways enslaved people fought back against the oppressive system of slavery.

1. What do you do when you don’t
want to do work in a lesson?

2. Describe all these in one
word!!

3. THE ENVIRONMENT FOR
REBELLION
THEME
three:
RESISTANCE
AND
REVOLT

4. Review
Although they assumed that the Africans,
who arrived in the Caribbean, were
resigned to their status as slaves, there
was always the continued threat of mass
rebellion. Many planters were accustomed
to the fear of a rebellion on the colony.
As a result they created varied methods
of maintaining control over a population of
slaves that out-numbered them 100:2

5. English Laws: Denial of Civil Rights (right
to family, leisure, legal representation,
religious instruction, or identity).
Cultural control: Symbols removed: Things
that could allow the slave to create
national identity were denied.
Dehumanization: Referring to Africans as
animals, sub humans and non-entities.
Religious suppression or the use of
Christianity to convince Africans that God
ordained their present situation.
Divide and rule: Blacks vs. Colored slaves,
House slave vs. Field slave, Free Colored
vs. Black slaves.
M
E
T
H
O
D
S
O
F
C
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T
R
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L

6. Systems of Slave Control in the
BWI
• Physical
• Sexual
• Social
• Psychological
• Economic
• Legal

7. Examples Control Mechanism
• 1756 Thomas Thistlewood in Jamaica in
his diaries logged in that he loved to
control the slaves by physically and
sexually abusing them.
• In 1842 on the 5th of February Pierre
DeSalles in Martinique took half day on
Saturday to have his way with the
slaves.

8. On many levels the idea of the power of the
Plantocracy (THE WHITE AND SOMETIMES
FREE COLOURED PLANTER CLASS) and the
social finality of slavery, as well as the position of
the African was reinforced.

9. PHYSICAL
• Estates as self- contained living communities: Slaves
were usually barred from leaving the estates for ANY reason.
Estates contained pastures for animals, woodlands, provision
grounds, work fields, living quarters and cane fields.
Plantations were usually 250 hectares on average. The
factories to process the sugar cane into molasses was usually
on the plantation too.
• Great House: Large houses that denoted wealth and control.
Usually located on a small hill away from the slave quarters
but within see distance. The Great House was built as a
symbol of the master’s control over the slave, but had a
practical purpose of protection against possible slave
rebellions.
• Running of the plantations: 16½-hour working days, with
set times for breaks and work. The actual process of planting
and harvesting the cane was monotonous and labour
intensive.

10. PHYSICAL
• The slaves' every movement was watched by
the owners. The overseers, drivers and
watchmen had a vital role to play in this form
of control.
• Punishment was the biggest form of control.
The whip was a stimulus to labour and a
constant form of punishment.
• For fear of the hundreds of lashes the slaves
‘kept in line' and did basically as they were
told. The slaves could not move off the estate
without a pass. They worked for fourteen
hours a day under strict and constant
supervision.

11. Punishment of Slaves

31. SOCIAL
Regardless of position, the white population was
usually considered an exclusive unit which was
at the top of the social hierarchy. All positions
of power were given to whites, even if they
were not involved in the running of the estates.
Government officials, attorneys, doctors, as
well as judges were white.
On the plantations, absentee planters gave
overseers, book keepers, and white mechanics
and craftsmen rights over blacks.
Even white bondservants were given freedoms
that black slaves did not enjoy.

32. SOCIAL
How did the planters control the slaves in the
areas of food, clothing, housing and dress?
They dictated what they should eat and when they
should eat.
Although they built their own huts, they were directed
to build one room, one window, one door, and huts with
dirt floor- signifying and emphasizing their inferiority.
Slaves were not allowed to be educated. Ignorance was
a powerful means of control.
Their dress was inferior, of poor quality, lacking in style
and of course inadequate. It is said that children went
naked until about age six.
The adults were given two suits of clothing per year.
The domestic slaves were often given hand-me-down

33. Housing

41. LEGAL
Because most colonies in the British Caribbean had a
black to white population ratio of 200:1, laws had to
not only protect white life and property but to also
reinforce the stigma of being the enslaved people.
Each colony was allowed to create their own laws.
• Deficiency Acts: planters need to hire one white
servant to 10 black slaves in their possession.
• Police Laws (British): Rules that restricted slaves’
movement, ability to take care of themselves, right
to vote, make money, marry and maintain families,
inherit property and defend themselves. Also
stipulated what punishments could be given to
slaves and for how long.

42. • Even FREE COLOURED (free blacks and people
of mixed heritage) were not excluded from this
control.
• By law, free coloureds were prevented from
attaining wealth at the level of whites by such
means as property ownership. They also had to
carry with them a proof of freedom. If not
found with it, they ran the risk of being
enslaved again. Most islands forbade them
from owning plantations and some laws kept
coloured from taking up skills such as carpentry
and masonry or working in positions such as
book-keepers and overseers.

43. Psychological/Ideological
Control
• The whites argued that the Africans were
barbaric and uncivilized heathens. They were
doing them a favour by exposing them to
European civilization and Christianity. Most of
the psychological control surrounded the
slaves' race and colour which was seen as
inferior to the whites. The planters tried to
crush the slaves' spirit, but this was not
always easy. The Ashanti and Mandingo slaves,
for example, were known to be fierce and
resistant

44. Psychological/Ideological
Control
• They were stripped of their identity,
especially the African born slaves who were
forced to take the name given to them by
their owner. They were stripped of their
dignity- made to feel less than a human. Men
were not allowed to have any ego. When
placed in leadership positions it was of such
that the slaves that they were in charge of
hated them and saw them as traitors, for
example: Slave Drivers.

45. Cultural Control
• The slaves were not allowed to practice
their own religion. Instead, they were
forced to acknowledge their owner's
religion. They were only allowed to sit at
the back of the Anglican/Catholic
Churches. Certain aspects of their
culture such as their music and dance
were seen as vulgar, lewd and uncivilized
behaviour.

46. Cultural Control
• The planters openly scoffed at them. Other
aspects such as drumming were banned on
penalty of severe punishment, even death.
The planters in colonies with Maroons
settlements in particular would have either
known or heard of the effectiveness of the
abeng and drums as instruments of
communication in a revolt. Despite all of these
various methods of control, the slaves
resisted the system of slavery. The period of
slavery in the Indies is punctuated with acts
of resistance as well as bloody violent revolts.

47. A challenge!
Name the EMOJI
Each of these nine things stands for one
method that enslaved people used to
resist and fight against the system that
made them slaves.
How many do you think you can figure
out in 1 minute!

49. What links these?

50. Slave
Resistance
Learning objectives
To identify and evaluate ways in which
enslaved people resisted the institution of
slavery.

51. Escape
: Costs
owner
Poison their
owner: Costs
owner health
or life!
Working
really
slow:
Less
work, less
profit
Breaking
tools:
Wastes
time, costs
owner
Learning
to read
and write:
Knowledge
is power!
Pretending
not to
understand:
Wastes time,
costs owner
Faking
illness:
Wastes
time,
costs
owner
Stealing
stuff:
Costs
owner
Keeping
traditions:
Ensures
group
identity

53. Diamond 9
It’s time to set
a shining
example! Your
task is to create
a human diamond
nine.
1
4 5 6
9
2 3
8
7

54. Diamond 9
1) Rank these 9 means
of resistance in order
of HOW EFFECTIVE
they are.
2) Then you must
organise your group
into a diamond shape
like this. The person
with the most effective
way is at the top then
work your way down to
the least effective at
the bottom!
Can you do it?
1
4 5 6
9
2 3
8
7

55. Diamond 9
Now rank these 9
means of resistance
in order of HOW
BRAVE slaves would
have to be to do it.
1
4 5 6
9
2 3
8
7

56. Diamond 9
And finally, rank
these means of
resistance in order
of HOW
DAMAGING they
were to the wealth
of the plantation
owners.
1
4 5 6
9
2 3
8
7

57. Most effective
Decide on the most important type of
resistance that we have looked at today.
.

58. Non – violent or Non-
Insurrectionary Resistance Defined
• Non- Insurrectionary may be defined as
the subtle methods used by the slaves
to express their rejection of slavery.
• It is not easily detected.
• Usually by the time the authorities
realise what is happening the procedure
is in its final stage.

59. Non- Insurrectionary
Resistance con’t
• Majority of the enslaved people used
non violent methods to resist the
oppressive planters.
• Non-insurrectionary methods were a
prolonged non-violent approach to
resisting slavery.

60. Non- Insurrectionary
Resistance con’t
• Grand Maroonage (running away)
• Maritime Maroonage in the Eastern
Caribbean ( fled as stowaways on ships)
• Suicide
• Malingering (time wasting or go slow)
• Poisoning
• Pretend being sick
• Ill treating estate animals.
• Sabotage

61. • Telling lies, to avoid work
• Refusal to work (strikes)
• Suicide
• Self mutilation in order to be unable to
work. For eg. By cutting off an arm or
leg.

62. Violent or Insurrectionary
Resistance Defined
• Tended to be violent and caused more
damage to the plantation and whole
system of slavery.

63. Insurrectionary Resistance
• Such methods included:
• Murder of plantation owner(s) - poisoning was
one such method used by the domestics.
• Destruction of property - damage to
plantation tools and machinery done in such a
manner so as to appear accidental. Over a
prolonged period, this caused considerable
cost to the plantation in terms of repairs.
• Rebellions. Planned revolts
• Maiming and killing of livestock

64. SUICIDE
• The African slaves in particular believed
that after death their spirit returned
to Africa.
• They were, therefore, willing to obtain
the ultimate and irreversible freedom.
• The Ebos, it is argued, were more prone
to committing suicide.
• It also became gender specific.

65. MALINGERING
• This is known as 'go slow'.
• The slaves would deliberately work
slower or below their productive
capacity.
• This was particularly effective at
harvest time when a few hours behind
schedule could make a world of
difference in the level of profit
realised.

66. ILL-TREATMENT OF ESTATE
ANIMALS
• The slaves would deliberately wound the
estate animal with intent to harm or kill them.
• It would cost the master a pretty penny to
replace these animals. Of course, the kind of
accomplishment that the slave would feel
when, in the short run, the planter/overseer
is alarmed as the animal 'drops dead' or is
unable to turn the mill at harvest time
because of a wound to its leg.

67. MURDER BY POISON
• Arsenic was probably the most common
form of poisoning but the slaves also
used 'potions' that they obtained from
the obeah men, as well as their own
concoction from trees and shrubs. For
example, in 1774 an overseer on a
Barbadian plantation was murdered
(poisoned) by his slaves.

68. Maroonage
• RUNAWAYS
Running away or 'pulling foot' was a fairly common means of resistance.
• What were the factors that made running away successful for the slave?
• Colonies with hilly interiors such as Grenada or St. Lucia or mountains (Jamaica
the Cockpits) or dense forested interiors (British Guiana). Remember that the
last two colonies boasted the presence of Maroon and Bush Negro villages. St.
Lucia's runaways were called brigands while Dominica and St. Vincent also had
sizeable maroon communities.
• Neighbouring territories such as Cuba and Puerto Rico were viewed as cities of
refuge. Runaways could slip away on one of the many ships that plied the
Caribbean waters doing trade.
• In the crowded busy harbours, ports and towns of the cities Bridgeport, Port
of Spain, Kingston, etc., fugitives could easily pass as free men. In a few cases,
the cost of recapturing the fugitive delayed the recapturing process and that
delay offered the slave an excellent chance to make his or her get away. The
planters had to underwrite the cost of advertisement in the press, or use
posters in public places. In addition, he had to fit out an expedition party to
search for the fugitive. This was very costly and it was arguably cheaper
(depending also on the length of time it took to recapture the slave) to just buy
another slave to replace the escapee.

69. THE MAROONS
• In Jamaica, the first Maroons were the indigenous Tainos, a
group of Arawak people that migrated from South and
Central America. They moved to the hills when the Spanish
invaded Jamaica in 1494. A number of the first Africans
that were brought into Jamaica by the Spanish, 1513
onwards, moved straight to the hills. They came into contact
with and lived among the Tainos.
• The lifestyle of the early Maroons was a combination of
Taino and African traditions, which were similar in many
ways. There was a chief and a council of elders. They spoke
several languages – the most common was called Kramanti,
which was similar to the Twi language of the Asante people
of Ghana. Their main contact with the outside was their
secret trade in jerk pork with the Spanish resistance, which
extended to Cuba, and trade with the pirates for who jerk

70. Activity 2
• In your groups create a soca song based
on the types of resistance we learned
today
• You must compose one verse and a
chorous.

71. And finally...
Remember my challenge...
How many forms of resistance can you
remember?
Look at the board. Were you right?

73. Role of Women in Slave
Resistance
• Is it that the
women
accommodated
slavery more easily
than men?
• Pro slavery stereo
type of female
slave has to be
abandoned.
• Women wanted
liberty which

74. • Writers of the
time such as Monk
Lewis and Mrs.
Carmichael showed
that women were
more bothersome
than men and were
referred to as
‘female demons’ and
‘bothersome
domestic servants.’

75. • Monk Lewis recorded that having tried
every method to be accommodative
enslaved women were more bothersome.
• In Trinidad legislation to ban whipping
of women was hindered by planters who
saw women as being insolent and merit
punishment. They got support from the
Colonial Office.

76. • Women were dominant in the field and were
punished just the same like men.
• No matter the gender, occupation, or colour
resisting oppression was a must.
• Women used non violent means to resist
slavery from malingering, labour withdrawal.
These resulted in deportation of four women
in Barbados to Virginia for laziness.

77. In Barbados
• Women like Mary Turner and Barbara
Bush wrote of acts of resistance such
as abortion, infanticide, market women
running away with money, sabotage of
the factory work. These were a few
things slave women did to resist.

78. Cultural Resistance by Female
Slaves.
• Barbara Bush tells us that female slaves
practiced Cultural Resistance.
• Slave women refused to adopt European
Culture and retained Afro Centric
values.
• The same ladies used Creole to curse
the planters and the overseers.
• Planters fragmented the family and this
created a break down in cultural values.

79. • Some women ran away while others destroyed the planter’s
property.
• Killing livestock (field) was one such form of active resistance.
• They faced horrific punishments if caught, including the cutting
off of ears, and the pulling out of teeth.
• Women who resisted by raising their hands to the master, or
any white person, for that matter, were punished severely: if
not by death, their hands would be amputated. This form of
amputation would also be administered to slaves who stole.
• At Maumee bay in Jamaica, a female slave with but only one
hand, the other having being cut off…white woman swearing that
the slave had struck her

80. • enslaved women did not commit any offense.
• Some planters were blatantly sick and sadistic in the
severity of the actions that they took. In one case in
Jamaica, a narrator describes a slave woman,
screaming and suspended by her wrists on a tree.
• She swayed back and forth.
• The observer saw no sign of whippings, but upon
looking closer he was horrified to see that the master
was "seemingly motionless" and was holding a stick of
fire in his hand to which he occasionally touched her
with it as she swung.