Essay On The Role Of Slavery In The 19th Century

In the nineteenth century, slavery was at its peak, reaching millions of slaves in the nation by the mid-1800s. As messages of equality were presented by free blacks, abolitionists, and Evangelical preachers, slaves in the south began to fight for their freedom. Slaves in America fought in both organized and unorganized ways, which eventually freed many slaves and enticed reactions from both pro-abolitionists and anti-abolitionists. Many slaves organized revolts to fight for their freedom. The first of these was held in 1800 by Gabriel Porter. He united many slaves and armed them all, however, a storm dispersed the plan. Two of the slaves told their owners, who rounded the rebels and executed them, so this wasn’t successful. In 1822, a man

One of the most influential modes of unorganized revolution was through running away. Thousands of slaves would take their families or escape on their own to the north, where many abolitionists and free black men lived and would take them in. However, crossing the border states was difficult, as news reports about runaway slaves quickly spread and they would soon be captured by local townsfolk. To make escape more effective and safe, an underground railroad was adopted. The underground railroad was “a loosely organized network of safe houses in the border states, [and they] helped more than 20,000 runaways make their way to freedom (PBS). This was run by free black s and sympathetic whites by the 1850s, approximated 100,000 slaves escaped (BC terry). Even though many slaves ran for their freedom, some resisted in even smaller ways. Many worked inefficiently on the plantation, others stole provisions form owners, and some sabotaged and purposely wasted the resources of their masters. By committing these small acts of rebellion and by running away, thousands of slaves joined the free blacks in the north to support abolition movements—but this caused a great divide between pro and