Mum Bett's Oppression Of Slave Women During The American Revolution

The American Revolution brought the long lingering assumption that the colonists reasoning behind wanting to disassociate themselves from England was for the same reasons that African slaves within the states wanted to gain their own personal freedom as well. This Revolutionary war last from 1765 through 1783 and within those eighteen years of battles, although blacks could fight alongside the US or British soldiers. However, before the war had even begun, a small revolution amongst certain black communities long before the battle begun. A historical African American figure named Mum Bett from Massachusetts took matters into her own hands early on. As a house slave, she used her accessibility to information she would hear within her master’s

Bett was a house slave for a well-established family in Massachusetts, which is in the northern part of the country. Many argued that slave women were not as rebellious as their male slave counterparts but historical figures of this time like Bett prove that argument to be false. Slave women were just as rebellious and arguably even more effective in their resistance than slave men for numerous reason. A great example of the resistance slave women used would be a case like Bett’s. Although her owners were known around their town as prestigious people, the actions of abuse from her the master’s mistress would eventually help her gain freedom. An altercation with the mistress of the home leads Bett to acquire a serious burn on her trying to protect her sister from being hit by the mistress with a hot cast iron. This was not the first incident of physical abuse given by the mistress but this altercation led Bett towards her freedom. By Bett being a house slave, it allowed her to be in close quarters with the master who she would overhear discussing political matters regarding the British and the war amongst his colleagues while she would serve them. The idea of using the burn on her arm as a way of resisting and demonstrating the truth about slavery led her to show it every chance she got. She realized that since she was someone who was also, much like her owners, well-liked around the town that she would be questioned as to how she got the nasty burn on her arm. This was especially effective when she would go out to accompany the mistress. When people would ask her about her arm, Bett would simply tell them to ask the mistress. During these time, white comedians who would perform in blackface who