2.10 Black Resistance and Rebellion

Resistance Took Many Forms

Enslaved Africans resisted bondage through both everyday resistance (slowing work, breaking tools, feigning illness, preserving culture and family) and organized rebellion (armed uprisings, escape networks). Both challenged the system's control and asserted enslaved people's humanity, even when rebellions were violently suppressed.

Major Rebellions Shaped Policy

Uprisings like the Stono Rebellion (1739) and Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831) terrified enslavers and led to harsher slave codes restricting movement, literacy, and assembly. Despite brutal repression, these revolts proved enslaved people actively fought for freedom rather than passively accepting enslavement.

The Haitian Revolution's Global Impact

The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) was the only successful slave revolt to establish an independent nation, led by figures like Toussaint Louverture. It inspired enslaved and free Black people across the Americas while terrifying slaveholding societies, reshaping debates about slavery, freedom, and Black self-governance.

Key terms

Everyday resistance

Subtle, ongoing acts like slowing work, breaking tools, or feigning illness used to undermine slavery.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

An armed uprising by enslaved people in South Carolina, one of the earliest major slave revolts.

Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)

A violent uprising in Virginia led by Nat Turner that resulted in stricter slave codes.

Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)

The only successful slave revolt to establish an independent nation, led by Toussaint Louverture.

Slave codes

Laws restricting enslaved people's movement, literacy, and assembly, often tightened after rebellions.

Try an AP-style question

Nat Turner's 1831 rebellion led Southern states to…

1. abolish slavery
2. allow Black education
3. free Turner's followers
4. pass harsher slave codes