49 Can I add pictures?

Not on My Knees But Fighting BacK

There are many problems associated with discussing the African Amercian experience, The first problem is the term African American, which is often times used a social construct and not a cultural identifier. If this is not problematic,, the scope of colonialism transcends the experience of any one group of people. Then there is the problem of chronology; the order of events that have taken place which drastically changed the conditions and definitions that refer to the conditions of the colonized. Dates are very important and where and when the conversations begins often times determines the conversation’s perspective. 1619 is a popular date but to begin the discussion here is to exclude facts that are critical to analyses of the totality of the slave trade. As we see in our timeline or chronology of slave revolts provided earlier, slaves were revolting in the western hemisphere before they arrived in North America. Instead, 1492, is a good date because it marks the birth of the trans-Atlantic journey in the name of European colonialism; which would give birth to the slave trade. Colonization involves two parties; the colonizer and the colonized. The colonizer is the aggressor, the exploiter and the colonized are those who are subject to the colonizer. The arraignment between the two is based on violence. There are three aspects of colonialism;

                The occupation of the colonized land by the colonizer

                The exploitation of the land, human and natural resources of the colonized by the colonizer

                The imposition of the colonizer’s culture on the colonized

                The perpetuation of the colonial system from one generation to the other

These four factors play a major role in the current state of global affairs which remain long after the trans-Atlantic slave trade was dismantled in 1808. The end of the Trans Atlantic Slave trade had as much to do with events abroad than in North America and there were many developments after its maritime ban which appeared that it was in no ways becoming obsolete. The wealth of the so-called western world comes from the spoils of African colonization which destabilized the two continents and an entire hemisphere and continues to under develop it. However the slaves did fight back in many ways.  The Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the Diaspora it created among colonized African people is a by-product of colonialism and Christopher Columbus’ so called discovery was nothing more than a business venture. Prior to the advent of Columbus, Europe had endured almost 800 years of Moorish occupation, the influence of which is one of the most minimized topics in western learning, Little if nothing is said of the origins of western enlightenment which is due to the Moorish contributions to European society, science and culture. The conquests of the Moors was by force but the bringing of fundamentals to Europe is its major benefit. For a better understanding of the contribution of the Moors, a study of Ivan Van Sertima’s Golden Age of the Moors. It must also be said that the trans-Saharan slave trade of which the Moorish occupation was a conduit, was one of the most devastating events to African culture; a horror that remains until this day in Northern and Central Africa.

The year 1492 A.D. is significant to the African American experience for many reasons. First it is the year which marks the date of the expulsion of the African Moors from Europe, the persecution of the Jews by the Catholic Church and the dawning the so-called artistic Renaissance, which would produce an aesthetic which symbolized the emerging social order. In keeping with this new period of advancement for Europe, the then Pope Alexander IV commissioned the image of his son Caesar Borgia to be displayed as the new image of Jesus Christ; thus erasing the previous dark-skinned Semitic depictions of Christ which bore a striking resemblance to the Jews and Moors that would later be persecuted. The Pope also advanced the Doctrine of Discovery which gave sanction to subdue all infidel peoples and subject them to slavery or genocide; which involved the occupation of lands originally occupied by people of color, the subjection of those people and the exploitation of their natural resources. Those who would fall under the auspices of this edict in the new world such as the Arawaks, would soon be annihilated and replaced with the west African for the purpose of growing tobacco and sugar, thus floating the birth of the newly established global economic market.  The formation of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which was a business enterprise comprising of the union of compromised African chiefs, the Catholic Church, the Islamic slave market and the insurgent European business interests and made for an amalgamation of a global interest unknown to the past. This new world order of sorts would forgo previously held ethnic, religious and political differences at least in the case of Africa, for the purpose of benefiting from free and exploited African labor; which would make for the profit margins necessary to build the immense wealth of the following two centuries.

The Middle Passage

The distance from west Africa to the new world is called the middle passage. As the trade expanded from the Caribbean the geographical boundaries would encompass the entire Atlantic Ocean beginning at the base of what is now Argentina to as far north as New York and beyond. The middle passage began in west Africa along its wheat, gold, ivory and slave coasts; which were named for the abundance of goods located there. For example, the gold coast was named such by the Europeans because of the abundance of gold that was harvested from that region.  The middle passage is arguably the birthplace of the African American consciousness because it was aboard the slave ships that the Africans experienced conditions never before endured by mankind; the conditions of which would be endured for a four hundred year period. Yet the middle passage is also the birth place of African American resistance to colonialism. This duality makes the African American experience unique because it was born in resistance to colonialism; where as other groups had recollections of times before the Europeans came to their shores. Africans aboard the slave ships fought back in many ways including, suicide, hunger strikes, mutiny, silence, communication and singing.  Yet the conditions aboard the ship were horrid. Aboard ships like the Zong, The Creole and the Good Ship Jesus, the Africans were subject to horrible conditions and many of them died before reaching their destination. Some of the obstacles that the slaves first sought to overcome were the cultural barrier posed by language; which was soon overcome through the various encrypted languages that were developed between diverse tribes under the cloak of secrecy from which a cultural unity would begin; an objective which still remains in those who espouse a Pan-Africanist or Black Nationalist ideology. The slavers picked up on the African’s plans to unify and developed a technique of identifying those tribes most likely to rebel and dividing them up among other groups to lessen the chances of revolt. Some tribes fought back (La Amstad), while others jumped to their deaths rather than endure the hardship of the experience. Even when placed on plantations, many techniques were employed to discourage the Africans from organizing; which included a system of divide and conquer called manumission. However, a vast majority of Africans on the boats decided not to fight and try their chances in their new destination. However, records allude to the fact that it was an overwhelming consensus among the Africans that a return back to their homeland once they reached their unknown destination was all but impossible. The terms Ma’afa and African Holocaust have been used to describe the cultural disconnect that the Africans would experience; a condition that arguable remains to this day.  The descendants of those who endured the middle passage and were dispersed throughout the western hemisphere would come to be known as the African Diapora. This group would suffer terrible hardships unique to the experience of their comrades who remained on the African continent to endure European colonialism and Islamic occupation.

It is somewhat disingenuous to mention the African slaves separate from the indigenous people who were also enslaved or disfranchised to various degree. The African Diaspora is very diverse depending on the region of Africa from which slaves were taken; many of which mixed with indigenous people of color; especially in South America were many maroon cultures remain to this day. Spiritually speaking, a large portion of the Africans were either traditionalist in their spirituality or were Muslim. There is also a Hebrew paradigm, which identifies many of the Africans as being members of the lost tribes of Israel. Christianity among the African masses would come much later on the Islands and then with the establishment of such denominations as the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Islands were the first stop in the middle passage and were also some of the first places where the Africans revolted. The Islands would also later become the political center of the Diaspora giving birth to many black nationalist and pan-Africanist thinkers like A. Sylvester Williams, James Padmore, Marcus Garvey, Walter Rodney, Strockley Carmichael and others. This is not to say that all Islanders were revolutionary in their thinking, but some of the most prolific voices of black political thought come from the Islands. The population center of the African Diaspora is Brazil and the cultural center is arguably Harlem, New York considering the diverse African gathering that took place during the so-called renaissance period of the early 20th Century.

W.E.B Du Bois stated in his essay entitled The Propaganda of History: “The American Negroes are the only people in the history of the world, so far as I know, that ever became free without any effort of their own.” He went on to state that they neither started the civil war nor ended it. However this is not entirely true. In fact, there is evidence that suggests that the slaves enacted formatible revolts in America and the Islands which lessened the economic benefits of slavery and made the end of the slave trade an inevitable reality. As we approach the subject of slave revolts, let us also remember that resistance is as much intellectual and spiritual as it is physical.

In the October 2007 issue of the Civil War Times, an article appears which brings to light an interesting question: Should the South Have Armed its slaves?” In this article discusses Confederate General Cleburne’s proposition to arm the slaves in light of the advance of the Union troops in Tennessee with a promise to set them free after wards. Not only does this show the desperation of the Confederate cause but it also shows the viability that slaves possessed. There is evidence to prove that blacks did serve in the Confederate Army and many slaves did pledge loyalty to their masters unto death. But the extent of their loyalty was always in question and the integrity of the slave had not yet been tested against an eminent threat. It is well documented that over 200,000 Negroes were enlisted in the Union army and assisted in their own emancipation and the opinions against General Cleburne’s idea reflected on the awful possibility that the slaves would use their training and weapons against them. The fact that Confederate generals were vehemently opposed to arming the slaves proves the appreciation that Confederate forces had for the slaves. History shows that slave masters reluctantly and nervously armed their slaves as the Union threat became more eminent but never fully embraced the idea of integrating the slaves into the ranks. Eventually, as the Union marched deeper into the southern territories, slavery became a major liability to the South because the slaves once captured served as spies, secret agents and soldiers for the Union army. In fact, Lincoln stated that he had black union solders that could out fight any other and many confederate solders went AWOL under the mounting pressure. But sentiment of the South was best intimated by the comments of General Anderson who deemed it revolting to Southern sentiment , Southern pride and Southern honor to enlist Negro slaves.

AN INEVITABLE RESULT

 

“Brethren, arise, arise! Strike for your lives and liberties. Now is the day and the hour. Let every slave throughout the land do this, and the days of slavery are numbered. You can not be more oppressed than you have been-you can not suffer greater cruelties than you have already.”                                                           Henry Highland Garnet 

 

Mao Tse Tong stated in his classic work entitled On Guerrilla Warfare that revolts are the inevitable result of the clash between oppressor and oppressed when the latter reach the limits of their endurance. In the case of slavery in the Americas, the revolt of the slaves against their masters was not merely anarchy but an inevitable result of the distinct political objectives of the slaves who on occasion was not reluctant to fend for his freedom. Historically, the term “rebel” has been used to describe those of the Confederacy who resisted the encroachment of the North upon the South. But in all actuality, the slaves that revolted against the peculiar institution of African slavery both in the western hemisphere and abroad are more worthy of the title of rebel; only the implications of the slave rebellions were far more reaching. While the slave revolts are well documented, the impact that such revolts had on the shaping of the domestic and foreign policy of America is not well noted. In fact, the revolt of the slaves in Haiti lead to a significant shift in the global geo-politic; specifically, the Louisiana Purchase, which was the largest land purchase in American History. Also, the Black Seminole uprising, the largest slave revolt in American history, involving some 400 blacks, served to bring to reality the propensity for the slaves to fight rather than submit.

In comparing the Confessions of Nat Turner and other slave narratives with that of literature regarding the development of the science of guerrilla warfare in general, a striking similarity emerges. It appears that the tactics and the objectives of the slaves and that of the guerrilla fighters of the subsequent century would be identical. In the case of the slave, their motive for revolt was not to overthrow America but make her a more perfect union.   

Our thesis is this: That the techniques of guerrilla warfare were present in the African slaves in their organized revolt against their European possessors before guerrilla warfare was developed into a science by European and Asian revolutionaries during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We also assert that the various pockets of slave revolts served as individual organized resistance cells, thus disqualifying slave revolts as being isolated, uncalculated fits of anarchy by unruley slaves. 

The first similarity between the tactics of the slaves and that of subsequent guerrilla wars is the manipulation and use of geographical terrain. We use the term agrarian revolution because the theater of engagement were often rural plantation settings which posed a specific advantage for slave revolts as did the agrarian arenas did to guerrillas such as the Cossakcs. In instances where federal troops were dispatched, they often had no place to locate without impeding on private property; thus making the use of governmental troops less appealing to the Southern society. Also the presents of government troops and organized militias in the south brought with it its own set of unique issues as well, which served to destabilize communities and frustrate efforts of maintaining a beautiful civilized Southern slave civilization[1]. Specifically Moa Tse Tong stated that such tactics are particularly true in war waged for the emancipation of a people who inhabit a vast nation[2].. Secondly, the tactical strategy of alertness, mobility, and attack and the character of the guerrilla fighter as described by revolutionaries such as Mao and that of the rebel slaves was identical beingunyielding in their policies—resolute, loyal, sincere, and robust[3]. In examining the works of Che Guevara’s classic book Guerrilla Warfare, it appears that the slaves who revolted displayed a brilliance and mastery of the agrarian environment, which posed a significant threat to the social order of America which was headquartered in urban areas hundreds of miles away. In fact, the fear of revolt was so great, federal troops were often mobilized to keep peace, thus scattering and depleting their resources. As slaves learned to read and write, the intentionally sent out mis information to keep the local and state authorities on the move. Fourthly, the fundamental motive of such rebellions was to uproot the social structure and re-establish a new, less oppressive order. But the slave revolt can not be divorced from its logical and inevitable conclusion; that it is a precursor to social reform. Fifthly, the slave revolts caused fear and paranoia resulting in severe social inconveniences and restrictions, which made slave holding regions less desirable. Sixly, the tactics of the slaves and those of the guerrilla warriors did not involve the rape of their female victims although such fears served to fuel fears among southern whites of blacks which lasted well into the post-Reconstruction era. Finally, the success of the slave revolts depended on the commitment of the slaves involved and the loyalty of those who were not directly participating in the revolt. It was upon the breach of trust among those few “friendly negroes” that most slave revolts ultimately met their demise. If the slave revolts could not be qualified as a guerrilla type initiative, it will be because the blacks failed to organize themselves into an orthodox unit built upon the sympathies of black people and that the desire of slaves to be as their oppressors overrode their desire to be free from them. This is considered a great sickness by those seeking true revolution. 

 

Refutable Truth and Infallible Myths

20th Century race prejudice was founded by the words of 19th Century and 20th Century ethnologists. Samuel Cartwright stated in there research that slaves who were pronged to revolt or escape were suffering from a disease he termed Drapetomania and that slaves with behavior problems suffered from Dysaethesia Aethiopis. Note the words of cohort and friend Josiah Nott regarding the inferiority of the negro: smaller by a full tenth—the forehead is narrower and more receding, in consequence of which the anterior of intellectual portion of the brain is defective[4]. This thesis was developed in light of the prevailing opinion of African slaves that they were best suited, equipped and tempered for the condition of slavery. It has also been well ingrained into the minds of many Americans that the slave was or should have been grateful for being relocated from Africa and thereby saved from extinction. In fact, the very notion of white supremacy was based on the theory that the black races were enduring a perpetual state of social and moral retrogression. 

However, when examining the record, we now know that slave revolts were frequent and that those slaves that revolted were not a confused mob but an armed nucleus and the vanguard of a people seeking political liberation.[5] This fact should serve to re-categorize the slaves as revolutionaries because they did not seek merely to free themselves but to be recognized by governing bodies of the South and North as a viable political interest.

The mission of the slave revolts were not entirely appreciated in history, when compared to the manifest success of other guerilla operations in Asia, which are associated with the proliferation of communism. Also the efforts of the slave revolters was far from fruitless considering the birth of black nations in the Islands which inevitably rose from as a result of the revolts. Thus proper credit must be given to those slaves who rebelled and helped to destabilize the society to such an extent to make the institution of slavery less profitable. Slave revolts also served to channel attention to the efforts of the spiritual and intellectual campaign to end slavery by appealing to the moral character of America. Now, in doing American history, slave revolts and the subsequent enlistment of blacks into the Union Army must be mentioned as a motivating factor in the eradication of the slave trade; making the civil war more eminent.   

Pan –Africanism and Political Mysteries of History

The time of the Black Renaissance is important to the discussion of Pan-Africanism specifically and African Cultural Unity in general because it is a time when the Diaspora located in Harlem began the task of what Cheikh Ante Diop termed historic self-retrieval. It has been said noted Pan-Africanist like Stokley Carmichael and others that the push for Pan-Africanism is not a response to white supremacy but it is the Africans stating claim in the modern world by adopting a policy which would make him a political, social and economic reality in the modern world. What self-respecting people would deliberately represent themselves as being insignificant or miscellaneous? To even think such would be an absurd notion. But at no time are Africans or dark skinned people given credit for defeating white people, Arabs or European people in battle. Not only has this form of mis-information been practiced by whites, who knew the truth and refused to teach it but by blacks who accepted the white interpretation of history. But there are many events in history that reveal the resilience of blacks in either defeating or resisting against the aggression of foreign lighter complexioned adversaries. Because this essay is about slave revolts and not military campaigns, our conversation will reference the Arab slave trade in east Africa. Of the most significant revolts of black people against slavery was the revolt of the Zanj[6] in Iraq. Scholars will note that the terms used by al-Tabari to describe the African slave revolts as al-jund or black mawla which means soldiers or fighters rather than mere trouble makers or hot heads. These slaves, probably taken from east Africa organized themselves into a fighting units and went on a murderous rampage throughout the region. This revolt not only freed them from their Arab oppressors but won them respect and commendation of Ali B. Muhammad. In fact, Ali was so impressed with them, that upon winning their freedom, he gave them palm branches and while their masters and agents were prostrate on the ground, each one was given five hundred lashes. Ali later charged them with an oath of loyalty and released and sent them on their way to al-Basrah.[7]

To those who have altered and re-authored world history in favor of white peoples, the relationship between blacks and whites or the oppression of one over the other can not be viewed as the result of a historical pendulum swing because it would imply reciprocity at some point and make the justification of retaliation of the blacks against the whites workable. However, instead the enslavement of the black by the white must be viewed as a natural result of social evolution. But this is done in light of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary which has always existed but has been suppressed. Not only are the invasions of the Black Moors into Spain ignored and the true identity of the invaders distorted, but the entire gap in world history is due to the deliberate oversight of black conquest and empire and the mis-indentification of various peoples of the region. History records Hannibal as a Carthagenian and not a black man. The various Pharoahs of Mizriam are called Egyptians but not black men. The truth is that the black race through a conglomeration of Ethiopian, Egyptians and Nubian leaders had world military superiority in Egypt longer than any other nation state; longer than Crete, Troy, Greece and Rome. It was Egypt that sent 10,000 troops to Priam to help in its defense against the Greeks. But military historians note blacks such as Hannibal, Chaka Zulu and the Madhi as being of the best military strategists. But there is a more recent example of black military expertise; even more recent than the slave revolts. As noted by researchers of military strategy, the Abyssinian Resistance to the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in the 20th Century is one the greatest examples of the success of guerrilla warfare. While words like Abyssinia are not readily identifiable, to simplify things; In 1934, black Ethiopians with camels, outdated arms and war drums withstood and successfully defended themselves against a better equipped and prepared Italian offensive; humiliating them in front of the world in an epic battle. It was not until Britain, the former allies of Ethiopia entered into secret negotiations that the Ethiopians were defeated. But how many people are familiar with this obscure peace of history and what are the implications of such an event in the development of black people? What would it do to the psychi of a people who knew that they were capable of withstanding an onslaught of European oppression?

The biggest victim of the mystifying of African history is the American Negro; who has suffered physical, spiritual and social isolation from Africa and a more vicious form of psychological oppression from the European in the west. While Africans have maintained a sense of culture despite colonialism, the American Negro has endured an evolution in name only; searching for a meaningful point of coexistence with white America which devised craftier and more sophisticated means to avoid such coexistence. Based on the status in which the black man or the Negro has been assigned in western social order, it is somewhat difficult to think or imagine the Negro having the ability to defend himself and the intellect to formulate a significant threat to the World Order that established the global slave market.

 

A Legacy of Resistance and the Formation of The Slave Resistance

The African continent posed the second theater of warfare between Africans and Europeans; the invasion of Europe by the Moors being the first in modern history. Of course, the gathering of slaves initially was done by Europeans with the cooperation of local African chiefs who had obtained subjects by social policy. But as the rush for superiority spread throughout Europe and the African expansion posed to be the key the factor in European development, the slave trade exculpated into a frenzy that neither the African chiefs or the European nations could regulate. Once the domestic slaves had been depleated, armed bans explored into the interior of Africa making the conflict with African tribes and bands inevitable. Although slaves did rebel at all times, even when captured, the slaves were not reluctant to fight back. There was always the possibility of an attack on the coffle or the ship by relatives trying to free their loved ones.[8]

 

In Africa in 1583, Ann Zingha and her brother the then King of Angola formed a formidable resistance against the Portuguese. Also hidden within the annuls of history are the so-called Boer Wars (1815-1902) and the Zulu and Ashanti wars that for more than a hundred years, out-maneuvered and out-generald some of the best military minds of Europe[9]. Another major aspect of the slave rebellions were the leadership of women fighters such as Zingha and Yaa Asnatewaa of the Ashanti Wars[10] with the British (1900). But most of the histories of these peoples and events are written in such a way that a novice to history can not deduce that the event involved a successful, well calibrated African military resistance against European forces of superior technology but inferior intellect. Not to mention the Muslim resistance in North Africa, which retarded the European invasions through the employment of black African Muslims from the interior. When laid against the backdrop of history, the notions of black inferiority and helplessness against the whims of Europe is unfounded and figment of imagination. 

 

The historical record shows that Negroes frequently protested their enslavement and in various forms. Of course the slaves brought to the West first rebelled by mounting a literary campaign which displayed a mastery of the English language. But that which the pen could not accomplish was accomplished by revolt. According to Dr. Herbert Aptheker, there were approximately 250 slave revolts.[11]  It was first assumed that a majority of the slave revolts could not have been orchestrated without the help of white people and the participation of whites in the slave revolt as a social phenomenon is unquestionable. But slave revolts in various forms took place long before whites began to form the abolitionist political platforms nor can the resistance of Africans be attributed to the influence of whites or their religion, although some did assist in the organization of planned attacks. Slave revolts are the most downplayed and least talked about aspect of American history. While it has been asserted that the temperament of the average slave was docile, humble and submissive, it is well documented that there were hundreds of slave revolts and uprisings during the 400 year course of slavery in the Americas and throughout the slave world. Although the slaves had always staged various degrees of resistance, the enhancement of such uncoordinated incidences into planned military styled initiatives throughout the western hemisphere began to occur. As time progressed, the slaves began to develop tactics to dismantle the superior forces of their white captors. 

 

Radical Christianity and the Establishment of True Democracy

The impetus for the rise of slave revolt or warfare was due mostly to the introduction of the bible into the consciousness of the slaves. The slaves internalized the stories of Moses, Joshua and Gideon and thereby developed a phenomenal military spirit, which shocked white America and sent it into a state of martial law. 

The African American literary tradition articulated a vast contradiction between the God of the bible and the god imposed upon the slaves. The writings of David Walker, William Wells Brown, Frederick Douglas to name a few, all expressed a complete and absolute repulsion of the god of America and a rejection of the so-called moral standards of their white enslavers to whom the slaves considered to be cannibals, filthy, uncircumcised and immoral[12]. This made for the belief in an ultimate confrontation (Judgment Day) in the minds of slaves between the true God of the bible and the imposter that had been forced upon them by Europeans. It must be noted that the same document which the European used to justify slavery, was used to inspire the slaves to revolt. The key in this function was the growing literacy of the slave.

 

The slave did not need biblical justification for resisting slavery because resistance is an authentic human response to oppression. But the role of religion in the development of slave warfare is undeniable and amounted to the rise of a radical brand of Christianity which did not recognize a contradiction between the doctrine of Christianity and the quest for freedom and liberation. At this point it must be said that at no time was democracy in jeopardy due to slave revolts. If anything, a more perfect and deserving democracy was sought and in the cases of the Republic of Haiti and Jamaica were realized. But American foreign policy still punishes Haiti for fighting for the same freedoms for which the colonists of America fought. This proves that the motives of white supremacy and race hate run deeper than any geo-political or religious program.

Not only was the threat of a slave revolt a danger to the economics of the west, but it posed as an anti-thesis to the so-called Calvinists doctrine which justified slavery in the first cause. It was for this reason that bible reading was prohibited in most states among the slaves unless done in the company of a trusted white man. Based on the enactment of such laws (black codes) and other sources, there is enough evidence to conclude the tendency for slaves to revolt was clear and the possibility of such an uprising always present. 

 

Terror from the South

The fear in white America grew from the tales of the merciless tirades and aggressive nature of slaves in South America and the islands, who were the first to organize mass attacks on their masters and the military occupants of the region. American slavers also knew that some of these slaves had been relocated into the American system and took measures to thwart their influence. For so long, the story had been told especially in the North that the slaves were docile, harmless, timid and even appreciative of their condition under slavery. But as Frederick Douglas noted, in response to such notions, the songs, smiles and demeanor of the slave were often misinterpreted as being a sign of contentment but in realty were displays of internal rebellion and self-preservation. Although singing was a seemingly harmless activity, even the songs were censored to better insure that no hidden messages were being communicated. In turn, to avoid the dreadful lash or reprisals, the slaves created their own language using slurred words, moans, whistles and code phrases so that the devil would not understand what was being said. But drum making and drum beating was purely an act of war and was absolutely prohibited. Whites recognized a relationship between the making of drums and the cultural fever of rebellion. In essence, the removal of the drum from the lives of the slaves served as the first major step in the pacification of the African spirit of rebellion. But the drum production continued and when heard along the Mississippi River at evening or among the dales of Virginia at mid night, it was the tell tale sign of the march of the impending brigade of those phantasmal figures in search of reciprocity. In most cases, if the drums could be heard, it was too late for those whites, who knew that their time had come. It is hard to fathom that the harmless timid slave figure that dominated America’s imagination could be capable of ruthless and merciless acts against white men, women and children, including infants in the grave. 

By and large the southern most portions of the western hemisphere including the Island regions had the most frequent occurrence of slave revolts. The first documented slave African rebellion occurred in 1537 in Mexico; this was followed by the establishment of various runaway African settlements called “palenques” throughout central and South America. In Pernambuco Brazil, a group of 40 enslaved Africans rebelled, killing all the white employees and burning the houses and plantation. They escaped to rugged mountainous region where they prospered for over 100 years. Developed during this time, was a style of martial arts known as Capoeira and the art of jungle or guerilla warfare, which was successfully employed to defend themselves against the Dutch and the Portuguese. The most devastating slave revolt was led by Toussaint Overture and occurred in 1791 at St. Domingo in Haiti. Not only did African slaves win their freedom but repelled the French Army and won their independence under the leadership of L’Ouverture’s successor Dessalines. Although schism between mulattoes and blacks coupled with the rise of successive brutal dictators, hindered the success of Haiti in her incubus, the Haitian rebellion led to the establishment of the first African republic and served to completely undermine the western social order. At the time of Haiti’s birth, America had not yet mastered the art of nation craft and due to a superior economic alliance with Europe, has been able to mask its impediments. 

The First Maroon Wars of 1720 led by Mother Nanny served to weaken the English control of Jamaica leading to its independence as well. In 1733 on the Dutch controlled island of St. John, slaves originating from the Gold Coast (Akan) invaded their master’s quarters, killed him and his step daughter and bathed themselves in his blood. Such acts were often met with extreme brutality being exacted against the slave populations to discourage future uprisings. In 1763, a year long siege of Berbice in Guyana was orchestrated by Kofi, where by scores of Dutch solders were killed. But the displays of brutality often against innocent slaves only served to exculpate the bloodletting and carnage of the slaves who obtained there revenge either by sword, musket or poison. Those slaves who revolted and ran away, many of whom were women, were called Maroons. It must be stated that the zeal of the so-called Maroons and the manifest success of the slave revolts which led to the creation of independent black nations would later materialize into the nationalist philosophy of Marcus Garvey and the intellectual foundation for the Pan-Africanist movement.

 

The Rise of Black Revolutionaries; A Clear and Present Danger

According to Jeffrey Rosen in his book entitled the Pursuit of Happiness, the Founding Fathers were riddled with guilt because of the contradiction they helped foster between the quest for virtue and the reliance on a lavish and luxurious lifestyle. To the so-called founding fathers, the thought of giving up the convenient domestic benefits of slavery and not so much the labor force was the motivating factor in keeping the slaves in bondage. Yet the slaves in areas where they were allowed to function in some instances as 2nd class citizens was critical to setting the tone for revolution. Slaves could stay such for hundreds of years, but those persons who feel equal and are thus denied equality will strike with the most fatal blow. It was clear that those most educated were those most pronged to fight because they had a better understanding of just what is at stake. Slavery steals the mind and second class citizenship, such as the case in Haiti is an insult of the highest order. The words of Douglass; master rang true for those revolutionary Haitians who saw no difference between themselves and their European colonizers. They asked the same question as the American colonies when it came to the right to independence and freedom. The Haitian Revolution is one of the greatest examples of the African fighting spirit and to this day remains an example of African resilience in the western hemisphere. It must also be said that since the revolution, it has been an agenda item of European and American foreign policy to destabilize the island; making sure that its accomplishment is never viewed as a sign of victory over the European forces. 

After the Haitian revolution, whites in America began to take pre-cautions against slave revolts. Although curfews and black codes did restrict the congregation of slaves, the need to take evasive was necessary. Because revolting slaves had known to be indiscriminate in their carnage, many whites began to build slave shelters; a hidden under the ground bunker in which to hide white families from slave revolts. Also in 1839, in a stunning turn of legal maneuvering, the American court acquitted a band of slaves who successfully overran a crew on board a slave ship (L’Amistad) and attempted to sail back to Africa. The claim was that the slaves were the legal property of non-one and therefore had the right to defend themselves. The fear associated with this verdict was expressed by the then US Secretary to Spain who intimated that such a verdict would give license to slave rebellions through out the world.

 

Thomas Jefferson was haunted by a just God. He like others knew that through divine means, the slaves would rise up and exact revenge on their masters. This paranoia would serve a source of great distress for slave masters, many of whom died before their slaves. As the pursuit of happiness began to wane for them, the slave masters resorted to unmitigated violence to somehow drown out the echoing horrors that rang in their minds. In America, the regions that had the highest concentration of slaves suffered the greatest threat of slave insurrection. While the approach of most abolitionists were non-violent and peaceful, As noted by many historians, the environment posed by slavery created a martial setting and an atmosphere of brutality which crossed racial lines, where by the threat of violent uprising was imminent. Specifically, Virginia fit the profile of a state pronged for slave revolts. It had a low ratio of slaves to masters during the mid 18th century and several miniature revolts took place between 1687 and 1730, which kept the Governor robbed of sleep and peace.[13] Virginia was also the location of two of the three most noted incidences of Gabriel Prosser( 1800) and Nat Turner (1831), where slaves spared no mercy in killing white men, women and children, including infants. The theory of a national conspiracy on the part of slaves and anti-slavery proponents was assumed due to the seemed coordinated attacks that were alleged to have been planned in Georgia (the burning of Atlanta), South Carolina and Mississippi around the same time as Turner’s. Louisiana also had a significant number of slave insurrections and requests for federal aid in foiling plots to revolt. In January 1811, the largest slave revolt in American history, which involved 500, was initiated by a slave named Charles Deslondes near Laplace by slaves beating the drum, along the Mississippi River near St. John the Baptist Parish and nearby New Orleans; chanting, burning, murdering and pillaging as they went.[14] This event sparked a mass evacuation of whites along the route. The revolt was eventually foiled by a massacre of the black revolters by the United States Army. The remainder of the revolutionaries were tried, executed and dismembered in attempts to discourage future uprisings. 

The fear of insurrection was so high in Virginia by the turn of the 18th Century, that armed patrols were a common social policy, considering the threat posed by the War of 1812, which arrested the development and movements of the entire free society, especially in Fredericksburg and Richmond. By the time of John Brown’s siege of Harper’s Ferry, Maryland in 1859, the entire society became imprisoned by curfews, quotes and restrictions on trade and travel at night. Also, hundreds of slaves were sold on a consistent basis to make the threat of a slave revolt less likely[15].

It must also be mentioned that the slave insurrections were lead by men who were observed to possess supernatural incite and ability in the fields of theology, literacy. mysticism and tactical military strategy, having received none from known human sources. The facts centered on the personas of Nat Turner and Prosser seemed to echo the prophecies of Thomas Jefferson, who intimated the possibility of an inevitable race war between the master class and that of the revolutionary class:  

 

Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice can not sleep for ever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation is among possible events: that it may become probable by supernatural interference.[16]

 

Documented in the Letters of Governor Robert Hunter to the Lords of Trade, one of the most serious slave insurrections occurred 1712 and again in 1741 in New York City, whereby slaves revolted in retaliation for ill treatment and killed nine whites before being subdued by a armed force, resulting in the execution of 21 slaves. The subsequent revolt involved an inter-racial militia of slaves and whites who conspired together to over throw the local slave aristocracy, resulting in the implementation of various tax incentives to discourage the trade.

In 1720, the State of South Carolina experienced what would become a trend among its slave ranks, where by 3 whites were killed and a subsequent insurrection in St. John’s Parish was foiled by a planned militia. Subsequent uprisings included one at Stono in 1738, where 20 Angola slaves killed several whites and burned many plantations. The fear of slave insurrections was so serious that several petitions were made by the South Carolina Assembly to the King of England (July 26, 1740) and in various pieces of legislation.[17] Leading to the growing fear of insurrections was the promise of safe haven in nere by Georgia providences. South Carolina also noted several trials around 1797, implicating slaves in planning to burn the city of Charleston. This act was later consummated by the revolt of Denmark Vessey in 1822. 

The majority of those who revolted were slaves, like Vesey, that were re-located from the West Indies and The Bahamas. For example, the revolt of Gabriel Prosser was inspired near Richmond by the revolts that occurred in San Domingo. During this incident, over one thousand slaves took up an oath to fight for their freedom using guerilla type tactics. The revolt of foiled by an unprecedented rain storm which ultimately made such a plan impossible. Many of the time attributed this as an act of God. But once reaching America, the anti-slavery movement assumed the responsibility for the development of armed resistance as a necessary response to brutality. In fact, many slave insurrections were either financed or supported by feuding white planters who sought to destabilize competition of abolitionists seeking to further show the slave trade unfeasible or costly. 

 

The culmination of these events and the associated rumors gave way to the reality that an impending race war was evident. Although the exact date was not known, it was a well established rumor that December 25 was the expected date. It is well recorded that Governors often received preemptive requests for aid in anticipation of Christmas revolts. 

 

The majority of the slave uprisings were foiled by “faithful slaves”, who disclosed the plans of the slaves and assisted the authorities in their capture. It may be said that the restriction on the importation of slaves from Central America, the Islands and Europe and the passage of the Fugitive Slave act can not be divorced from the initiatives of the US Congress and the State agencies that were taken to thwart slave revolts.