(CR8) Fighting Slavery on the Slaveholders' Terrain - Glymph

Slaveholding Power

• By 1860, a small percentage of the white population (7%) owned a large percentage of the slaves (75%).
• Slaveholders dominated key institutions including banks, merchant houses, factories, railroads, and shipping concerns.
• Slaveholding power was derived from a disproportionate share of control over the federal government with the majority of presidents, supreme court justices, and other prominent figures coming from slave states.

Slaveholders' Achilles' Heel

• Slaves were the source of slaveholders' strength and their Achilles' Heel as slaves worked to undermine slaveholders' power and authority.
• Slaves did not fulfill planters' dreams as they were often forced to work hard and constantly to keep up with the demands of the booming cotton industry.
• Slaves did not work well because they had no incentive to do so.

Slave Resistance

• Flight was one of the most widespread means by which slaves sought to claim back their labor and freedom.
• The forced movement of slaves, including family separations, caused challenges to slaveholders.
• Slave owners used bonds of affection as leverage to maintain power, often using family members as bargaining chips.
• Tensions existed between slaves, but they continued to resist in various ways.
• The everyday actions of slaves, including work stoppages and displays of insolence, were constant challenges to slaveholders.
• A large-scale revolt like that in Haiti was unlikely due to the racial and demographic makeup of the American South.
• While large scale rebellions were rare, slaves resisted in ways that undermined the system of slavery including individual acts of defiance, work stoppages, and flight.
• The German Coast uprising, Gabriel Prosser's rebellion, and Nat Turner's Rebellion all marked significant attempts to challenge the system of slavery and exposed the vulnerabilities of the slaveholding society.
• Everyday resistance, small and large, created a "slaves' politics" which influenced the outcome of the civil war.
• Slaves' continuous efforts to claim their humanity was an act of political expression and resistance.

Course Reading 8 Option 2