Colonialism and slavery — resistance and early abolitionism
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Question
What is 'day-to-day resistance'?
Answer
Constant, low-risk acts by enslaved people such as working slowly, feigning illness, or breaking tools to reduce their enslavers' profit.
Question
What is a maroon community?
Answer
A settlement founded by escaped enslaved people, often in remote forests, mountains or swamps, beyond colonial control.
Question
Give an example of cultural resistance and explain how it worked.
Answer
Vodou in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) blended African spiritual traditions with Catholic imagery, letting enslaved people preserve their beliefs and community identity under the guise of conformity.
Question
What happened at Bois Caïman in August 1791?
Answer
A Vodou ceremony traditionally linked to the start of the massive uprising that triggered the Haitian Revolution.
Question
What was the Stono Rebellion (1739)?
Answer
An uprising in South Carolina led by an enslaved man named Jemmy; around 20 enslaved people seized weapons and killed several planters before being defeated, leading colonies to tighten slave codes.
Question
Why was the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) historically unique?
Answer
It was the only slave rebellion in history to succeed in creating a fully independent state, ending both slavery and French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue.
Question
What happened to the Palmares maroon community?
Answer
It survived through most of the 17th century in Brazil, led for a time by Zumbi, before Portuguese forces destroyed it in 1694.
Question
What role did Quakers play in early abolitionism?
Answer
They were among the first religious groups to formally oppose slavery, banning their own members from owning enslaved people by the 1770s.
Question
Who was Olaudah Equiano and why does he matter?
Answer
A formerly enslaved man whose 1789 autobiography gave first-hand testimony of enslavement and the Middle Passage, strengthening the abolitionist case with direct evidence.
Question
How did technology help spread antislavery ideas?
Answer
The printing press allowed pamphlets, books and images — such as the 1788 diagram of the slave ship Brookes — to be mass-produced and reach wide audiences across Britain and its colonies.
Question
Compare resistance by enslaved people and early abolitionism as challenges to slavery.
Answer
Resistance (sabotage, rebellion, escape) directly and immediately challenged slavery in practice, sometimes ending it locally (Haiti); abolitionism (religious groups, ideas, testimony, print) built the slower but wider legal and moral case that eventually ended slavery across whole empires.
Question
What is the Middle Passage?
Answer
The brutal Atlantic Ocean crossing used to transport enslaved Africans to the Americas.
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Topic 11.2 hub
Colonialism and the system of slavery in the Americas (c.1492–1830)
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