Question

What strategies did slaves employ to resist, revolt, and sustain their own independent communities and cultures? how did slaves use white southerners’ own philosophies—paternalism and christianity, for example—to their advantage in these efforts?

Answer 1

Slaves could resist slavery in many ways, such as revolts, run away, and other acts of resistance such as sabotage - such as break tools, set things on fire -.

They would sustain their own culture and communities by cooperation between them, they would develop friendships and family ties between them, this way they would maintain their culture and traditions. They also would sing traditional songs and do storytelling.

Slaves incorporated elements of Christianity into their own African religions and would sing and dance to Christian songs using Africans rhythms for example. This way they could still preserve their roots and culture.

Answer 2

The major ways in which slaves resisted were through rebellions and their own forms of violence. In addition, they were able to run away from the plantation, which was fraught with its own set of risks. Third, they could take smaller forms of resistance, such as breaking the tools the owner had, which would slow down the overall process of working. Women were able to do this more easily, since they were not expected to work as hard as the males and could feign illness or some other way to slow down their overall rate of work.