Slaves who had been through the middle passage explained it as torture and there was no way to escape except death. While most slaves were brought, sold, and worked others attempted resistance. “The first recorded revolt in the colonies was in 1663, an event involving white indentured servants as well as black slaves.” (History.com) Also “in 1672, there were reports of fugitive slaves forming groups to harass plantation owners. The first recorded all-black slave revolt occurred in Virginia in 1687.”(History.com) In these revolts, slaves risked their lives and could have been killed easily if they were caught after a revolt.
The African Americans of colonial times faced hardships as they were forced away from their homes, lives, and families to work on plantations in the new colonies. They were put through long hours of labor with little to no rest and were treated as property. The African Americans didn’t let this stop them from losing their natural born rights, so they resisted both quietly and with force putting them a little closer to freedom each time they revolted.
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The Revolutionary Era was a time when the colonies began defying and declaring a separation from Great Britain. The Revolutionary War helped African Americans during the Revolution because they could have a chance at being free by fighting for America. The roles of black people in the Revolutionary War were jobs such “as wagoners, cooks, waiters or artisans. Several all-black units, commanded by white officers, were also formed and saw action against the British” (Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation). Widespread talk of liberty gave thousands of slaves high expectations, and many were ready to fight for a democratic revolution that might offer them freedom. Allies of the African Americans were the Quakers who stopped and realized the morality of slavery. Quakers George Keith and John Woolman strongly spoke out against slavery but were constantly ignored. Due to the ongoing battle for independence and liberty, some colonists began to speak out because it made no sense to them that slaves couldn’t be free, but the Colony was fighting for Liberty.
Slaves were no longer alone in their fight for civil rights as some Quakers and colonists realized that slaves were people too. From the 1750s, several Quakers in the American colonies began to oppose enslavement. They visited the slaveholders and lobbied the English Headquarters for action. “By 1761, Quakers had come to view abolition as a Christian duty and all Quakers, on both sides of the Atlantic, were barred from owning slaves. Any members that did not conform were disowned.”(The Abolition Project)So now African Americans aren’t alone in civil rights reform.
The Revolutionary Era gave black people a chance at being free by fighting in the war, it wasn’t always a possibility, but if they got lucky or did a significant job in the war they could be freed. This era got better for black people because they were now being assisted by Quakers and Christian colonists who believed slavery was wrong and everyone deserved freedom. Reform continues to progress and African Americans continue to get closer to freedom and achieve their goal of civil rights.
The final era is the Antebellum Era. Many African Americans began gaining their freedom in the North and they could travel, fight in the war, could even own land. This was also the era when emancipation was released ending slavery and making black people free citizens in the North. Ways African Americans gained their freedom before emancipation through revolts, running away, or working to buy themselves out of slavery. In this period the North and South were split due to beliefs on slavery. So slaves would escape to the North from the South where they were declared free. Running away was not easy, slaves were usually followed by their slave masters, it was running through the dark woods and trails. Leaders like Harriet Tubman led many people to freedom, this was called the Underground Railroad, and Harriet Tubman a “conductor” freed about 300 people. Leaders who led revolts like Nat Turner weren’t as successful because sooner or later the troops would arrest and hang the slaves if they were caught. In the North free slaves began prospering as they started owning their land, and businesses, and paid taxes. For the South it wasn’t as great, there was still a big shadow of slavery it was not as easy as living up north.
The African Americans in the Antebellum period were the most productive and most prosperous than they have been in America ever. Many African Americans wrote about the struggles and talked about how they prospered in the dark time of slavery. Frederick Douglass a former slave wrote about what slavery felt like and how it affected him. Douglass said “It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceased to be a man.”(Fredrick Douglass)Nat Turner the leader of a four-day rebellion against his plantation believed he was destined to rebel said “And my father and mother strengthened me in this my first impression, saying in my presence, I was intended for some great purpose, which they had always thought from certain marks on my head and breast.”(Nat Turner)
The Colonial, Revolutionary, and Antebellum eras were very important periods of reform for African Americans. The reform that African Americans achieved was Freedom and being civilians. They made big steps towards full civil and equal rights. With the amazing role models throughout these periods like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Nat Turner more African Americans can build better lives and create better communities.
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