Slave revolt

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A slave riot is a violent uprising by slaves . Slave riots took place in almost every society in which slavery occurred and were usually brutally suppressed. Well-known historical slave uprisings were for example the Spartacus uprising in the Roman Empire , the Zanj uprising in Iraq in the 9th century, the 1791 slave uprising in Haiti under François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture and the uprisings of Denmark Vesey and Madison Washington in the USA .

Antiquity

In addition to the individual or mass flight of slaves, individual or collective work sabotage, assassinations on slave owners and the destruction of their property, there were also regular slave revolts in ancient Greece and Rome. Examples are the uprising in Argos (494 BC), the uprisings of the Helots in Sparta , the two uprisings in Sicily (136–132 BC and 104–101 BC), the revolt of Aristonikos in Pergamon (132–129 BC) and that of Saumakos in the Bosporan Empire (108/107 BC). The most famous slave revolt to this day took place in the Roman Empire in the years 74–71 BC. Under Spartacus . He escaped with 78 other gladiators and freed masses of land slaves. The uprising only started in 71 BC. Dejected. See also: slave revolts in the Roman Empire .

middle Ages

In Iraq in 869 black slaves rebelled, who made up the majority of the population in the Basra area . The Zanj uprising was not put down until 883.

Modern times

South America and the Caribbean

In South America in the Caribbean, slaves also rebelled very often. Examples:

  • 1570 near Veracruz , Mexico . Slaves escaped into the highlands and formed a free settlement there.
  • 16th century, Panama . Shortly after, but also during the crossing, a great many slaves rebelled and joined Maroons . They formed autonomous groups in the rainforest and attacked white settlers from there. Occasionally they had contact with Indians such as the Kuna and the Guaymí . The largest slave revolt in Panama took place in the 1550s under the leader Bayano ( Bayano Wars ).
  • around 1600, Palmares , Brazil . Slaves escaped, founded their own settlement and were able to hold out against attacks by Dutch and Portuguese troops there for a long time. From 1670 they themselves attacked white colonialists in order to free their slaves. In 1694 the settlement was finally conquered by the Portuguese and the residents were enslaved again.
  • 1760, Jamaica . Coromantee uprising , called Tacky's Rebellion . A group of Maroons, led by Tacky, who had been a tribal chief before he was abducted from Africa, entered the port of Port Maria the night before Easter Monday and captured muskets, gunpowder and bullets. By the time the day came, hundreds had joined. They moved inland, destroying one hated plantation after another and killing the owners. The English sent two complete companies after them, and in the end Tacky was shot from behind.
  • 1763, Guyana . 2500 slaves occupied parts of Guyana for ten months. After they were defeated by the Dutch army, their leader, Cuffy, committed suicide.
  • 1765-1793, Suriname . Continuous guerrilla warfare by escaped slaves. Their leader was bonuses.
  • 1791, Haiti . The most successful slave revolt in American history was led by François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture .
  • 1795, Curacao . A thoroughly prepared uprising that began at Landhaus Knip and was put down after more than a month. The leader of the slaves, Tula, was tortured to death.
  • 1805, Chaguaramas , Trinidad .
  • 1816, Barbados . A slave named Bussa led around 400 slaves into battle against their masters. Because of the superior firepower of the whites, the uprising failed. Bussa was killed in the battle.
  • 1795 and 1823, Guyana .
  • 1831-1832, Jamaica . Samuel Sharp was a black Baptist preacher and organized a slave strike that turned into an uprising. This was put down within two weeks.
  • 1822-1830 and 1835, Bahia , Brazil .

North America

In the Portuguese colony of San Miguel de Gualdape (today between North Carolina and South Carolina) there was the first documented slave revolt in North America in 1526, the year it was founded. It was also here that the first documented African slaves in North America were forced to work.

Numerous slave revolts took place in North America in the 18th and 19th centuries. More than 250 uprisings or planned uprisings with at least ten slaves are documented. Three of the most famous are the uprisings of Gabriel alias Gabriel Prosser in Virginia in 1800, Denmark Vesey in Charleston , South Carolina in 1822, and Nat Turner in Southampton County , Virginia in 1831.

Slave riots prior to the American Civil War came into the focus of science in the early 1940s. Herbert Aptheker published the first serious scientific paper on this topic. Aptheker emphasized the deeply rooted system of exploitation of slaves in the southern states . He scoured the archives and libraries in the southern United States and discovered about 250 incidents, none of which had the intensity and brutality of the Nat Turner uprising .

A special feature was the attack on Harpers Ferry , Virginia ( West Virginia did not exist at the time). White men, led by John Brown, killed white settlers who were advocates of slavery in order to provoke a slave revolt in the southern United States. The attempt failed, however; ironically, the first person they killed was a black slave.

Africa

  • 1808, South Africa . In October, over 300 female slaves moved from surrounding farms to Cape Town to claim their freedom. Shortly before entering the city, they were intercepted and arrested by soldiers. Five slaves were sentenced to death and executed as leaders, and dozens more were sentenced to life imprisonment.

See also

literature

  • Aline Helg: Slave No More: Self-Liberation before Abolitionism in the Americas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 2019, ISBN 978-1-4696-4964-1 .
  • Adélékè Adéèkó: The Slave's Rebellion: Literature, History, Orature . Indiana University, Bloomington 2005, ISBN 0-253-34596-0 .

Web links

Wiktionary: slave revolt  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lexikon der Antike , Johannes Irmscher (Ed.), Digital Library, Vol. 18, Directmedia, Berlin 1999, p. 5317 (article: slave revolts)
  2. ↑ Margaret F. Pickett, Dwayne W. Pickett (February 15, 2011): The European Struggle to Settle North America: Colonizing Attempts by England, France and Spain, 1521-1608. McFarland. P. 26. ISBN 978-0-7864-5932-2 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Brutal slavery - arrival of the first Africans in America, Spiegel Geschichte HD , from approx. 10 min. 55 sec.
  4. ^ Unidentified Young Man . 1839-1840. Retrieved July 28, 2013.