1. Slavery & Abolition
19th Century

2. Bellringer: Analysis

3. 19th Century Life of a Slave
Most slaves had Sundays off and they went to church.
Most slaves could not read or write, and it was illegal for them to learn.
Slave Codes-They could not: leave their home without a pass, carry a weapon, gather in groups, own property, legally marry, defend themselves against a white person, or speak in court.

4. 19th Century Life of a Slave
By 1850, most slaves lived in rural areas (2.8 million) compared to 400,000 slaves living in southern cities
On large plantations, slaves worked from “dawn to dusk”
In cities slaves could hire themselves out as artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters

5. 19th Century Resistance Flight-Slaves would runaway.
Truancy-Flight for a short amount of time and then the slave came back.
Refusal to reproduce-Women refused to have children.
Covert Action-Slaves would sometimes kill animals, destroy crops, start fires, steal stuff, break tools, poison food.

6. Punishment Slaves were often brutally punished for misbehaving.
Punishments included: whipping, branding, being sold, gagged (silence), and other torturous methods were used.

7. Violent Resistance 4 major slave revolts-
Stono Rebellion-failed revolt in South Carolina in 1739
Gabriel Prosser-led failed revolt in Virginia in 1800
Denmark Vessey-led failed revolt in South Carolina in 1822
Nat Turner-killed 60 white people in Virginia in 1831

8. Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Turner was born into slavery in 1800 in Southampton County, Va.
A gifted preacher, who felt he was chosen to lead his people out of bondage
August 1831 he saw an eclipse of the sun that he took to be a divine signal for action

9. Nat Turner’s Rebellion
He took 80 followers and attacked four plantations
Killed almost 60 whites before being captured by state and federal troops
Turner had hidden for several weeks before being captured, tried and hanged
Whites retaliated by killing 200 innocent blacks
Strengthened whites to defend slavery and better control slaves

10. Abolition
By the 1820s more than 100 antislavery societies were pushing for resettlement back to Africa for free blacks
But most African Americans, with white support, supported Abolition
This reform movement was fueled by preachers like Charles Finney

11. David Walker A free African American from Wilmington, NC
Published his Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, 1829
Advised slaves to fight for freedom rather than to wait for slave owners to end slavery

12. David Walker
“The man who would not fight…ought to be kept with all of his children or family, in slavery, or in chains, to be butchered by his cruel enemies”

13. William Lloyd Garrison
Most radical white abolitionist
Started his Boston newspaper, The Liberator in 1831
His message was “immediate emancipation”-the freeing of slaves with no payment to slaveholders

14. William Lloyd Garrison
“I will be harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject (immediate emancipation), I do not wish to think or speak or write, with moderation…I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—AND I WILL BE HEARD.”

15. Frederick Douglass Born into slavery in 1817
Had been taught how to read and write by the wife of one of his owners
After her husband ordered her to stop, he studied even harder
By 1838 he held a skilled job as a ship caulker in Baltimore
After a disagreement with his owner, he decided to escape by borrowing the identity of a free black sailor

16. Frederick Douglass He escaped to New York
Became eager reader of The Liberator
Sponsored by William Lloyd Garrison as a lecturer of the American Anti-slavery Society
Known for great oratory
Broke with Garrison in 1847 and formed his own paper, The North Star

17. Nat Turner Assignment
Access the class website:
Go to Unit 4 Resource Page and find the Nat Turner Activity.
Silently read the Nat Turner summary and answer the questions that follow.
With a partner, analyze the two primary resources by answering the questions for each document.
Be prepared to share with the class.

18. Exit Ticket
What impact do you think the abolition movement had on Nat Turner?
What impact do you think Nat Turner had on abolition?