Page 284 - American Stories, A History of the United States

North. Henry “Box” Brown, like other successful fugitives, published an account of his
life in slavery and his daring escape, and fashioned his story as a plea to support the 11.1
antislavery cause. Such narratives by fugitive slaves are an important source of infor-
mation about life under slavery.
The typical fugitive was a young, unmarried male from the Upper South. For most 11.2
slaves, however, flight was not an option. Either they lived too deep in the South to
reach free soil, or they were reluctant to leave family and friends behind. Slaves who did
not or could not leave the plantation had to oppose the masters’ regime while remain- 11.3
ing under the yoke of bondage.
The normal way of expressing discontent was through indirect or passive resis-
tance. Many slaves worked slowly and inefficiently, not because they were naturally
lazy (as whites supposed) but as a gesture of protest or alienation. As the words of a
popular slave song said, “You may think I’m working/But I ain’t.” Others feigned illness
or injury. Stealing provisions—a common activity—was another way to flout authority.
According to the code of ethics prevailing in the slave quarters, theft from the master
simply enabled slaves to obtain a larger share of the fruits of their own labors.
Many slaves committed acts of sabotage. Tools and agricultural implements were
deliberately broken, animals were willfully neglected or mistreated, and barns or other
outbuildings were set afire. Often masters could not identify the culprits because slaves
did not readily inform on one another. The ultimate act of clandestine resistance was
poisoning the master’s food. Some slaves, especially the “conjure” men and women who
practiced a combination of folk medicine and witchcraft, knew how to mix rare, virtually
untraceable poisons, and many plantation whites became suddenly and mysteriously ill.
Whole families died from obscure “diseases” that did not infect the slave quarters.
The folktales that slaves passed from generation to generation revealed the attitude
behind such actions. The famous Br’er Rabbit stories showed how a small, apparently
defenseless animal could outwit a bigger and stronger one through cunning and deceit.

Watch the Video Underground Railroad

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD between 1815 and 1860, it is estimated that 130,000 refugees (out of 4 million
slaves) escaped the slave South on the “Underground Railroad.” The railroad had as many as 3200 active workers. by
the 1850s, substantial numbers of southerners had been in open violation of federal law by hiding runaways for a
night.
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