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Unit 1 Methods of Slave Suppression
Further pressure to obey their masters was brought to bear on the slaves in the form of
intimidation. While some of this intimidation consisted of little more than crude threats of
punishment for acts of disobedience, slaveholders often employed more sophisticated means.
Since slaves were legally property, their marriages meant nothing in the eyes of the law.
Nonetheless, many slaveholders actively encouraged their slaves to marry each other. Such
emotional bonds gave slave owners immense control over their slaves. Slaves who were
disobedient or seen as troublemakers were routinely sold away from their families. This was
especially effective in controlling female slaves, who lived in constant fear of being sold away
from their children. The fear of such separations discouraged many slaves from resisting the
authority of their masters.
Inevitably, there were instances in which slaves took up arms against their masters. In most
cases, these were impulsive acts on the part of a single slave driven beyond endurance by a
particularly abusive master. Such slaves were dealt with brutally and publicly. Rather than
killing these slaves, slave owners often whipped them mercilessly or disfigured them in some
other fashion. In this manner, the slave would serve as a visible reminder of the horrid
consequences of raising one‘s fists to one‘s master. Organized large-scale slave revolts were
even rarer and dealt with more brutally. The last slave revolt before the Civil War occurred in
Virginia in 1831, when Nat Turner organized a group of fellow slaves and led a revolt that
resulted in the death of some 56 whites before it was crushed. In the aftermath, over 300
slaves, most of whom were innocent of any involvement in the revolt, were killed by vengeful
whites. This wholesale slaughter terrified the remaining slave population into submission, and
Turner‘s actions were not emulated until the power of the South began to crumble in the final
days of the Civil War.
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Further pressure to obey their masters was brought to bear on the slaves in the form of
intimidation. While some of this intimidation consisted of little more than crude threats of
punishment for acts of disobedience, slaveholders often employed more sophisticated means.
Since slaves were legally property, their marriages meant nothing in the eyes of the law.
Nonetheless, many slaveholders actively encouraged their slaves to marry each other. Such
emotional bonds gave slave owners immense control over their slaves. Slaves who were
disobedient or seen as troublemakers were routinely sold away from their families. This was
especially effective in controlling female slaves, who lived in constant fear of being sold away
from their children. The fear of such separations discouraged many slaves from resisting the
authority of their masters.
Inevitably, there were instances in which slaves took up arms against their masters. In most
cases, these were impulsive acts on the part of a single slave driven beyond endurance by a
particularly abusive master. Such slaves were dealt with brutally and publicly. Rather than
killing these slaves, slave owners often whipped them mercilessly or disfigured them in some
other fashion. In this manner, the slave would serve as a visible reminder of the horrid
consequences of raising one‘s fists to one‘s master. Organized large-scale slave revolts were
even rarer and dealt with more brutally. The last slave revolt before the Civil War occurred in
Virginia in 1831, when Nat Turner organized a group of fellow slaves and led a revolt that
resulted in the death of some 56 whites before it was crushed. In the aftermath, over 300
slaves, most of whom were innocent of any involvement in the revolt, were killed by vengeful
whites. This wholesale slaughter terrified the remaining slave population into submission, and
Turner‘s actions were not emulated until the power of the South began to crumble in the final
days of the Civil War.
- 11 -
