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Unit 1 Methods of Slave Suppression
Reading Comprehension
In his famous 1843 ―Address to the Slaves of the United States‖, escaped slave and
abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet urged American slaves to revolt against their masters. In
that address, Garnet said, ―Strike for your lives and liberties. Now is the day and the hour. Let
every slave throughout the land do this, and the days of slavery are numbered. You cannot be
more oppressed than you have been – you cannot suffer greater cruelties than you have
already. Rather die freemen than live to be slaves. Remember that you are four million!‖ The
line regarding the numbers of the slaves proved especially disquieting to slave owners and
inflamed a fear that lurked deep in the heart of every slave owner: the fear of a slave revolt.
In truth, however, the slave owners had little cause to worry. By the 1750s, nearly one
hundred years before Garnet‘s call to arms, the system the South had erected to control its
slave population was already as effective and as draconian as any that had been devised. The
South further tightened its grip when a bloody and successful slave revolt swept across the
French colony of Haiti in 1791, after which southern slaveholders vowed not to share the fate
of their French counterparts, and kept their boots pressed firmly on the backs of their slaves.
The South‘s domination of its slaves was a subtle, carefully managed mix of indoctrination,
intimidation, and, when these previous methods failed, brutal application of force.
In the early days of slavery in the American South, slaves were forced to reject their
traditional African religions and convert to Christianity, but later generations of slaves readily
adopted the new religion. The slaves were especially attracted to the Old Testament, with its
description of the Hebrews and their sad history of slavery and subjugation. Southern
slaveholders quickly twisted this to their own purposes. The Southern ministers who preached
to the slaves stressed the patience and forbearance of the Jews in accepting and enduring their
suffering, pointing out that their freedom had only been secured by God‘s direct intercession.
They also stressed such New Testament concepts as ―the last shall be first in the kingdom of
heaven‖ and ―love thy enemy as you love thy neighbor.‖ In stressing these lessons in
submission to tribulations, the masters imparted a very clear message upon their slaves: only
by accepting and enduring their fate on Earth would they be rewarded with freedom in the
afterlife.
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Reading Comprehension
In his famous 1843 ―Address to the Slaves of the United States‖, escaped slave and
abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet urged American slaves to revolt against their masters. In
that address, Garnet said, ―Strike for your lives and liberties. Now is the day and the hour. Let
every slave throughout the land do this, and the days of slavery are numbered. You cannot be
more oppressed than you have been – you cannot suffer greater cruelties than you have
already. Rather die freemen than live to be slaves. Remember that you are four million!‖ The
line regarding the numbers of the slaves proved especially disquieting to slave owners and
inflamed a fear that lurked deep in the heart of every slave owner: the fear of a slave revolt.
In truth, however, the slave owners had little cause to worry. By the 1750s, nearly one
hundred years before Garnet‘s call to arms, the system the South had erected to control its
slave population was already as effective and as draconian as any that had been devised. The
South further tightened its grip when a bloody and successful slave revolt swept across the
French colony of Haiti in 1791, after which southern slaveholders vowed not to share the fate
of their French counterparts, and kept their boots pressed firmly on the backs of their slaves.
The South‘s domination of its slaves was a subtle, carefully managed mix of indoctrination,
intimidation, and, when these previous methods failed, brutal application of force.
In the early days of slavery in the American South, slaves were forced to reject their
traditional African religions and convert to Christianity, but later generations of slaves readily
adopted the new religion. The slaves were especially attracted to the Old Testament, with its
description of the Hebrews and their sad history of slavery and subjugation. Southern
slaveholders quickly twisted this to their own purposes. The Southern ministers who preached
to the slaves stressed the patience and forbearance of the Jews in accepting and enduring their
suffering, pointing out that their freedom had only been secured by God‘s direct intercession.
They also stressed such New Testament concepts as ―the last shall be first in the kingdom of
heaven‖ and ―love thy enemy as you love thy neighbor.‖ In stressing these lessons in
submission to tribulations, the masters imparted a very clear message upon their slaves: only
by accepting and enduring their fate on Earth would they be rewarded with freedom in the
afterlife.
-5-
