Throughout the Southern States where slavery was rampant slaves devised many different methods of resisting everyday hardships. Most slaves used momentary resistance which was a form of peaceful resistance, but some slaves used other slave resistance with a more clear claim to freedom like Planned personal or Institutional resistance.
Momentary resistance were those that took place in the work environment. When slave masters increased work loads slaves would fake illnesses, sabotage production, slow work,or break tools. In the narrative “Slaves’ Resistance on Southern Plantations”, Carter J. Jackson told the story of when the slaves made their Master believe that the hogs they had for the winter died of a uncommon disease named “Malitis”. The slaves made up the disease to keep the hogs for themselves and early that morning the stronger slave went and hit the hog in the head…show more content… The most common form of planned personal resistance was flight. As early as 1640 many slaves escaped slavery and became free. In the narrative by Anna baker, she explains how her mother was being sexually harassed by a overseer and he told her to go over to the woods with him , but she didn't want to do it so she ran off and left her kids behind.
The last type of slave resistance is Institutional resistance. Between 1691 and 1865, at least nine slave revolts erupted in what would eventually become the United States. The most prominent of these occurred in New York City (1712), Stono, South Carolina (1739), New Orleans (1811), and Southampton, Virginia (Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion). In the narrative “ Frederick Douglass” , A&E Television Networks explained talked about Frederick Douglass and how he got free. According to the narrative he help teach slaves to read and in 1838 he became a free slave.
In summary Slaves used many ways to make slavery easier on themselves and to become free because Slavery was not something easy to
