Enslavement and Resistance Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of Enslavement and Resistance distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

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Quick Reference

Chattel Slavery

A legal and economic system in which enslaved people were classified as personal property (chattel) that could be bought, sold, inherited, mortgaged, and bequeathed. In the American system, chattel slavery was racially based, hereditary through the mother, and permanent.

The Plantation System

A large-scale agricultural production system that used enslaved labor to grow cash crops such as cotton, sugar, tobacco, and rice for export. Plantations were the economic engine of the Southern economy and generated wealth that financed industrialization in both the North and Europe.

Slave Codes

Laws enacted in slaveholding states that defined the legal status of enslaved people as property, regulated their behavior, prohibited literacy, restricted movement, and codified the power of slaveholders. These codes became increasingly restrictive after slave rebellions.

The Underground Railroad

A network of secret routes, safe houses, and abolitionists that helped enslaved people escape from the South to free states and Canada in the decades before the Civil War. Despite its name, it was neither underground nor a railroad but a clandestine system of human assistance.

Nat Turner's Rebellion (1831)

The most significant slave revolt in the antebellum United States, led by Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner and approximately 70 enslaved people killed about 55 white people before the rebellion was suppressed. The aftermath included mass reprisals against enslaved and free Black people and the tightening of slave codes across the South.

Abolitionism

The movement to end the institution of slavery, encompassing a spectrum of strategies from moral suasion and political action to direct assistance for escapees and support for armed resistance. The movement included formerly enslaved people, free Black activists, and white allies.

Gang Labor vs. Task System

Two primary systems of organizing enslaved labor. The gang system, prevalent on cotton and sugar plantations, required enslaved people to work in groups under constant supervision from sunrise to sunset. The task system, common on rice plantations, assigned daily tasks and allowed workers some autonomy after completion.

Fugitive Slave Act (1850)

Federal law that required citizens of free states to assist in the capture and return of escaped enslaved people and imposed penalties on anyone who aided fugitives. The law outraged Northern abolitionists and was a major factor in deepening sectional tensions leading to the Civil War.

Everyday Resistance

The wide range of daily acts by which enslaved people resisted the system of slavery without engaging in open rebellion. These acts included work slowdowns, tool breaking, feigning illness, learning to read secretly, running away temporarily (petit marronage), and maintaining cultural and family traditions.

The Domestic Slave Trade

The internal trade in enslaved people within the United States, which became the primary source of enslaved labor after the official end of the international slave trade in 1808. An estimated one million enslaved people were forcibly relocated from the Upper South to the Deep South between 1790 and 1860.

Key Terms at a Glance

Abolitionism:The movement to end slavery, encompassing moral suasion, political action, direct assistance for fugitives, and support for armed resistance. Led by both Black and white activists including Douglass, Tubman, Garrison, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Antebellum Period:The period in American history before the Civil War, typically referring to 1820-1861. Characterized by the expansion of slavery, the rise of the abolitionist movement, and deepening sectional conflict.

Chattel Slavery:The legal classification of enslaved people as personal property (chattel) that could be bought, sold, inherited, and mortgaged. In the U.S., it was racially defined and hereditary through the mother.

Coffle:A group of enslaved people chained together and forced to march, typically during the domestic slave trade. Coffles of enslaved people being marched from the Upper South to the Deep South were common sights on antebellum roads.

Cotton Gin:A machine invented by Eli Whitney in 1793 that mechanized the separation of cotton fibers from seeds. It made cotton enormously profitable and dramatically increased the demand for enslaved labor.

Driver:An enslaved person appointed by the slaveholder to supervise and discipline other enslaved workers. Drivers occupied a complex and often painful position between the slaveholder and the enslaved community.

Fugitive Slave Act:Federal laws (1793 and 1850) requiring the return of escaped enslaved people to their slaveholders. The 1850 act was particularly controversial because it required Northern citizens to assist in captures and denied accused fugitives jury trials.

Hiring Out:The practice of slaveholders renting enslaved people's labor to other employers, common in urban areas and industrial settings. Some enslaved people were allowed to keep a portion of their wages, though the system remained fundamentally coercive.

Invisible Institution:Historians' term for the secret religious life of enslaved communities, conducted in hidden spaces beyond slaveholder surveillance. These gatherings blended African and Christian traditions and were important sites of community formation and resistance.

Overseer:A white man employed by a slaveholder to supervise enslaved laborers, enforce work discipline, and administer punishment on a plantation. Overseers were often from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and were infamous for their cruelty.

Petit Marronage:The practice of temporarily running away from a plantation, typically for short periods, as a form of resistance. Enslaved people might flee to nearby woods or swamps to avoid punishment, visit family on other plantations, or negotiate better conditions.

Slave Narrative:Autobiographical accounts written by formerly enslaved people describing their experiences under slavery and their paths to freedom. Frederick Douglass's Narrative (1845) and Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) are landmark examples.

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