Theme 3: Resistance and revolt

Controlling the enslaved

The need to control

Plantation society was based on fear. The white owners feared the uprisings of the

enslaved population which outnumbered them. To prevent this, control of the enslaved

population was absolutely essential. This was done in a variety of ways.

Legislation

Spanish slave laws were based on the ‘Las Siete Partidas’, a slave code to which new

laws were added to deal with the Spanish West Indian colonies.

The French ‘Code Noir’ set out the status of the enslaved and regulated ownership and

sale. It set limits for punishment and laid down minimum conditions for food and

housing. It granted a right to legal trial and some civil rights.

Britain did not have a slave code, each colonial assembly made its own regulations. In

spite of the many laws, enslaved workers did have some basic rights, which were

extended over time.

Psychological control
Planters also used subtle mechanisms of control which involved convincing Africans of

their inferiority. Images would be shown of the enslaved working under the command of

the whites. Detailed definitions of ‘white’, ‘coloured’ and ‘black’ were used, teachings

which were supported by the church. Public punishment put psychological pressure on

enslaved people to conform to planter orders.

Economic control

Plantation society was paternalistic: planters were responsible for their enslaved

possessions, providing them with housing, issuing them rations and controlling their use

of time.

The working day was drawn out to benefit the planters and free time was limited. Time

spent on provision grounds, where the enslaved grew crops largely for themselves, was

restricted and meeting time was specified. Most of the earnings from ‘jobbing’ slaves-

slaves who did additional specialized work, example, carpentry, masonry ho went to

other plantations. The aim was to control and limit the opportunities open to the

enslaved men and women to obtain extra earnings.

Social control

Planters integrated mechanisms of social control by creating classes and affording

status within the system of enslavement. So some groups were privileged: domestics
enjoyed better living conditions, food and dress than field workers and felt themselves

superior. Drivers enjoyed status among the enslaved because they were feared.

‘Doctors and doctresses’, skilled workers and midwives were valued by planters and

afforded status within enslavement. Planters instituted a system of rewards which

brought enhanced status to those enslaved who brought information or defended the

master or his property.

In this way the planters tried to prevent the enslaved Africans from uniting and the

distinctions helped to prevent some enslaved men and women from participating in

resistance activities.

Ideological control

Ideological control meant projecting the basic idea that Africa was uncivilized ‘dark

continent’ and that Africans were inferior. European values were said to be the norm.

The idea that Africa was ‘negative’ and the Europe was ‘positive’ was underscored in

teachings in schools and in church.

Physical control

Punishment was an important agency of control. Planters were brutal and each

plantation had a prison. Repeat offenders were put on a treadmill, flogging was common

as were public hangings, torture and mutilation. Public punishment had an important
psychological value beyond the physical, to discourage disobedience and enforce

acceptance of planter dictates.

Cultural control

Planters exerted control by exploiting divisions within the enslaved community: creole

versus African born, lighter versus darker, mulattoes versus African. Planters also

sought to make Africans more open to control by deculturalization, that is banning them

from singing their songs and performing their traditional dances, worshipping their

traditional gods. Resisting this control became an important strategy for the enslaved.

Questions

1. Why did the planters see controlling the enslaved men and women as

necessary?

2. Were the measures used by planters to control the slaves successful? Why?

Why not?