Professional Documents
Culture Documents
8 - Resistance by Women
8 - Resistance by Women
8 - Resistance by Women
BY WOMEN
Although they were enslaved, women were still perceived as the “weaker sex”
and this gave them the opportunity to skillfully take advantage of their nature.
There were some forms of resistance that only women were privileged to as a
result of simply being a woman. This was compounded by the disposition and
mentality of the African women who were carried to the plantations. The
African mother‐country not only gave to thousands of enslaved West Indian a
background of military and aggressiveness, it also instilled a great sense of
self‐respect and confidence in the women.
RESISTANCE THROUGH FEMININE WILES
Females exaggerated feminine complaints and prolonged period of gestation, sometimes opting to breastfeed
babies for as long as two years. This was used as an excuse to be exempted from work. N. B‐: The slave woman
was important to the plantation as a mate (since male slaves initially outnumbered female slaves), and as a mother
of slaves who would eventually grow into valuable workers for their masters. Therefore, these women were able to
subtly negotiate and manipulate their femininity and ability to bear children.
THE TONGUES OF WOMEN
The “black female spitfire” was a plague in the life of drivers, overseers; and
managers, who were often nearly driven to distraction by the quarrelsomeness of
such women. They showed that they were not intimidated by their superiors and
were not reluctant to answer back. They used indecent, scandalous, insulting and
threatening language. At times their general conduct was also violent. It was
believed by some plantation authorities that enslaved females were more likely to give offence than males, and
some also agreed that enslaved females deserved punishment more than males.
PLOTTING AND CONSPIRING
Women quietly schemed against the property and person of their
masters and mistresses in a variety of ways and were often able to
do so to avoid detection. The enslaved female would sometimes set
fire to the master’s property or poison their food. The latter was
made possible since the females were often cooks. They also had a
means. Women were seldom involved in plans for uprising since the men feared that they were too sensitive and
could not be fully trusted, however there is evidence that several women participated in different revolts and plans
for revolts.
Sources:
Cateau, Heather and Rita Pemberton. Beyond Tradition: Reinterpreting the Caribbean Historical Experience. Kingston, Jamaica:
Ian Randle Publishers..2006. Ref WI. 972.9 Be
De Verteuil, Anthony. To Find Freedom: Historical Sketches of Trinidad. Port of Spain, Trinidad: The Litho Press. 1998. Ref WI
818.54 Ve
Mathurin‐Mair, Lucille. The Rebel Woman in the British West Indies during Slavery. Kingston: Jamaica Publications Limited.
1995. Ref WI 305.567082 Ma
Thomas, Velma Maia. Lest We Forget: The Passage from Africa to Slavery and Emancipation. New York: Crown Publishers Inc.
1997. Ref WI 306.36209 Th