African resistance to enslavement and captives' rebellion against the conditions of slavery were natural reactions to the transatlantic slave trade.
According to slave owners, ‘slaves were notoriously lazy and ill disposed to labour’, which illustrates that daily resistance was ubiquitous. The enslaved also engaged in acts of non-cooperation, petty theft and sabotage, as well as countless acts of insubordination.
Sometimes enslaved Africans would resort to more open or violent means of resistance, including the poisoning of animals and owners, and sometimes turned it against themselves by committing infanticide, self-mutilation and suicide. It was not unusual for slaves to absent themselves from enslavement for a few hours or a few days, regardless of the punishment they might receive on their return. It is estimated that about 10% of all the enslaved took such action, which sometimes involved moving temporarily to another location or, for those held captive in the Caribbean, even to another island.
Resistance to slavery had a long history, beginning in Africa itself. Rebellion would reach its peak in 1791, when the enslaved people of the French colony of St Domingue defeated three European powers to establish the first Black republic: