A People's History of the United States

Zinn pivots next to the issues of slavery and reconstruction in the 19th century. Unlike in the Caribbean, where the Haitian Revolution served as a model for other anti-slavery revolts, slave rebellions were uncommon in the American South. This fact was in large part due to stringent social controls imposed by Southern states on their populations. Nevertheless, there was a constant fear that a popular movement would lead to the end of slavery and a radical change to the social, economic, and racial makeup of the South. The largest of these revolts was Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion. Turner and his followers killed at least 55 white men, women, and children over several days (174). While Turner had hoped he was starting a movement across the South, no sympathetic revolts occurred. Instead, Turner and 18 supporters were captured and hung. Despite its failure, Southerners were terrified by the possibility of future revolts, and repression intensified across the South. In the North, violent resistance was discredited for a generation. Instead, a growing number of abolitionists worked to undermine slavery from the outside through moral, electoral, and physical means. Black resistance in the South, on the other hand, pivoted towards flight and spiritual subversion (179).