Read the following excerpt from a historical analysis of gender and resistance in the American South:
"Because enslaved women often worked within the domestic sphere of the plantation home, they possessed unique opportunities to engage in covert acts of resistance. While men were more likely to engage in overt rebellions or attempt long-distance escape, women frequently utilized their proximity to the household to sabotage property, feign illness, and secretly distribute food or information within their communities."
Based on the passage, which of the following best describes a key difference in how resistance was gendered during slavery?
- AEnslaved women were legally prevented from participating in any form of resistance due to the doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem.
- Enslaved women frequently utilized their domestic roles to perform covert acts of sabotage and support, while men more often attempted overt rebellion or long-distance escape.Answer
- CEnslaved women focused exclusively on establishing grand maroon communities, leaving daily acts of sabotage to enslaved men.
- DEnslaved women only engaged in resistance after the legal framework of slavery was fully codified in the late nineteenth century.
Answer
Enslaved women frequently utilized their domestic roles to perform covert acts of sabotage and support, while men more often attempted overt rebellion or long-distance escape.
The correct answer accurately reflects the passage by describing how enslaved women's roles in the domestic sphere facilitated covert acts of resistance like sabotage and mutual aid, whereas men more frequently attempted overt rebellions or long-distance flight.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Gendered Dimensions of Slavery and Resistance