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Difficulty: EasyShipboard Rebellions and Middle Passage Resistance

Read the following excerpt from a 1730 report regarding the sloop *Little George*:

'On the first of June, the captives on board the sloop *Little George* rose up against the crew... having confined the master and crew in the cabin, they took control of the vessel. They successfully navigated the ship back to the coast, where they went ashore and regained their liberty.'

This account of the *Little George* most directly challenges which of the following misconceptions about the Middle Passage?

  1. Enslaved Africans were passive participants who lacked the agency and capability to launch organized rebellions.Answer
  2. B
    Middle Passage resistance was limited to covert, everyday actions such as hunger strikes or tool breaking.
  3. C
    Successful uprisings against slavery were exclusively land-based events that occurred after captives arrived on American plantations.
  4. D
    Captive Africans were unable to cooperate because they all belonged to a single, homogeneous culture with no regional differences.

Answer

Enslaved Africans were passive participants who lacked the agency and capability to launch organized rebellions.
The correct option is the one stating that enslaved Africans were passive participants who lacked the agency and capability to launch organized rebellions. The successful mutiny on the *Little George* and the captives' ability to navigate the ship back to the African coast directly disprove the myth of captive passivity during the Middle Passage, highlighting their agency, bravery, and cooperative organizing skills.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the historical excerpt about the sloop *Little George*.
The text describes how captives rose up, confined the crew, navigated the vessel back to the Sierra Leone River, and escaped to regain their liberty.
This establishes that the captives exercised agency, navigation skills, and coordinated rebellion during the Middle Passage.
2
Evaluate the choices to find which misconception is challenged by this evidence of active, successful rebellion.
The evidence directly refutes the idea that enslaved Africans were passive victims during the transatlantic voyage who could not organize or resist.
By showing a successful shipboard mutiny and self-liberation, it counters the narrative of complete passivity.

Key Concept

Middle Passage Resistance and Agency
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Shipboard Rebellions and Middle Passage Resistance

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