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Nat Turner's Rebellion -

Driven by the righteous belief in the inherent evil of slavery, and claiming to have received a vision from God instructing him to lead a revolt, a man named Nat Turner (born in Virginia and enslaved from birth) led one of the most infamous uprisings in American history in 1831.

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Nat Turner's Rebellion -

While Turner's rebellion lasted only a few days, it changed the course of US history by showing the country that enslaved people were not in the slightest happy in their position, contrary to the belief of the slaveholders of the time. It proved that the oppressed workers did in fact have the means and motivation to rise up in revolt.

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Germany Coast Uprising -

While not the most famous, the largest enslaved uprising in the United States was the Germany Coast Uprising of 1811, also sometimes called Andry's Rebellion. 

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Germany Coast Uprising -

Starting with the ransacking of the Andry plantation on the coast of the Mississippi River, Charles Deslandes and a group of fellow enslaved Africans and African-Americans made their way along the coast, growing in numbers as they liberated plantation after plantation. Before long, a ruling-class militia was formed, and although the rebels put up a valiant fight, the militia was eventually able to put a stop to their path of liberation.

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The St. John Insurrection -

In 1733, just two years after Nat Turner's revolt, the enslaved Akan people from modern-day Ghana on the Danish-controlled Caribbean island of St. John managed to take over the colony for themselves.

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The St. John Insurrection -

Six months of autonomous rule over the rich farmland of St. John were enjoyed after the well-planned Akan uprising, but soon an overwhelming force of French soldiers arrived on the island and took away their independence once more.

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The Haitian Revolution -

The second successful revolution in the Americas and the only directly successful uprising of enslaved people in history was the Haitian Revolution.

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The Haitian Revolution -

An army made up of enslaved and formerly enslaved individuals of both African and native descent of what was then known as Saint-Domingue, fought against the French ruling class. It was the largest uprising of its kind since the Third Servile War in ancient Rome nearly 2,000 years beforehand.

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The Haitian Revolution -

Rebellion broke out in 1791 after growing unrest amongst the oppressed populations went unnoticed by the white ruling class, and before long, the primary port city and now-capital of Port-au-Prince was practically burned to the ground.

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The Haitian Revolution -

With the help of unifying and motivating figures such as Toussant L'ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who became the first ruler of the free nation of Haiti, the rebels and freedom fighters successfully fought off the St. Dominican ruling class and their allies to establish independence in 1804. The success of the Haitian revolution sent shockwaves throughout Latin America and became the blueprint for many more uprisings to come.

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The Mamluk sultanate -

In medieval Egypt, a revolt organized by the mamluk (a class of "soldier-slave") gave birth to one of the largest and most enduring sultanates in the history of the Arab world.

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The Mamluk sultanate -

Once the Mamluks overthrew their Ayyubid masters, their reign lasted for over 300 years. They survived attempts of invasion from the Mongols of the East and the Crusaders of the West. It wasn't until 1517 that the Mamluk sultanate was finally conquered by the Ottoman empire.

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Tacky's War -

Three decades before the Haitian Revolution, the uprising now known as Tacky's War erupted across Jamaica in 1760. Led by Tacky, sometimes spelled Takyi, an enslaved Ghanaian man, the war began with the capture of the Trinity plantation.

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Tacky's War -

After a successful first few nights of revolt, word eventually reached the colonial leader in Spanish Town who sent troops to put an end to the rebellion. Grossly outnumbered, many of the rebels fled into the mountains while Tacky and a few others stayed to fight. Although Tacky was eventually shot dead, guerilla warfare and isolated incidents of conflict continued for nearly a year afterward.

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The First Servile War -

The first of the Roman Empire's three Servile Wars began in 135 BCE when a man and self-proclaimed prophet named Eunus took over the Sicilian city of Enna with a group of 400 fellow enslaved workers.

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The First Servile War -

Soon after, another enslaved laborer known as Cleon decimated the town of Agrigentum and joined forces with Eunus, becoming one of his greatest generals. Together, Eunus and Cleon were able to control a large part of Sicily and repel a number of Roman attacks from the mainland, until they were eventually defeated in 132 BCE.

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The Zanj Rebellion -

One of the largest uprisings of the Arab world was the Zanj Rebellion, started in 869 CE and fought by an ever-expanding group of enslaved East Africans, Bedouin, and Arab serfs, against the Abbasid empire in modern-day Iraq.

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The Zanj Rebellion -

Led by a mysterious revolutionary known in the history books as Ali ibn Muhammad, the Zanj rebellion was massively disruptive to the Abbasid caliphate. It is known to historians now as one of the most violent events in classical Arab history. An estimated 500,000 lives were lost over the span of 14 years, and although the Zanj rebels held out for a miraculously long time against such a strong and centralized power, they were eventually forced to succumb once more to the Abbasid caliphate in 883.

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The New York City Conspiracy -

Historians are still unsure to what extent this uprising was planned or spontaneous, but in March 1741, massive and destructive fires began engulfing different parts of New York City. The spate of fires continued well into April. 

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The New York City Conspiracy -

It was decided by a jury that the chain of arsons was the handiwork of a group of enslaved abolitionists. Thirteen people were burned at the stake, 21 people were hung, and dozens more were expelled from the city.

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Revolt on the Amistad -

In 1839, a group of 53 people from Mende in modern-day Sierra Leone were aboard a slave ship called La Amistad, after being illegally bought in Havana, Cuba. The ship was headed west for further smuggling along the coasts of the Americas. During the night, a group of the newly-enslaved people ambushed the ship's captains, and demanded they steer the ship back towards Africa.

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Revolt on the Amistad -

Before much progress had been made, the ship was stopped by the United States Navy. Initially, the men who organized the revolt were arrested and put on trial. However, in a spectacular and historic turn of events, it was ruled that they had been enslaved illegally. They were deemed free individuals and were allowed to return to their homes and families in Sierra Leone.

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The Third Servile War -

The most famous revolt of enslaved people in Europe, and the largest for nearly 2,000 years until the Haitian Revolution, was Rome's Third Servile War, led by the now-legendary figure, Spartacus.

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The Third Servile War -

In 73 BCE, Spartacus led a group of fellow gladiators doomed for the Colusseum in an uprising that would inspire another 120,000 formerly-enslaved individuals to join their ranks. The massive liberation army fought valiantly until infighting caused their strength to waver. Each divergent faction was picked off by the Roman army until Spartacus himself was slain in battle.

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Raid at Harper's Ferry -

A famous and tragic moment in American history began on the night of October 16, 1859. A group of abolitionists and formerly-enslaved Africans and African Americans, led by the legendary white abolitionist John Brown, attempted to take over the American Army Arsenal in Harper's Ferry, Virginia.

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Raid at Harper's Ferry -

Brown and his troop of 22 rebels successfully gained control of the arsenal on the night of October 16, but a regiment of US soldiers soon got the better of them. Historians commonly call this raid a prelude or a "dress rehearsal" for the civil war that was to break out just three years later.

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Second Maroon War -

Some time after Tacky's War, in 1795, the Second Maroon War broke out between the formerly-enslaved maroons of Cudjoe's Town and the British Colonial forces.

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The Second Maroon War -

Maroons were enslaved people who had escaped their servitude and formed hidden, protected settlements around Jamaica and other Caribbean islands. Guerilla warfare between the British and the rebels of Cudjoe's Town broke out over a livestock dispute and developed into a war that lasted for nearly a year. There were nearly 100 casualties, mostly on the side of the British.

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The Malê revolt -

The Malê revolt, sometimes also referred to as the Bahia Rebellion, was an uprising of enslaved Muslims in the Brazilian city of Salvador da Bahia in 1835, just over a decade after Brazil gained independence from Portugal.

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The Malê revolt -

The enslaved Muslims attempted to overthrow the city on a night of Christian celebration, hoping to catch the ruling class and military with their guard down. The rebels successfully made their way through the city to the barracks of the cavalry, but there, they were decimated by gunfire from the barracks.

Sources: (History) (ThoughtCo.) (Blackpast)

See also: A dark history of American presidents who owned slaves

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