“To Make Their Escape, and Mutiny”: Enslaved African Resistance During the Middle Passage

A discussion of using reading against the grain to help students understand mutinies on slave ships by enslaved Africans

Bram Hubbell

23 Oct 2023 — 3 min read

From pages 84 and 86 of the AP World History Course and Exam Description

Mutinies were another aspect of the transatlantic slave system that was often described in sources by White Europeans rather than by enslaved Africans. Using the technique of reading against the grain, we can help students better understand how enslaved Africans resisted during the Middle Passage.

The Source

Afroeurasian Exchange Networks and the Spread of Religions before 1450

Extensive trade networks crisscrossed Afroeurasia before 1500. These networks facilitated more than the movement of goods; cultural traditions and technologies also spread through the networks. We can easily see this through the spread of the four most popular universal religions. The Source