How did the Stono Rebellion and Fort Mose show the forms that resistance to slavery could take?
Topic 2.11 The Stono Rebellion and Fort Mose: the 1739 Stono Rebellion as armed revolt and Fort Mose as a free Black community, two early examples of resistance to slavery.
A focused answer to AP African American Studies Topic 2.11, explaining the 1739 Stono Rebellion in South Carolina as one of the largest colonial slave revolts and Fort Mose in Spanish Florida as the first legally sanctioned free Black community, two contrasting forms of early resistance to slavery.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 2.11 pairs two early examples of resistance: the Stono Rebellion of 1739, an armed revolt, and Fort Mose, a free Black community in Spanish Florida. The College Board wants you to understand these as contrasting strategies of resistance, violent revolt and flight to freedom, and to see how authorities responded.
The Stono Rebellion (1739)
The destination matters: the rebels were not acting blindly but heading toward a known refuge, which is where Fort Mose comes in.
Fort Mose
The two episodes are linked: the promise of freedom at places like Fort Mose was part of what drew the Stono rebels toward Florida.
The response and the strategies of resistance
After Stono, South Carolina passed a harsher Negro Act (1740), tightening the slave codes, restricting the movement and assembly of enslaved people, and banning them from learning to read, a direct attempt to prevent future revolts.
The pairing teaches a key lesson: resistance took many forms. Some, like the Stono rebels, chose armed revolt; others chose flight to freedom and the building of free communities like Fort Mose. Both were responses to the same condition of bondage, shaped by the opportunities available, in this case the nearby Spanish frontier.
Try this
Q1. What was the Stono Rebellion, and where were the rebels heading? [Recall]
- Cue. A 1739 armed slave revolt in South Carolina, one of the largest in the British mainland colonies; the rebels marched south toward Spanish Florida, where freedom was promised.
Q2. Explain how Fort Mose and the Stono Rebellion are connected. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Fort Mose was a free Black community in Spanish Florida that welcomed those who fled British slavery; the promise of such freedom to the south is part of why the Stono rebels marched toward Florida, linking armed revolt to the lure of nearby free communities.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2024 (style)3 marksUsing a source describing slave resistance in the colonial South, complete the following. A) Identify what the Stono Rebellion was. B) Describe what Fort Mose was. C) Explain ONE way colonial authorities responded to the Stono Rebellion.Show worked answer →
A source-based Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per part.
A. The Stono Rebellion was a 1739 armed uprising of enslaved people in South Carolina, one of the largest slave revolts in the British mainland colonies, in which the rebels marched toward Spanish Florida seeking freedom.
B. Fort Mose, near St Augustine in Spanish Florida, was the first legally sanctioned free Black community in what became the United States, settled by formerly enslaved people who had fled British colonies.
C. After the rebellion, South Carolina passed a harsher Negro Act in 1740, tightening the slave codes, restricting movement and assembly, and banning enslaved people from learning to read.
Each part needs a specific, accurate claim.
AP 2025 (style)6 marksDevelop an argument that evaluates the extent to which the Stono Rebellion and Fort Mose represent different strategies of resistance to slavery. Use specific evidence to support your argument.Show worked answer →
An argument-style free-response question, scored on a rubric rewarding thesis, evidence, and reasoning.
Thesis: "The Stono Rebellion and Fort Mose represent two contrasting strategies of resistance, armed revolt and flight to freedom, both aimed at escaping bondage but pursued by very different means."
Evidence: the armed march of the Stono rebels toward Spanish Florida; the establishment of Fort Mose as a free community under Spanish protection; the harsh Negro Act that followed Stono.
Reasoning: weigh violent revolt against escape and community-building, showing resistance took many forms in response to opportunity and circumstance.
Related dot points
- Topic 2.13 Resistance and Revolts in the United States: armed revolts such as those led by Gabriel, Denmark Vesey, and Nat Turner, alongside everyday resistance, and how enslavers responded.
A focused answer to AP African American Studies Topic 2.13, explaining armed slave revolts in the United States led by Gabriel, Denmark Vesey, and Nat Turner, the everyday and covert resistance that was far more common, and the harsh repression that followed major uprisings.
- Topic 2.15 Maroon Societies and Autonomous Black Communities: communities of self-liberated people who escaped slavery and built independent settlements across the Americas.
A focused answer to AP African American Studies Topic 2.15, explaining maroon societies, communities of self-liberated people who escaped slavery and built autonomous settlements in remote areas across the Americas, from Brazil's Palmares to Jamaica and the Great Dismal Swamp, as a major form of resistance.
- Topic 2.12 Legacies of the Haitian Revolution: the only successful large-scale slave revolt, the founding of Haiti, and its impact on slavery, abolition, and Black freedom across the Atlantic world.
A focused answer to AP African American Studies Topic 2.12, explaining the Haitian Revolution as the only successful large-scale slave revolt, the founding of the first Black republic in 1804, and its powerful legacies for abolition, Black freedom, and the fears of enslavers across the Atlantic world.
- Topic 2.7 Slavery and American Law: Slave Codes and Landmark Cases: how colonial and American law built the legal framework of racial slavery through slave codes and landmark court decisions.
A focused answer to AP African American Studies Topic 2.7, explaining how colonial and American law built racial slavery through slave codes that stripped the enslaved of rights, made slavery hereditary through the mother, and was reinforced by landmark court cases such as Dred Scott.
Sources & how we know this
- AP African American Studies Course and Exam Description — College Board (2024)