Summary
Highlights
The Fronde was a resistance movement in France against the absolutist rule of Louis XIV. His endless wars of expansion required increased taxation, leading the French nobility, whose power was being threatened, to lead peasants in rebellions. Although the resistance was eventually crushed, it highlights the internal opposition to growing monarchical power.
Queen Nzinga, who ruled the kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba in Africa, resisted Portuguese colonial encroachment. She formed alliances with the Dutch and the Kingdom of Kongo to successfully fight back against Portuguese armies, demonstrating African resistance to European expansion.
The Pueblo people in North America, suffering from Spanish missionary oppression, forced labor, and disease, organized under a leader named Popé. They violently rebelled against the Spanish, temporarily ejecting them from their lands before the Spanish regained control a decade later.
Enslaved Africans, brought to the Americas for agricultural labor, did not passively accept their fate. Maroon societies were communities of runaway enslaved people, particularly numerous in the Caribbean and Brazil. These communities often fought back against colonial authorities, as seen in Jamaica where a treaty was signed recognizing their freedom in 1738 due to their fortified locations and resistance.
In South Carolina, a major agricultural colony, enslaved people faced extreme abuses. In 1739, a group of about 100 enslaved persons initiated the Stono Rebellion, storming an armory and killing their enslavers. Although the rebellion was eventually crushed by the local militia, it instilled fear in slaveholding colonies, demonstrating the fierce resistance of enslaved populations.
From 1450 to 1750, the expansion of sea-based European empires led to increased efforts to centralize power. This centralization was met with significant resistance from both home populations and colonized peoples who did not want to be controlled by large governments. This video will explore some key examples of this resistance.