Before 1750, while the fire of African freedom still burned in the veins of the slaves, there was in all leadership or attempted leadership but the one motive of revolt and revenge,—typified in the terrible Maroons, the Danish blacks, and Cato of Stono, and veiling all the Americas in fear of insurrection.
Du Bois characterizes the primary motivation for leadership among enslaved Africans before 1750 as driven by a desire for revolt and revenge.
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