Long before 1776, when the thirteen British colonies declared themselves an independent nation ruled by principles like liberty, equality, and justice for all, enslaved people risked their lives to fight for these same rights in America. Opposition to slavery existed as long as slavery itself. Though rebellions were often put down with brutal tactics, they occurred everywhere: on large plantations and small farms, in major cities and small villages, on land and at sea, and in the North as well as the South.