Emphasis my own.
By the mid-eighteenth century in the mainland colonies (but not in the West Indies), American-born slaves came to outnumber the African-born. At that point, resistance became more subtle. The second-generation “creole” slaves usually recognized that overt rebellion and maroon settlements were suicidal, given the superior numbers, arms, and organization of their oppressors. Shifting tactics, creole slaves ran away as individuals or pairs to try to disappear into the free black population of a seaport in another colony. Many more slaves stayed on their plantation but resisted covertly, by dragging out their tasks, feigning illness, pretending ignorance, and breaking tools—or by stealing their master's hogs and alcohol. With these tactics, the blacks cleverly exploited the prejudices of their masters, who considered blacks innately lazy, stupid, and dishonest. Landon Carter of Virginia complained, “I find it almost impossible to make a negro do his work well. No orders can engage it, no encouragement persuade it, nor no punishment oblige it.” His tone of resignation registered the small victory of his resisting slaves.
In sum, slave and master engaged in a contest of wills that determined the pace and volume of work on each plantation. One side, however, had far more power than the other. Slaves had to be careful not to overplay their resistance, especially when the master had a quick temper and a strong overseer or driver with a stinging whip. On the other hand, the wise planter had to watch for the limits of his own considerable power. If punished too brutally, slaves might lash out in deadly desperation. Some masters paid for their cruelty when arson consumed a house or barn, or when slaves slipped poison into their owners’ food. Such acts rarely escaped detection and ruthless punishment, but they always left a restraining anxiety in planters’ minds. Masters compelled enough labor and obedience to preserve a profitable slave system, but they did so with far greater difficulty and more anxiety than they had expected.
Taylor, Alan. American Colonies: The Settling of North America. Penguin, 2001.