 Discuss slavery as an economic mode of production in Africa and the Caribbean

 Assess the impact of the slave trade on African civilization

 Discuss manumission in Caribbean chattel slavery
 Analyze some of the gender issues in plantation life and the physical abuse of the enslaved
 Evaluate the collaborative relationship between enslaved people working in the Great House
and the white plantocracy
 Assess the self-liberation ethos of the enslaved and their resistance on the plantations

Migratory Movements and the Establishment

of Settlement Patterns in the Caribbean
(From pre-Columbian times to 1838)

Migration is the movement of people, society and culture from one place to another with
the intention of making permanent settlement in a new location. It also involves the meeting and
mixing with other societies and cultures. HIGHLIGHT THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND
CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF EACH MIGRATORY GROUP:

Pre-Columbian Era: Indigenous Peoples (1200 - 1400)

Pre-Ceramic Era (Eventually acculturated into the Tainos)

The ancestors of the Pre-Colombian Amerindians moved (through the process of natural
diffusion) from North Eastern Asia across the frozen Bering Strait to Alaska at the end fourth Ice
Age. They then wandered southwards through North, Central and South America and eventually
the majority settled in the Greater Antilles. The Tainos eventually evolved out of cultural mixing
amongst the earlier peoples in the Greater Antilles.

Ceramic Era (Influx of Island Caribs)

Peoples from the Orinoco Basin of Venezuela and the Guianas of South America migrated into
the Eastern Caribbean and dispersed throughout the Lesser Antilles.

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 Coming of the Europeans (15th - 17th Centuries)

1492 - Time of Contact

Columbus arrives in Hispaniola on his first voyage, gathers gold as evidence for the King and
Queen of Spain which subsequently resulted in a monumental migration of Spaniards to
Hispaniola.

1494 - Treaty of Tordesillas (Division of the New

World)
Papal decree was made stating that: All land west of
the line running from north to south passing through
Brazil, belonged to the Spanish and all land on the east
belonged to Portugal.

16th Century - Rivalry to Spanish Rule (by other European Nations)

100 years after monopolization of the Americas by Spain; British, French, Dutch and even German
forces lay siege to the Spanish Empire as they had no reason to obey the Papal decree. Their
forces included pirates, buccaneers and privateers.
However, they did not permanently settle in the Americas until the 17 th Century. British and
French Forces settled in the Leeward Islands. Dutch settled in the coastal islands of the Guiana.

Forced Migration of the Africans: The Slave Trade (15th - 19th Centuries)

Between the 1500s and 1800s, African slaves were transported to the West Indies by the English
and French slave traders to provide labour on the sugar plantations. This was called the Atlantic
Slave Trade which had two routes: the Triangular Trade route and its Middle Passage.
Triangular Trade: This passage began in Europe, where ships were loaded with goods and sent
to Africa, where they were traded for African slaves. The slaves were taken to the New World
and traded for raw materials which were then shipped back to Europe.
Middle Passage: The route of the triangular trade from Africa to the Americas.

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 The post Emancipation Era (19th – 20th century)

Most freed slaves were reluctant to work on the plantations. A labour shortage developed after
emancipation, especially in British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica thus different immigration/
indentureship schemes were used to solve this problem:

East Indians
Africans from Africans from
Europeans Caribbean West Africa (Proved most
Islands capable and
(Few)
willing)

The Indians came from extreme poverty mainly in Northern India and were willing to
accept the minimum wages and poor working conditions being offered. This made the pre-
existing Africans very distrusting of them and hindered/prevented the Africans from making
effective wage demands on the planters. This African-Indian rivalry still pervades today in
Trinidad and Coastal South American societies (ex. Suriname and Guyana).

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 Migratory movements within and outside
the region from 1838 to present day
It is perhaps the constant movement of people into and out of the Caribbean that led
Richardson to refer to a regional migration tradition. This propensity to migrate, he argued, took
off immediately after emancipation in the 1830’s when thousands of men and women most
notably from smaller islands, migrated to Trinidad and British Guiana in search of higher wages
and better conditions. By 1845, more than 10 000 migrants from small West Indian Islands had
travelled to Trinidad and over 8000 others had gone to British Guiana. Many of these emigrants
eventually returned home displaying the fruits of their labour. This movement continued for a
long time as a feature of Caribbean people, that is, to move from small islands of the Eastern
Caribbean to larger ones in a complex inter-island migration.
Positive effects:

1. Creation of diasporic communities:

Santo Domingo
Panama
In the late 19th century, early 20th century, many people migrated from Jamaica and Barbados
to Panama to work on the Panama Canal. Their families soon followed and a large diasporic
community was founded.

London
After WWII, Britain needed help to rebuild its industries and capital after heavy bombing.
Caribbean people were offered special terms of citizenship and settlement rights in return for
their assistance. In the face of racial discrimination, they all banded together and resultantly
created their own newspapers (The Voice) and cultural events (Notting Hill Carnival) and today,
there are members of the Caribbean Diaspora in all walks of London life.

2. Lessened the pressure for jobs and services locally.

3. Remittances from family members abroad constitute a valuable source of foreign
exchange for the home country.

Negative Effects:
1. Brain Drain Effect.
2. Racism in metropolitan countries (lesser wages, benefits and grievances).
3. Injustices felt by seasonal workers.
4. ‘Mind-set” that better opportunities lie with extra regional countries.

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The development of Systems of Production
Types of systems of production:

1. Slash and Burn Agriculture and Fallowing

2. Encomienda
3. The plantation system
4. Slavery
5. Indentureship
Common Characteristics of Systems of Production:
 Based on large-scale monoculture
 Based on primary level production
 Export oriented
 Culturally and economically repressive to minority groups
 Based on cheap or forced labour
 Enhanced by European technology
 Encouraged dependency on extra-regional countries/markets for investment, markets to
export to and markets to import their manufactured goods.
Encomienda
Forced labour (particularly mining for minerals) in exchange for Roman Catholic
Religious Instruction. Occurred in Hispaniola and New Spain (southwestern United States,
Florida, all of Mexico, Central America to the Isthmus of Panama, much of the West Indies, as
well as the Philippines).
Hispaniola was the first site of the Spanish Indian Policy: Tainos in Hispaniola had to
present Columbus with tributes: a certain amount of gold each week which was measured in
ingots (a calabash full of gold dust). Soon after, the Spanish Crown granted the right to demand
tribute and forced labour from the Native Indian inhabitants of an area to Spanish Colonists called
encomenderos.
Initially, the major aim of the encomienda was to look after the welfare of the natives, as
well as to educate and teach them about God (through the Catholic faith). However, what the
encomienda actually accomplished was to ensure the colonists a large labour supply because
they could easily force the Indians to supply produce, food and supplies. Soon, the rights of the
Indians were ignored which resulted in death from hunger, overwork, harsh punishments and
European diseases.

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 Audiencias (local governments) and the “New Laws” were implemented to reduce this
mistreatment but proved to be of little assistance as the audiencias were soon overtaken with
encomenderos and the laws had to be watered down to prevent economic ruin and colonist
retaliation. Essentially, the encomienda system never died off, it merely evolved and took on new
forms, like that of American slavery and by the second half of the 16th Century there was a
virtual genocide of the Amerindians.

The audiencia (1531-1532): moderated the amount of tribute the slaves had to pay and they
functioned like a High Court.

The New Laws of the Indies (1542): dealt with the prohibition of enslavement of Indians and
prevention of doing personal services for encomenderos.

Legacy of encomienda: many native groups still practice Roman Catholic faith.

Slavery
After the genocide of the Taino and indigenous populations in New Spain, there was a
resultant desire for African slaves. The journey of slave ships from Africa to the West Indies
(Middle Passage) was wrought with horror, waste of human life and was characterized by high
mortality rate. Slavery was an extreme form of inequality in which some individuals were owned
by others. Slaves were property of others, had no rights, were compelled to work and were
despised.

Why were Africans desired?

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore Africa for slaves. African slaves were
accessible, stronger, healthier, less prone to European diseases as they had developed immunity
and they had knowledge of cultivation.

Characteristics of Slavery:

1. Africans from different tribal groups and families were chosen together to minimise
communication and bonds of kinship in order to prevent them banding together.
2. Given European names and forbade from religious practices, customs and traditions to
prevent development of solidarity and identity.
3. Harsh physical punishments, torture and death for minor infractions.
4. Society was rigidly stratified according to race and colour, to promote in conflict and
promote European values and ways of life.
NB: Slavery was a total institution as it determined all aspects of life; social economic and
political.

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How whites were able to keep so many Africans subdued:

1. Psychological brainwashing.
2. Threat of violence and death for minor infractions.
3. Africans were made to feel inferior.
4. Laws and their respective punishments kept them vulnerable and powerless.

Impact/Legacy of Slavery on the Caribbean:

1. Demographic Changes
- Need for labour in European plantation colonies resulted in predominantly
African societies.
- Spanish colonies (Cuba, Puerto Rico) imported slaves at later dates. Thus these
societies became more diverse (but not predominantly African).
2. Cultural erasure: Elements of African culture: religion, language etc. lost.
3. Social stratification: Societal hierarchy similar to that of plantation system.
4. Monoculture: Many countries’ economies depend on singular entities ex. Trinidad
depend on oil.
5. Economic stagnation: Slaves were denied education. All produce from slavery were
exported from the colonies which hindered development.
6. Eurocentric ideals (skin bleaching and hair straightening especially prevalent).
7. Slangs (ex. Nigga)

Chattel: African slaves were treated as commodities.

Asiento: a contract between a company and the Spanish Crown.

Plantation System
The plantation society was a capitalist enterprise that when combined with slavery as a
total institution became a sophisticated economic mechanism that dominated Caribbean society
and culture. Race, color, status, occupation, ethnicity acted as determinants of the social
hierarchy whilst exploitation of the environment and people for economic gain and an ideology
of European superiority became part of the system of production.

The Caribbean had sugar plantations, the American Mainland had cotton plantations and
European colonies in other places in the world (ex. Africa) had tea and coffee systems.

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Impact/Legacy of the Plantation System:
1. Resistance (going against) and Rebellion (overthrow)
2. Cultural Erasure
3. Cultural Retention
4. Social Stratification (ranked on perceived values by whites)
5. Forced Cultural Change (brainwashed in order to maintain social control)
6. Cultural Integration and Diversity
Plantation society thesis offered by George Beckford. For him:

- The organization of economic activities on the plantation fostered the development

of plantation societies across the Caribbean.

- Plantation societies reflect the characteristics of the plantation such as its systems of
production (economic traits), demographic and racial structure, ethnic and cultural
diversity and rigid social stratification.

- He argues that the contemporary Caribbean continues to reflect these traits.

Indentureship
Indentured laborers were assigned contracts in which they were paid wages to work for
a specified period of time. After the contracts expired they were given the option to return to
their homelands or to receive a plot of land. Many chose to stay. Indentureship was supposed to
differ from slavery, however, the servants were treated as harshly as the slaves.

Economics was the start and end of “slavery”. In the late nineteenth century the
Caribbean plantations were no longer as important to European economies because the latter
has worldwide empires at their disposal. Sugar plantations had to contend with cheaper sugar
being produced by Cuba and Brazil.

The nationalist movement in India pressured British authorities to discontinue

immigration schemes thus the British ended indentureship in 1917.

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 Responses of the Caribbean people to
Oppression and Genocide
Oppression can take the form of repress, subjugation, physical and sexual abuse, denial
of rights and freedoms, discrimination and confinement among other means. Oppression is
characteristic of all periods of Caribbean history and is most visible in its systems of production.
In the Marxist sense, disadvantages/oppression embodied in the economic system coloured
social, cultural and political dimensions of the society. Oppression continues in ways which are
more politically correct/acceptable within the region and in post-colonial and neo-colonial
relationships.

There were three main responses to oppression by Caribbean People:

1. Resistance
2. Revolution
3. Development of peasant groups

Resistance
Aims of resistance

 Resilience
 Freedom
 Enfranchisement (political and economic)
 Expression
 Selfhood and realization of identity

1. Tainos
Conquering the Greater Antilles was not easy. Initially, the Tainos in Hispaniola killed the few
colonists Columbus had left there after his first voyage. They engaged in open warfare, withdrew
from settlements to avoid encomienda and even resorted sabotage and suicide. Their methods
of resistance were led by their caciques and cacicas.

2. Kalinagos
Engaged the Spaniards in tactical, protracted guerilla warfare which was well suited to the
mountainous terrain. The Spaniards left them alone, however other European (British, French
and Dutch) interlopers came and they soon drove the Caribs into Dominica and Grenada. As the

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Europeans could never really subdue the Caribs, peace treaties were eventually signed that
ensured their survival as a race (whereas the Tainos were relatively wiped out).

3. Africans
Passive resistance:
According to slave owners, ‘slaves were notoriously lazy and ill-disposed to labour’, which
illustrates that daily resistance was ubiquitous. The enslaved also engaged in acts of non-
cooperation, petty theft and sabotage, as well as countless acts of insubordination.

Active Resistance:
Sometimes enslaved Africans would resort to more open or violent means of resistance,
including the poisoning of animals and owners, and sometimes turned it against themselves by
committing infanticide, self-mutilation and suicide. It was not unusual for slaves to absent
themselves from enslavement for a few hours or a few days, regardless of the punishment they
might receive on their return.
Resistance to slavery had a long history, beginning in Africa itself. Rebellion would reach its peak
in 1791, when the enslaved people of the French colony of St. Domingue defeated three
European powers to establish the first Black republic: Haiti.

Cultural Resistance:
Retention of African culture or melding African, American and European cultural forms to
create new ones such as the Kweyol languages (Antillean Creole). The Africans continued to
secretly practice their culture: names, craftsmanship, languages, scientific knowledge, beliefs,
philosophy, music and dance, as that it provided the psychological support to help the captives
resist the process of enslavement. Women also played an important role in the transmission of
African culture from one generation to the next.
Examples: The use of Vodun (Voodoo) religious beliefs in the Haitian Revolution and the
employment of Obeah to strengthen the Jamaican Maroons in the struggles against the British.

The Middle Passage:

There are several reports not only of rebellion but of Africans taking control of ships and
attempting to sail them back to Africa, with the assistance of the European crew or without, and
of Africans battling against other ships.

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Example: Amistad: In 1839 (after the Emancipation Act to end transatlantic slavery), the 53
Africans were taken captive aboard a cargo ship. The captives freed themselves, killed the captain
and the cook and forced their ostensible owners to sail the ship back to their home in Sierra
Leone. Instead the owners steered a roundabout course up the eastern coast of the United
States, where the ship was captured by the US Coast Guard. The Africans eventually returned to
Sierra Leone, but only after two years of legal battles that reached the US Supreme Court.
The Maroons:

Maroons were the runaway slaves who established communities in the hilly terrain of
many areas of the Americas. Maroonage was not always an option in island communities but
existed in large territories where the hilly terrain was ideal for settlements. The most famous
Maroons in the Caribbean are found in Suriname, in the Blue Mountains and Cockpit Country of
Jamaica and in Las Villas in Cuba. They were successful at defending their liberty and in 1739 the
British were forced to sign a treaty of peace.

The most important of all the slave rebellions was the revolution that occurred in the French
colony of St Domingue in 1791. It was highly organised and took advantage of the turmoil in the
colony caused by the revolution in France that had broken out two years before. Led by
Toussaint L'Ouverture, 500,000 enslaved Africans and free people in St Dominque defeated the
armies of three major European powers: France, Spain and Britain. They established their own
independent republic – Haiti – in 1804.
The impact of that revolution was profound. It inspired others in the Caribbean and in parts of
the Americas and had a major effect on efforts to abolish Britain's role in the transatlantic slave
trade and in transatlantic slavery.
Summary table of Popular Responses to Oppression by Caribbean People

Economic Political Social Cultural

- Peasantry - Revolts - Education - Music
- Acquisition of - Rebellions trade - Free villages - Carnivals and
property unions – labour - Migration festivals
- Free villages riots, - Obeah - Religion
- Cooperatives negotiations - Abortions - Sports
- Informal partner - Political parties - - Interracial - Language
schemes Drive toward relations - Songs
- Migration independence;
- Sunday markets - Festivals
- Subsistence - Adult suffrage;
- Dances to
agriculture - Voting practices ridicule planters
- Manumission - Maroonage - Intellectual
- Commerce - Advocacy groups movements
- Guerrilla warfare

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 Emancipation
East Indians

 Occupations in commerce, education, health, agriculture

 Political leadership ( panday in t&t, c. Jagan and jagdeo of guyana)
 Strikes, demonstrations, labour riots
 Returning home
 Thrift and industry
 Associations such as the East Indian National Association
Peasantry

Peasantry in the Caribbean dates back to 1838. Technically, peasantry is a combination of the
cultivation of a variety of goods and the raising of a variety of animals on fairly small pieces of
property without the aid of hired labour and largely for subsistence purposes. Briefly and Ruben
(1988) describe peasants as typically economically deprived people at the lower strata of society.

Characteristics of Caribbean peasantry

 Historically existed on the crevices of society – any area where the main economic
activities of the Europeans did not have control.
 Historically the peasantry existed in opposition to and in competition with the
plantation despite their interdependence.
 According to Marshall, Caribbean peasantries incorporated non-agricultural activities
such as fishing, shop keeping, and casual estate work.
 Caribbean peasantries have always involved the production of some goods for sale in
local markets.

Types of peasant communities in the Caribbean

 European peasant communities

 Runaway slave communities – The maroons of Jamaica, Spanish Santo Domingo and
Suriname for examples. (Many of these maroons traded products for weapons and or
clothes.)
 Slave farms on the plantation

Significance and contribution of the peasantry to Caribbean society – “Emancipation in

Action”

Social

 Enhanced money and time management skills of slaves and later ex-slaves.
 Engendered self-reliance, planning and political awareness among ex-slaves.

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  Maintaining social and economic stability in rural and non-plantation areas via attempts
to build self-generating communities, villages, churches, schools etc.
 Soften the rigid class divisions that existed
Cultural

 New and renewed cuisines

 Artistry and artisanship
Economic

 Slaves learnt cultivation skills and soil management.

 Added to the establishment of the local cooperatives movement and P.C. Banks
 Added to the export and trade of Caribbean countries via the diversification of
agricultural produce
 Increases self-sufficiency especially in the export markets
Difficulties

 Ex-slaves had tremendous difficulty in legally acquiring land due largely to government
polices and planters’ activities.
 Competition from non-agricultural activities such as bauxite, tourism and oil in Trinidad;
 Migration particularly after 1945;
 Poor living standards for many peasants;
 Shortage of resources (capital, knowledge, storage and transportation facilities)
 Competition from cheaper imports
 Wasteful agricultural practices.

THE ROLE OF THE CARIBBEAN PEASANTRY IN DEVELOPMENT

1. ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS
o Reduced dependence on imported food as this was now produced locally, promoting self-
sufficiency
o Promoted inter-island trade
o Expansionism into export markets, thus, contributing to the import/export bill
o Developed internal market system especially in Jamaica
o Diversification of crops by introducing different types of goods for production
o Shift from monoculture hence transition from plantation economy to a more modern
society
2. SOCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
o Founding of villages – demonstrating sense of community

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 o Establishment of markets as places to trade goods
o Establishment of schools and churches
o Campaigned for roads/streets/bridges as well as improved medical and education
facilities
o Started cooperative societies e.g. Peoples’ Cooperative and Jamaica Agricultural Society
o Started Friendly Societies such as burial schemes e.g. All Island
3. CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS
o Marketplaces allowed for expression of culture in many forms such as type and variety of
goods
o Promotion of self-sufficiency
o Meeting place/socialization
o Lend-a-hand tradition
o Friday work-day for children
4. POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
o Money earned from sale of goods used to purchase more property which allowed blacks
the privilege to vote.

Resistance and Resilience in the Post-Emancipation Caribbean – Move towards Independence

Pre-Emancipation
Before emancipation the type of government in place was the old representative system
(1660’s). It constituted;

o A Governor who represented the crown

o A council – members were selected by the governor
o An assembly - members were selected by planters and merchants (whites)
In essence the government was one that disenfranchised all non-whites. The landowners,
council and assembly would ensure their interests were addressed while the governor saw to
the crown’s interest.

Influential factors in Britain

- Declining economic gains from colonies;
- Pressure from the united nations to end slavery
- Exposure to new economic/industrial ideas

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- Pressure from political parties and trade unions

Post Emancipation
Despite being free, the blacks faced continued oppression in the following forms:

o Low wages
o Oppressive laws
o Political disenfranchisement
o Discrimination in property ownership,
education, health and welfare services
o Poor housing
o Poverty
o Harsh punishment
o High taxes
o High cost of living
o Injustice in court
o Government indifference

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