Slides - Unit 4 - Beyond The Rivers of Babylon - Enslavement And Freedom Of West Africans In The Caribbean PDF

FOUN 1101 Caribbean Civilisation Welcome to the Online Classroom One Course One University One Caribbean  Netiquette The usual courtesies that we expect in face-to-face encounters will be the norm in our classroom and online environment. We must honour the feeli...

FOUN 1101 Caribbean Civilisation Welcome to the Online Classroom One Course One University One Caribbean  Netiquette The usual courtesies that we expect in face-to-face encounters will be the norm in our classroom and online environment. We must honour the feelings of others and the differences in opinions that will emerge. Be respectful with everyone you encounter in the online classroom. Do not post anything offensive, in words, images or otherwise. Communication here should be centered on the course content.  (UNIFIED)FOUN 1101: CARIBBEAN CIVILISATION Plenary #4 Dr. Rodney Worrell 3  y the iversof abylon: Enslavement and FreedomofWest Africans in theCaribbean Comparing West African Slavery and Caribbean Chattel Slavery Enslavement on Caribbean Sugar Estates Freedom Lost, Freedom Regained on Caribbean Sugar Estates Source: http://tinyurl.com/p9we4zb Comparing West AfricanSlavery and Caribbean Chattel Slavery SECTION 1  The Concept ofSlavery Slavery existed in most Slavery involved the parts of the world in procurement of captive labour working without ancient and medieval wages and usually under times: compulsion Africa, Middle East, Greece, Rome, China and India The location of the enslaved, whether in the town/urban The actual institution of the area or in the system varied and in some countryside/plantation places the labour would be more restricted than in other determined the type of work places done and laboriousness Ways in which Africanscould beenslaved: Prisoners of war As pawns for a debt –people were used as security for money borrowed. The pawn person worked for the creditor until the debt was repaid. Those who had committed various criminal offences  Enslavement in West Africa “…Slavery was rooted in deep-seated legal and intuitional structures of African societies, and it functioned quite differently from the way it functioned in European societies.”’ John Thornton “There clearly were persons in those societies who had been bought or captured and subsequently incorporated on a basis different from those born them. Many of them seemed to live and work just as their so-called masters did, and Europeans, and often other Africans could not tell them apart. Many were not even considered saleable – and were therefore not chattels. In fact sometimes free people were sold and slaves were not, or both could be sold. Some slaves became rich and powerful and even bought people for themselves. Others were put to economic use – sometimes working on their masters estates – but they did not form a distinct or class apart.” Suzane Miers & Igor Kopytoff HowslaveryinWest Africa differed from slavery in theCaribbean? QUESTION  Enslavement in West Africa It differed from Atlantic slavery in that there was no dominant race factor to it Being born into slavery provided the enslaved with rights and protections Slaves were treated as housemaids by their owners and enjoyed privileges and had rights They had a right to their names, could marry, own property and give birth to children who were not considered as slaves They lived with their masters under the same roof and could progress from the status of a servant to a royal Nature of enslavement in WestAfrica The enslaved people were not just traded commodities to be worked to death, but were also skilled producers in agriculture, crafts, mineral processing, domestic activities and animal rearing Enslaved were valued as social beings as well as economic factors The owners of the enslaved in West Africa did not own the land but the labour who worked the land Value of the enslaved went beyond capital terms Islamic law decreed that children of slave mothers were to be freed The system of slavery changed with evolution and development of the trans-Atlantic Slave trade –Tradition became secondary to profit making  Enslavement in theCaribbean The enslaved seen as chattel Viewed as less than a human being Branded like cattle Treated badly Names were changed Had no rights that a white person had to respect Ade Ajayi noted that “there was also significant variation in the nature and roles of slavery in Africa and the New World, so much so that it has been suggested that it was misleading to the point of distortion to go on using the same word to describe both systems”  Profitability ofWest African Slavery West Africa provided a labour force that was tractable, relatively immune to New World diseases, had a low transportation cost and which had also had a low purchase price. Because of the low purchase price on the West African Coast Caribbean slavery was very profitable for the European traders and planters who took part in this trade. Demand for African labour led to the de-population of people from the West African coast. Disproportionate number of males taken.  African chiefs bartered African people for goods They were Nature of accustomed to Slavery not Role of domestic clear to them slavery African Chiefs Economic and This type of Political slavery not advancement their main aim degrading  Slave Coffle Captives were linked with sticks or chains on the neck to prevent them from escaping whilst being marched to the coast  Slave Dungeons Cape Castle Cape Elmina  A great many expired during the voyage Extreme overcrowding Middle Passage Deplorable conditions present aboard the vessel. Many suffocated or succumbed to dysentery Many died along the voyage due to epidemics of disease On board the slavers there were numerous outbreaks of the dreaded smallpox A few of the Africans were driven insane by the claustrophobic misery Anyone showing even the slightest sign of either of these diseases was thrown overboard alive. This was done by the captain to prevent at all costs an epidemic aboard the ship. (e.g. of slave ship ZONG) Middle passage Middle passage  Methods of Loose packing was chosen by the slavers Packingthe who believed that the more comfortable the Captives enslaved were, the less chance they Tight packing was based on would have of dying. the assumption that the They preferred to slavers would lose at stock their ships up least 20 per cent of the to about 75 per cent numbers on board, and of capacity so that that it was more they could reduce the economical to pack the death rate to less ship to full capacity and than 10 per cent travel as fast as possible across the Atlantic  Sale in theCaribbean Advertisements were made upon landing identifying the credentials of the slaves  Domestic slavery in Africa wasmore humanethan chattel slavery in the Caribbean S U M M A RY  Enslavement on Caribbean Sugar Estates SECTION 2 Caribbean Chattel Slavery Chattel slavery has often been the term used to describe the type of enslavement practiced in the Caribbean. The enslaved were viewed as property that could be bought or sold with impunity. Had no rights before the law and could be murdered or raped without any form of redress. His children inherited his status. The enslaved as a group form a class apart, at the bottom of the social ladder. Destruction of the enslaved both mentally and physically. The reality of Caribbean Chattel Slavery Caribbean Chattel Slavery  Manumission The act of freeing enslaved persons through a legal document which made them free for the rest of their lives Manumission rates were relatively high in the Spanish colonies throughout the period of slavery and much lower in the British colonies with the French, Dutch and Danish falling between these extremes Very few slaves were manumitted in the British colonies during the 18 t h Century, but large numbers were manumitted in Cuba In the early 19 t h Century manumissions occurred in the British Caribbean at rates less than 2 per 1000 yearly Manumission became more frequent between 1807 and 1834 Manumission was more common in towns than in rural areas In the British colonies, the majority of the manumitted slaves tended to be female, creole, Manumission young and coloured In the Spanish and French colonies, in the early Manumission 18 t h century they more often have been male and African born Manumission Offspring of white men and slave mothers always had better chances of manumission The state manumitted some enslaved persons who revealed potential rebellions  Enslavement on Caribbean Sugar Estates Sugar Planations comprised of three major categories of enslaved workers: Skilled, domestic and field The skilled labourers were mainly males –carpenters, millwrights, copper smiths, coopers, sawyers, distillers and mid-wives- the boiler man was one of the most important enslaved persons on the plantation The domestics/house enslaved persons were mainly females –cooks, washerwomen and nurse-maids A large number of them were coloured women Had less personal freedom than field slaves Ate and dressed better than the field slaves and had a greater chance of being manumitted Enslavement on Caribbean Sugar Estates Domestics could be very loyal to their masters- betrayed many rebellions The majority of the enslaved were field slaves who did the manual task on the plantation - the majority were females Field Labour was divided into three work gangs The first gang was the most important work gang on the estate and consisted of the most able-bodied individuals who did the most laborious tasks –cutting the canes and preparing the ground for planting The second gang included weaker and pregnant slaves who performed more minor tasks Third gang made up mostly of children did less demanding tasks such as weeding, tending to the animals Plantation Slave women were Sexual Jamaican planters workers’, mothers molestation – indifferent to the needs and sexual partners. constant. of pregnant women – flogging normal. House slaves were More intimate more with owners Children doomed to privileged.(QUALIFY) than men. slavery. Daily work The Role of debilitating, family Enslaved Women life unstable, contact with planter class miserable and Slave women were depressing. either especially oppressed or To rebel they ran comparatively away or tried to privileged. abort their children/ infanticide– long They were producers lactation periods. and reproducers  Urban Enslaved Females operated taverns, eating houses and lodges Females worked as laundresses, domestic labourers and prostitutes Males worked in the building trades, ship- building Skilled slaves had a great Rachel Polgreen  Life on the plantation was very harsh for the enslaved. They were deemed and treated as less than human beings S U M M A RY Freedom Lost, Freedom Regained on C a r i b b e a n S u g a r E s t a t e s SECTION 3  S l a v e Resistance The enslaved constantly resisted their enslavement through: Slave rebellions Grand Marronage –set up alternative free communities in the forest and mountains Petite Marronage Industrial Sabotage Malingering Abortion Suicide Infanticide Haitian Revolution Queen Nanny Forms o f S l a v e Resistance Arson Retention of: African Languages Beliefs Music Customs Crafts  The End o f Enslavement Slavery was abolished in 1834 It has been asserted that slavery ended because the system was no longer profitable It was also argued that British humanitarian intervention - William Wilberforce and others - in the British parliament led to the country abolishing the institution Some historians believed that the enslaved by constantly fighting against the system contributed to its ultimate demise The Ens laved C o n s t a n t l y Resisted Their Enslavement SUMMARY