The Period Of Chattel Slavery In The Caribbean History Essay

The Period Of Chattel Slavery In The Caribbean History Essay The Caribbean during the 18th century was categorized mainly as an agriculture based region with numerous plantations. These plantation main outputs were sugar, a commodity highly demanded in Europe earning high profits for plantation owners. However, to create such vast quantities of sugar required human labour, resulting in the development of the chattel slavery system. This slavery system comprised mainly of Africans whose characteristics were suitable for the tropical climates. Enslavement was a dictatorship system where the enslavers had absolute power, like a puppet master pulling all the strings, hence, rendering the enslaved powerless, however, the enslaved reacted waging a protracted war cutting the strings of the enslavers in a fight for their freedom. Chattel slavery refers to A system of slavery whereby an individual and their offsprings are recognized by the law as being the property of another person for life1. Enslaved could be bought, sold and branded just as a piece of furniture, and these inhuman conditions enraged the enslaved resulting in resistance. This is further supported by Hilary Beckles et al who stipulated This record of resistance illustrates that there was hardly a generation of enslaved males or females in the Caribbean who did not take their anti-slavery actions. Entrapment, is against human nature, and thus, enslaved resisted from the start in a long or protracted war. Many slave revolts and plots in these territories between 1638 and 1838 could be conceived of as 200 years war one protracted struggle launched by Africans and their Afro-West Indian progeny against slave owners stated Hilary Beckles. The Enslaved worked under harsh conditions from sun up to sun down, with little rest and exposure to diseases, under strict control from supervisor who demanded productivity. The world of the enslaved therefore, was a constant battle between oppression of master control and the desire for freedom. Slave society refers to the whole community based on slavery, including masters and freedmen as well as slaves stipulated Brian L. Moore. The Societal structure was a hierarchy, white masters at the top socially and politically, the coloured in the middle and the enslaved forming the foundation at the bottom. Around 1832 there were approximately 50,000 whites and 100 000 freedmen in the British Caribbean but only 32 000 slave owners suggested B.W Higman. Freedmen owned slaves; however, it was not in any high concentration when compared to the whites. Although, representing the minority whites control the politics and the majority of wealth maintaining absolute power. The whites were highly educated when compared to the freedmen who had basic education, leaving majority of the slaves uneducated. This is supported by B.W Higman, who noted this strong contrast reflected differences in the education of free males and females, but its also indicated differences in wealth. Whites were the maters operating the plantations, while freedmen were either freed coloured or freed blacks who earned their freedom and tried to invent their own identity. These combined features and characteristics of each class created an arrangement of diverse practices and behavior that illustrated the properties of a slave society. For any society to function adequately there must be system of control and the slave society was no exemption. Christopher Humber et al stated System of slave control embodied physical, social, psychological, economic and legal factors. The enslaved were economical exploited by enslavers, as they were forced to labour in plantation through physical violence denying them personal freedom. The whip was a stimulus to labour and a constant form of punishment and for fear of the hundreds of lashes kept in line and did basically as they were told 2. Slaves lived on the plantation in small dirt huts, and enslavers positioned their mansions at the top overseeing their enslaved community and society practices, emphasizing enslaved social inferiority. Food and clothes were controlled by the enslavers, as they decided what and when enslaved should eat and also how they should dress. Slaves were not allowed to be educated; ignorance was a powerful means of control3. Denying basic social functio n such as education signified enslaved inferiority. The Enslaved religions practices, such as their drumming, music and dance were not allowed and even punishable by death. The enslavers religions were forced upon them as a form of control, and Christopher Humber et al noted Enslaved were only allowed to sit at the back of the Anglican/ Catholic churches. The enslaved were seen as inferior to the whites and the whites argued that Africans were barbaric and uncivilized. Enslavers tried to oppress and crush the spirits of the enslaved through psychological ideas of race and colour. Economic structure of society in terms of property, earnings (Money) and time were control buy the enslavers. Slaves could not legally posses property or legally make contracts, could not be paid for nay work that they did, could not own animals and could not own land4. These economic and legal restrictions crippled the enslaved freedom of movements. The different control systems implemented enforced ensla vement and entrapment, however, the enslaved resistance continued to punctuate the society. The period of slavery was characterized primarily by one protracted war launched by those enslaved against their enslavers, suggested Hilary Beckles. From the commencement of slavery, the enslaved pursed their freedom through different forms of resistance and these resistance activities were illustrated in the Caribbean. Enslaved resistance comprised of day-to-day resistance, plots and revolts and rebellion including marronage. Sheperd V. noted The several stages in the development of Caribbean anti-slavery activities in the period up to 1834: 1500-1750, 1750-1807, and 1807 up toe end of slavery. During the period 1500-1750, the society was dominantly enslaved Africans and plantation construction was now developing. The main form of resistance used during this period was marronage, which Barbara Lalla stipulated as The process of flight by slaves from servitude to establish their own hegemonies or wild territories. Maroons, also known as, Runaways were able to establish small communi ties creating independence from the plantation social, economically, and legally. However, for successful maroon developments the island had to be mountainous, Sheperd V. noted Forested and mountainous interiors of colonies like Jamaica, Dominica and Guyana facilitated the maintenance of runaway slaves. In an island like Barbados, marronage had limited success due to the lowland. Maroons developed structure, in terms of farming for food and in situations earned money by selling produce, persons were able to practice their own religion freely without feeling inferior, Possibilities of ownership of items and most importantly they had freedom of choice. Maroons were able to formulate strategies of successful revolts and attacks on plantations, under the assertive leadership such as Price, lead to arrangements between the Europeans. According to Hilary Beckles What is clear is that maroon activities which were endemic over the entire period greatly undermined the colonizing efforts of t he Europeans and the economic life of the plantations. The sugar rush peaked during 1750-1807 creating a mature plantation society, increasing some aspects of Creole diversity and Sheperd V. stated during this period resistance assumed different forms such as day-to-day acts and negotiation for rights and also marronage increasing. Christopher Humber noted day-to-day resistance as the subtle methods used by the slaves to express rejection of slavery and further supported by Hilary Beckles, who noted day-to-day resistance were generally designed not to overthrow the slave system, but undermine its efficiency. A vital part of day-to-day resistance was enslaved women and the particular strategies they employed. Field womens adaption of the strategy of labour withdraw, interpreted as laziness by drivers and overseers, was considered a universal problem suggested Hilary Beckles. Low level or productivity was not tolerated, and the malingering attitude adapted by women was a great discouragement to the sugar industry. This was particularly eff ective at harvesting time when a few hours behind schedule could make a world of difference in the level of profits realized stated Christopher W. Humber. Women also resisted through children, because the birth of enslaved children meant that the child was automatically born a slave. Enslavers wanted to use birth control as a means of maintaining an enslaved labour force, however, enslaved women committed infanticide as Hilary Beckles noted acts of infanticide are frequently cited on plantations. Acts such as harming farm animals, making them unable to turn the mill were also done by enslaved women. The variations of resistance during this period focused on ending slavery by making the plantation system unprofitable as Hilary Beckles noted These acts of resistance were considered effective strategies and undermined greatly the efficiency of the plantation. The period 1807-1834 marked the ending of slavery, with first the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and the continuous resistance from the remaining enslaved on the plantations. Hilary Beckles further noted 1807-1834 was marked by growing protest among the enslaved, particularly among creoles, linked also to the impact of growing anti-slavery discussions in the metro pole. Creoles also called country-borns undeniable had a hand in the overcoming of slavery and bringing emancipation. Creoles resisted politically, seeking to earn rights for the enslaved through lobbying in the parliament and instigating the continuing unjust behaviors towards the enslaved. It was not Africans who organized, an attorney wrote, but creoles, which were never known before to have been concerned in anything of this sort5. In Britain the profitability of the plantation system was in decline and so was the slave system on a whole. The funds from New world slavery had significantly contributed toe he primit ive accumulation of capital that enable the industrial revolution in Britain6. With Britain moving towards more profitable investments, slavery resistance in the parliaments increased leading to the passing of acts, such as, the emancipation act of 1833. Armed revolts and rebellions were the most violent, and dramatic forms of resistance that the enslaved used against their enslavers. Armed revolts were usually, bloody and many enslaved died, as Hilary Beckles noted The enslaved were conscious of the military might of their enslavers and knew it would be suicidal to always engage them in armed conflicts. The large scale slave rebellion under the leadership of Toussaint L. Ouverture end slavery in Saint Domingue, marking Haiti as the first free black republic in the Caribbean. After news of slave efforts leading to freedom in Haiti spread throughout the Caribbean, the enslaved consciousness was no longer an issue and widespread rebellion transpired all over the Caribbean. Some such r evolts as noted by Hilary Beckles are 1816 revolt in Barbados, 1823 in Damara (Guyana) and 1831/32 Christmas rebellion in Jamaica. The enslavers methods of control were failing and emancipation was no inevitable. Eric William noted in 1833 stating The alternative were clear emancipation form above or emancipation from below'. The rewards and benefits of the different forms of resistance were realized on the 1st of august 1834 marking the end of slavery. Since the existence of slavery for thousands of years, one aspect has persisted, that is, the resistance of the enslaved towards their enslavers and thus the period of chattel slavery in the Caribbean is no different. From the arrival in the Caribbean the enslaved develop anti-slavery attitudes, despite being at the bottom of the societal structure. To counteract this anti-slavery attitude control procedures were develop and implemented, however, resistance acts such as marronage, and day-to-day resistance eventually escalating to large scale revolts threaten and ultimately ended chattel slavery. From the commencement to the termination of chattel slavery, the enslaved have plagued their enslavers in a fight for freedom and such an endemic resistance could only be seen and best described as a protracted war for freedom. Notes National Glossary of the U.K National Archives Based on Caribbean History access through link : http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/caribbeanhistory/popups/glossary.htm See The Spanish instituted the Siete Partidas, the French had the Code Noir access through link : http://www.novapdf.com See Slavery, Freedom and Gender: The Dynamics of Caribbean Society page 137 See The Spanish instituted the Siete Partidas, the French had the Code Noir access through link : http://www.novapdf.com See Africa in America: slave acculturation and resistance in the American South and the British Caribbean, 1736-1831 Page 221 See Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams Page 68 Works Cited Beckles, H. Natural Rebels: A Social History of Enslaved Black Women in Barbados. London: Zed, 1989. Print. Bryan, Patrick. Campbell Carl. Higman B. W. Moore Brian L. Slavery, Freedom and Gender: The Dynamics of Caribbean Society. United States: U OF OKLAHOMA PR, 2002. Print. Higman B.W. Slavery Populations of the British Caribbean, 1807-1834. Kingston Jamaica: The Press, University of the West Indies, 1995. Print. Humber Christopher. Caribbean History Section B: Resistance Revolt. Teach Dip (Mico): 2006. Print. Lalla Barbara. Defining Jamaican Fiction: marronage and the discourse of survival. University of Alabama Press, 1996. Print. Sheperd V. Beckles, H. Caribbean anti-slavery: the self liberation ethos of enslaved blacks. In Caribbean Slavery in the Atlantic World: Student Reader. London Kingston: Ian Publishers Ltd., 2000. Print. Williams Eric. Capitalism and Slavery. The University of North Carolina Press, 1944. Print.

Crucible: Grudges vs the Salem Witch Trials Essay

Have you and your friends ever done something you were no permitted to do and then wanted to keep it a secret? So you all did whatever yo had to do to keep from letting that secret from getting exposed, even if you ended up lying and it spiral out of control? A great example of this is in The Crucible,several people know the entire truth but chose to keep it a secret. The people of Salem, the puritans display grudges and rivalries that collide with their religious beliefs into this mass hysteria known as what i the Salem Witch Trials. Sparks first start to fly when he towns minister, Rev. Parris begins with a grudge with the girls. He walks through the woods late at night and sees the girls dancing around a cauldron that is simmering on an open fire with his slave tituba. At first he does not know what to think. However the next day that follows with his daughter Betty not being able wake from her sleep. This has him questioning all the girls on what they did the night before , especially his niece, Abigail Williams. Word spreads about the questioning which gets the town worried. This is where the first cry of witch craft is heard. Now with grudges there are sometimes rivalries, a good rivalry in The Crucible is between Abigail Williams and the other girls. All of them are in the vestry , the room attached to the church for meetings. Mary Warren, John Proctors servant girl , is trying to tell the judges that she has been lying all along and that Abigail is the one the to blame. She claims that she is with God now and can no longer lie. However , Abigail Williams has other plans , with the fear she puts in the girls she knows she can get them to agree with her and have the judges thinking that Mary is lying. So with that in mind Abigail pretends that she sees a bird in the rafters that is coming to get her and scratch her face off . She calls it Mary Warrens spirit. The judges think that its true so Mary , like every one else in Salem is questioned and Abigail gets what she wants. Usually when we want something and we know its going to be hard to get we negotiate, that is exactly what happens in the last grudge Between Rev. Parris and his slave, Tituba. Being treated the way she is already is makes Tiuba already have enmity for Rev. Parris. Once Rev Parris find out that Tituba was the one conjuring spirits in the forest that night when he found the girls he begins to punish her. This is where Tituba negotiates , now as silly as this sounds she negotiates with her self. She knows that she could confess and serve jail time or not confess and hang. So she decides to tell Rev. Parris, she falsely confess to trafficking with the devil , saying that he urged her to kill Rev. Parris. Thinking this may be true the people of Salem start thinking that the devil may be lose in Salem working his evil through others as well. Now will all the grudges we see what happens when several people who know the whole story choose to keep it a secret make something so small turn in to something so big due to peoples personal grudges and rivalries. From Rev. Parris first questioning the girls to the girls all using their powers in court to manipulate people . To finally the choice of life or death for Rev. Parris’s slave Tituba.

Diversity Issues Essay

Share some contemporary examples of cultural diversity issues. Some contemporary examples of cultural diversity issues, for example, are law enforcements inabilities to understand completely some of the minority group’s language, traditions, beliefs, lifestyles, religions, stereotyping, and profiling of minorities. Law enforcement also encounters cultural diversity issues with the different moral beliefs of ethnic groups, therefore, can interfere with relating to other minorities when faced with a situation. Law enforcement officers should focus on education, training, and gain knowledge of their local minorities to form a universal relationship with those minorities to avoid the cultural and ethical issues, which may raise suspicions when in turn it is the beliefs, morals, etc. of that minority rather than hiding something, or under the influences of drugs or alcohol. An example is with Asian and Hispanic females. Females in both these minority family environments are considered subordinate to men, and many are expected to take a role as the mother while the male counterparts are allowed to participate in social activities such as jobs, sports, clubs, afterschool activities, and such (Shapiro, 2002). Law enforcement encounters much problematic issues regarding the subordination of females by the male counterparts in these minorities, resulting in calls to the school systems because female Hispanics are prone to be hostile toward peers because of stress, which derives in the family and the attempting results to conform-assimilate with youths in America (Shapiro, 2002). Reference: Shapiro, M. (2002). Asian Culture Belief: Vietnam. Retrieved September 29, 2011, from http://www.ntac.hawaii.edu/downloads/products/briefs/culture/pdf/ACB-Vol2-Iss5-Vietnam.pdf https://www.google.com

Maya or Mayan How to Refer to the People and Culture

When do you use Maya, and when Mayan? You may have noticed that when you read in popular books or visit the archaeological ruins along the Pacific coast of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras, or access websites or watch television programs, some of the participants refer to the Mayan civilization and others the Maya civilization; or theyll sometimes say Maya ruins and other times Mayan ruins. So, did you ever wonder, which of the speakers is right Maya Civilization To English speakers, the form Mayan as an adjective sounds right. You wouldnt say Spain ruins, youd say Spanish ruins, you wouldnt say Mesopotamia civilization, youd say Mesopotamian civilization. But archaeologists, particularly those who study the Maya people, prefer to write of the Maya civilization. Specifically, in English language Maya studies, scholars generally only use the adjective form Mayan when they refer to the language(s) spoken by the Maya today and in the past, and use â€Å"Maya† when referring to people, places, and culture, without distinction between singular or plural. In the scholarly literature, its never Mayas. There are six million people in parts of Mesoamerica who speak one of more than 20 different Mayan languages. The Data An examination of style guides from archaeological or anthropological journals does not reveal any such specific references about whether you should use Maya or Mayan: but normally, they dont do that for even the more clearly problematic use of Aztec versus Mexica. Theres no article that says scholars think its better to use Maya rather than Mayan: it is simply an unwritten but recognized preference among scholars. Based on an informal search on Google Scholar conducted in June 2018 for English-language articles published since 2014, the preferred usage among anthropologists and archaeologists is to reserve Mayan for the language and use Maya for the people, culture, society and archaeological ruins. Search Term Number of Results Comments maya civilization 2,010 The first page of results includes scientific papers and books, all from archaeologists mayan civilization 923 The first page includes no archaeological papers but does include those from geologists, educators, and linguists maya culture 1,280 The first page is dominated by papers from archaeologists. Interestingly, google scholar prompts the searcher Did you mean mayan culture? mayan culture 1,160 The first page includes references from a variety of disciplines Searching for the Maya The results of using the main Google search engine to learn more about the Maya are interesting as well. If you simply search for the Mayan civilization, Googles main search will automatically direct you to sources labeled as Maya civilization without asking you: Google, and Wikipedia, have picked up on the differentiation among scholars and have decided for us which is the preferred method. If you simply Google the term â€Å"Maya† your results will include the 3D animated software, the Sanskrit term for magic and Maya Angelou, while if you enter â€Å"Mayan† the search engine will return you to links to the â€Å"Maya civilization. Who The Ancient Maya Were The use of Maya rather than Mayan may be a part of the way scholars perceive the Maya. In a review paper more than a decade ago, Rosemary Joyce made this clear. For her article, she read four recent major books on the Maya and at the end of that review, she realized that the books had something in common. She wrote that thinking about the prehistoric Maya as if they were a singular, unified group of people or even a set of artistic traits or language or architecture, stands in the way of appreciating the diversity of the deep history of Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala,  and Honduras. The cultures that we think of as Maya had more than one language, even within a single community. There was never a centralized government, although it is clear from existing inscriptions that political and social alliances extended over long distances. Over time, those alliances shifted in tenor and strength. Art and architectural forms vary from site to site and in some cases from ruler to ruler, a good example of this is Puuc versus Toltec architecture at Chichen Itza. Settlement and household archaeology vary with status and subsistence methods. To really study the ancient Maya culture, you have to narrow your field of vision. Bottom Line So thats why you see in the scholarly literature references to the Lowland Maya or Highland Maya or the Maya Riviera and why in general scholars concentrate on specific periods and specific sets of archaeological sites when they study the Maya. Whether you say the prehistoric Maya or Mayan cultures doesnt really matter in the long run, as long as you remember that you are referring to a rich diversity of cultures and people who lived and adapted to the regional environments of Mesoamerica, and maintained trade connections with each other, but were not a unified whole. Source Joyce, Rosemary. What Kind of a Subject of Study Is the Ancient Maya? Reviews in Anthropology 34 (2005): 295-311. Print.