Slavery in the Caribbean | CAHM EPISODE 5
Summary
TLDRThe video explores the history of slavery in the Caribbean, highlighting its vast impact on culture, language, and traditions. It emphasizes the Middle Passage's horrors, where millions of Africans were transported under brutal conditions. The Caribbean received a significant number of slaves, primarily for sugar cane production. The video also discusses various slave rebellions, such as Haiti's revolution, and the eventual abolition of slavery. Despite emancipation, former slaves faced challenging conditions under apprenticeship programs. The narrative underscores the resilience and heritage of African descendants in the Caribbean.
Takeaways
- π Slavery in the Caribbean was widespread, similar to the United States, with African roots significantly influencing Caribbean culture and traditions.
- β Approximately 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and transported to the New World, with 10.7 million surviving the brutal Middle Passage.
- π’ The conditions on slave ships were horrific, with slaves packed in tight, unsanitary spaces, leading to disease outbreaks, high death rates, and suicides.
- π¬ Sugarcane was the primary crop in the Caribbean, and processing it was extremely dangerous and labor-intensive for the slaves.
- π° The low cost of African slaves made them more desirable than indentured servants, with European colonizers justifying slavery through false beliefs about African endurance.
- π©βπΎ Despite slavery, African traditions, spiritual beliefs, and market cultures continued to shape Caribbean society, especially in food production and trade.
- βοΈ The Amelioration Act of 1798 sought to improve slaves' living conditions due to uprisings, yet it only offered minimal rights without addressing the fundamental issue of freedom.
- π₯ Slave rebellions across the Caribbean, such as in Jamaica, Haiti, and Grenada, highlighted the resistance to brutal conditions and pushed for the eventual abolition of slavery.
- π Though the British slave trade ended in 1807, full abolition in the British Caribbean didn't occur until 1834, with some former slaves forced into the exploitative 'apprenticeship' system until 1838.
- π African heritage and history remain deeply ingrained in Caribbean culture, symbolizing the strength, survival, and pride of descendants of African kings, queens, and survivors.
Q & A
What is the focus of the episode discussed in the script?
-The episode focuses on the history of slavery in the Caribbean, highlighting its widespread nature beyond the United States and discussing its impact on Caribbean culture and society.
How many African slaves were transported to the New World during the transatlantic slave trade, and how many survived the Middle Passage?
-Approximately 12.5 million African slaves were transported to the New World between 1526 and 1867. Out of these, about 10.7 million survived the Middle Passage.
What were the main conditions African slaves faced during the Middle Passage?
-African slaves were packed tightly like sardines in the ship's 'slave deck,' chained, starved, and exposed to epidemics like dysentery, smallpox, and fever. Many died due to disease, brutality, or committed suicide.
Which region in Africa did many Caribbean slaves come from, and why is it significant to understand historical geography?
-Many Caribbean slaves came from West and West Central Africa, including regions like Angola. Understanding historical geography is important because colonial boundaries were different from today's national borders.
Outlines
π Introduction to Slavery in the Caribbean
The first paragraph introduces the topic of slavery in the Caribbean, emphasizing that discussions often focus on U.S. slavery but neglect the widespread enslavement in the Caribbean, South, and Central America. The paragraph highlights the African heritage embedded in Caribbean culture, language, and traditions. It discusses the transatlantic slave trade, noting that between 1526 and 1867, 12.5 million Africans were taken from their homeland, but only 10.7 million survived the harrowing Middle Passage.
π’ The Brutality of the Slave Trade
This paragraph delves deeper into the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, describing how slaves were packed tightly into ships under appalling conditions. Diseases like dysentery and smallpox spread rapidly, resulting in countless deaths. It also discusses the brutal separation of families and the widespread loss of life during the journey. The paragraph further explains the massive scale of slavery, with 450,000 Africans transported to North America and 4.86 million sent to Brazil, primarily from West Central Africa (modern-day Angola).
π± Slavery's Impact on the Caribbean Economy and Society
Here, the focus shifts to the Caribbean, where 5.39 million Africans were enslaved, and the economy revolved around sugar cane production. The paragraph details how sugar cane was a lucrative crop that fueled the global economy. African slaves were forced into grueling labor under brutal conditions, leading to high mortality rates and low birth rates. Plantation owners preferred to import new slaves rather than improve working conditions, as enslaved populations declined by about 5% annually.
π Amelioration Act and Caribbean Slave Rebellions
This paragraph outlines the introduction of the Amelioration Act in response to widespread slave uprisings across the Caribbean. The Act required plantation owners to provide basic necessities like food, clothing, medical care, and education to slaves. While it aimed to improve conditions, its real purpose was to suppress rebellions. It limited working hours to 14 hours a day and prohibited brutal punishments. Despite these provisions, the Act did not grant freedom, leading to continued unrest.
πΏ African Spirituality and Sunday Traditions
This section discusses how enslaved people in the Caribbean were given Sundays off, which they used to tend personal gardens and engage in spiritual practices. Many slaves combined African traditions with Christian teachings, influencing the region's spiritual landscape with practices like obeah and voodoo. The importance of markets, where enslaved people could sell their produce and earn some income, is highlighted as a central aspect of Caribbean culture.
π Sugar Cane Production: A Dangerous Industry
The paragraph provides a detailed account of the sugar cane production process, describing the dangerous work conditions enslaved people endured in boiling houses and mills. Workers risked serious injury or death from the machinery and boiling liquid used to refine sugar. The process required immense physical effort and skill, and accidents were common, including the gruesome amputation of limbs. The paragraph underscores the brutality and danger inherent in the sugar industry.
βοΈ Slave Rebellions in the Caribbean
This section lists several notable slave rebellions across the Caribbean, including Tackyβs Rebellion in Jamaica (1760), the Haitian Revolution (1791), and the Barbados revolt led by Bussa (1816). These uprisings pushed the British to reconsider slavery, ultimately contributing to the abolition movement. The success of the Haitian Revolution is particularly emphasized as it led to the establishment of the first free Black republic in the Western Hemisphere.
π Abolition and the British Slave Trade
The paragraph details the eventual abolition of the British slave trade in 1807, which made the buying and selling of slaves illegal. However, it notes that many loopholes allowed the practice to continue in various forms. Full abolition of slavery in the British Caribbean did not come until 1834, and even then, an 'apprenticeship' system kept former slaves in near-bondage until 1838. The narrative highlights the ongoing fight for reparations and representation for the descendants of enslaved people.
π Legacy of Slavery in the Caribbean
The final paragraph reflects on the lasting effects of slavery on Caribbean society, emphasizing the deep connection to African heritage. It acknowledges the suffering and resilience of enslaved ancestors, whose survival is a testament to the strength of their descendants. The paragraph calls for the remembrance of slaveryβs legacy while encouraging pride in African roots. It concludes by urging viewers to honor their lineage and recognize their own potential, shaped by a history of survival and resistance.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Middle Passage
π‘Sugar Cane
π‘Indentured Servitude
π‘Amelioration Act
π‘Slave Rebellions
π‘Boiling House
π‘Obeah
π‘Haitian Revolution
π‘Apprenticeship Program
π‘Reparations
Highlights
Slavery in the Caribbean had a major impact on the culture, traditions, and languages still prevalent today.
Approximately 12.5 million African slaves were kidnapped and transported to the New World between 1526 and 1867, with around 10.7 million surviving the Middle Passage.
The Middle Passage was extremely brutal, with slaves packed tightly into ships, suffering from starvation, diseases like dysentery and smallpox, and experiencing family separations.
Brazil received the highest number of African slaves at 4.86 million, while the Caribbean received 5.39 million, most from West and West-Central Africa.
Sugarcane was the main crop in the Caribbean, driving the demand for slave labor due to its global value as a key ingredient in sugar production.
Unlike indentured servants, African slaves were considered cheaper labor and were forced to work in harsh conditions, which often resulted in death.
The death rate for slaves in the Caribbean was extremely high, with low fertility rates leading to the continual importation of more African slaves.
Caribbean slave populations faced a 5% decline each year, primarily due to brutal working conditions on plantations, especially those cultivating sugarcane.
The amelioration acts of 1798 were introduced to regulate slavery by requiring basic provisions such as food and clothing, but true freedom was still elusive.
Sundays were given as rest days for slaves, many of whom maintained African religious and cultural practices, such as obeah, voodoo, and santerΓa.
Slave rebellions were prominent in the Caribbean, such as Tacky's Rebellion (1760s, Jamaica) and the Haitian Revolution, which was the only successful slave rebellion in the Western Hemisphere.
In 1834, slavery was abolished in the British Caribbean, but slaves had to undergo the 'apprenticeship' system, a form of forced labor until 1838.
The indentured labor system replaced African slavery, bringing Asian workers to the Caribbean, impacting the region's demographic and cultural makeup.
The legacy of African slaves remains deeply embedded in Caribbean culture, and people still seek reparations for the damages of slavery.
The episode emphasizes pride in African heritage, encouraging descendants of slaves to see themselves as survivors and inheritors of a rich legacy of strength and resilience.
Transcripts
[Music]
hi everyone welcome back to another
episode of around the Caribbean in 30
days thank you so much for joining me
today today's topic is going to be on
slavery within the Caribbean usually
we'll talk about slavery we focus on US
slavery and slavery as occurred in the
United States however slavery was very
widespread not just in North America but
also in the Caribbean and in South
America in parts of Central America our
African heritage and roots really have
played a significant role
it's not a very major role in our
language as we speak in the cultures
that we celebrate in the way that we
carry ourselves in the traditions that
we still carry today even in the stories
that we tell as Caribbean people in
terms of folklore we still carry on so
many traditions brought by our African
ancestors so between 15 26 and 1867
approximately 12.5 million African
slaves were kidnapped from their land
and transported to the New World
approximately ten point seven million of
that 12.5 million survived the Middle
Passage and actually made it to the new
world that means that approximately 2
million African slaves did not make it
between being kidnapped from Africa and
making it to the new world and so they
died during the Middle Passage would be
probably the most gruesome parts of
being transported from Africa to the New
World
slaves were impacted like sardine
underneath the ships in what is called
the slave debt they were chained they
were starved epidemics ended up
spreading throughout the slave ships and
my name is Lloyd dysentery smallpox
fever mothers were separated from their
children and husbands were separated
from their wives people commit suicide
many people were killed as a result of
disease and also as a result of
brutality proximately 450,000 Africans
were shipped to North America over the
span of slave trade Brazil received
approximately four point eight six mill
African we're primarily from Angola and
what's important to note is that when we
say they were from Angola this was
usually prior to with the Berlin
conference that separated each nation
into the nations that we know today and
so when we say Angola in this historical
context we're usually referring to the
region in which Angola is present today
so usually we're talking about West
Central Africa that makes sense the
Caribbean zan received approximately
five point three nine million African
slaves many came from west and west
central Africa
the major major crop and the Caribbeans
was sugar cane sugar cane was an
incredibly sought-after crop because
from sugar cane comes to sugar sugar was
used in everything and so sugar became
an extremely important export throughout
the world prior to slavery there was
indentured servitude and white
indentured servants who were paid at low
wages
however they were required to work a
certain amount of time many of the
European colonizers including the
English began to realize that that
importing African slaves would be a more
cost-effective way to maintain their
plantations and to reap more money for
their economy they were cheaper and
labor was free in the eyes of Europeans
at the time they figured that because
Africans came from this very hot and
tropical climate but they would be able
to better survive in the Caribbean which
had a very similar climate in Turin in
1650 and African slaves in the Caribbean
could be sold for as low as in US
dollars seven dollars and 84 cents in
the Caribbean plays were held in very
large unit so plantations usually had
proximately 150 slaves or more in the
Caribbean one of the major issues was
low death rate but a death rate in the
Caribbean was extremely high I heard
than it was in the United States and
that was a major problem and half of
that the birth rate was very very low
the fertility rate for a slave in the
United States was actually eighty
percent higher than it was for slate in
the Caribbean and that was due to the
fact that working conditions were very
very tedious to process sugar cane into
sugar was a very tedious and very
dangerous job many African slaves as a
result of the hard working conditions
died or your pimps decided that they
would implement something that would
help to maintain their survivorship and
the livelihood of their existing slaves
they instead began to just import more
Africans into the Caribbean so you have
this halt in the natural reproduction
the slave population in the Caribbean
the decrease in the African slave
population was approximately 5% each
year because more African slaves are
being
into the Caribbean as a result of trying
to replenish those persons who had died
off us lay where gem more generations
removed from Africa than where Caribbean
sleep in the 19th century the majority
of slaves living in the British
Caribbean were from Africa by 1850 most
us slaves were either third fourth or
fifth generation Americans in 1798 the
amelioration Act was signed into law and
this act enforced planters and slave
owners to provide basic needs for their
slaves so it forced plantation owners to
provide food clothing medical treatment
and also basic education to their slaves
it also prohibited cruel and brutal
punishment if riveted planters and slave
owners from working their slaves more
than 14 hours a day the real reason why
the amelioration Act was signed into law
was because a series of rebellions had
occurred throughout the Caribbean from
Jamaica to Barbados Grenada Haiti
being the most notable and so to kind of
decrease and kind of put a cap on the
uprisings taking place throughout the
islands they try to define the
amelioration act amelioration Act may
provided certain basic rights however
the basic right of freedom is far more
important than any act that could be
signed to kind of ease the pain of
actual bondage
so let's move on to talking about
plantation like any plantation owners
gave their slaves the Sundays off while
many we're Christians many others
brought their traditions and their
religious and spiritual beliefs from
Africa bringing their own traditions and
unique spiritualities and beliefs
actually became something that greatly
impacted the Caribbean as we see it
today spiritual beliefs such as obeah
voodoo in Haiti sanitarium all these
different things actually accumulated
after many of the slaves were brought to
the Caribbean and our slaves were
introduced to Christianity and we're
also carrying on their own specific
traditions during Sunday's many slaves
use this time to cultivate their gardens
that they were granted as a part of
their plot of land and so this garden
they would use to grow produce such as
such as planting sweet potatoes and yon
and yes I did say planting for mine and
Jamaican plantain and so they would grow
these things in their garden to provide
for their families and it would also
grow these things that they could go to
market and sell them and make a bit of
pocket change for their goods that also
very much so affected the overall
culture of West Indian societies because
we know that markets throughout the
Caribbean doesn't matter where you're
from market is the place of culture so
now I'm going to give you a quick little
rundown of the boiling house the boiling
aasana curing house and this is
basically how sugar cane was processed
into crystallized sugar that we use
today this is just going to give you a
little bit of insight into what it was
like for these slaves to actually do
such back-breaking work and very
dangerous way Bridget to cut down the
sugar pad is very tedious work because
just a very strong arm there is
back-breaking work and the trip can is
very heavy when you cut down enough
sugar cane you carry it then to the mill
and the mill is basically where there's
kind of these rolling rods that you see
the cheese sugar cane stalk into and the
person who would do that job one called
the sugar cane feeder there was always
someone standing right next to the cane
feeder who had a machete in their hand
and the person with the machete and I
had was standing there with the unique
purpose of in case the person who is
feeding the cane into the rolling pins
got their hand stuck into the pin there
was no way to release it unless you cut
it off with a machete and so after the
mill it goes straight to the boiling up
since on a boiling house is made up of
these huge
metal rats known as clarifiers and these
clarifiers had the sugarcane juice
they had ashes thrown in and also lying
to help purify it and it was heated
boiling hot hence why it's called the
boiling houses very hot and it kind of
made this liquid done into a syrup it
took a very skilled individual to be
able to work in the boiling house they
were known as boilers their job as
boilers was extremely important but also
extremely dangerous because they worked
such long hours and because they worked
in such sweltering heat if they were not
careful there's been many stories in
which boilers actually either burned by
the liquid or actually felt in
afterwards the juice was then heated and
moved through a series of that's called
copper these were a huge metal basins
that basically aided in thickening the
cane juice then when the sugar was close
to crystallizing it was poured into
wooden barrels or clay mold that was set
over pots and a building called the
curing house and the curing house water
would report on top of these molds and
the syrup would basically drain through
the vessel and you'd have crystallized
gold and brown sugar as we use today in
regard to the slave quarters homes were
usually Hut's or what we call a wakil
end outhouses basically a home made out
of batches planting leaves or even palm
leaves for the roofing to help the rain
just kind of roll off the roofs so it
doesn't penetrate through the house so
I'm not going to go into too much detail
but as I stated earlier slave rebellions
were very prominent throughout the
Caribbean I'm just going to list a few
of the slave rebellions that took place
throughout the Caribbean in a response
to slavery so tackies rebellion took
place in 1760s Jamaica the Haitian
Revolution took place and that was the
only successful flavorable in the
Western Hemisphere and led Haiti to
becoming the first free black Republic
Stephens Revolution took place in 1790s
Grenada in 1816 Barbados had a slave
revolt led by Busan and in 1831 a huge
slave revolt was led in Jamaica by
Samuel Sharpe this leg to Britain
actually thinking about abolition
because there was just a series of
revolutions and revolts that were taking
places throughout the Caribbean and it
could not risk the weakening of their
economy and then not being able to
export sugar throughout the world the
British slave trade officially ended in
1807 this made the buying and selling of
slaves from Africa
kiwigal however of course though it was
illegal there were a lot of loopholes
for example the on the side is you know
the story of the on the side I'll leave
a link down below if you'd like to learn
a little bit more about the on the side
that's a story that affects both the
Caribbean and the United States
it wasn't until August 1st 1834 that
slavery was abolished in the British
Caribbean though slavery was officially
abolished in the British Caribbean in
1834 slaves were still expected in some
Island to become a part of a program
called the apprenticeship program in
which they still worked for their slave
owners except they were paid at times of
low wages and that didn't end until 1838
though they were technically not slaves
anymore the idea of apprenticeship was
more to me almost like slavery by
another name though they were no longer
technically slaves I can't imagine that
they were treated much differently than
they were when they were enslaved um you
can't just enslave and entire people for
more than 300 years and then all of a
sudden four years of apprenticeship is
all of a sudden now this next level to
freedom when in fact they were not
completely former enslaved people did
not receive any compensation which is
something that people of the Caribbean
are still fighting for today reparations
they also had very limited
representation and legislature after
slavery indentured labor and indentured
servitude was reintroduced to the
Caribbean but this time involved Asian
indentured the effects of slavery on the
Caribbean and as we see ourselves to has
been very drastic African heritage and
history and tradition that is greatly
infused and embedded in the fabric of
what Indian culture and heritage we are
very much so connected to our African
roots and Fred that I'm extremely
grateful
however the stories and the sacrifices
of our ancestors as enslaved individuals
throughout the Caribbean is something
that can never be forgotten it's not
something that we can just turn a blind
eye to and ignore it's something that we
have to remember at all times and though
many people will aim to tell us to
forget slavery that's something that you
can never forget and instead of making
it something that oh well that was
happen to my ancestors if you think
about it you right now and your
existence right now pays testament to
their survivorship that is extremely
powerful that's something that is in our
DNA were royalty and even before we are
the disc
of survivors we're the descendants of
kings and queens who live in Africa that
is something that whether you're black
American or Caribbean American or South
American African roots that's something
you should carry with you for the rest
of your life to give you pride to Humble
you that is something that you should
have extreme pride in something that you
should take with you no matter what it
is that you're doing or where you're
going that is something that encourages
you in all of your capabilities anything
that you set your mind to you can
achieve it because one you're blessed to
you came from a lineage of strong
survivors you are a testament to the
fact that you are the descendent of
survivors of Fighters of Kings of Queens
and you are here and you are your unique
individual and you can accomplish all of
that you set your mind to so thank you
all so much for joining me today I hope
that you enjoy your day and of course
the rest of your week subscribe comment
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without further ado I hope you all enjoy
the rest of the day and the rest of your
week while good my friend
Coby never say goodbye we say waffles
if you're running walking driving flying
cycling we say walk
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