CARIBBEAN SECONDARY EXAMINATION COUNCIL

SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT

CARIBBEAN HISTORY

NAME: Kristi Gopaul

CANDIDATE #: 1600901066

CENTRE NAME: Vessigny Secondary School

CENTRE #: 160090

CLASS: 5S

SUBJECT: History

YEAR: 2020- 2021

TEACHER: Mr. Shar

TOPIC:
Much attention has been focused on the horrors and brutality of slavery in
the West Indies, however, in reality the system of brutality for African
slaves was experienced before their arrival in the West Indies from the point
of capture and their journey into the Caribbean.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all the researcher would like to offer her eternal thanks to God who
blessed her with perseverance, the spirit of hard work and determination to
complete this school based assessment. She is also using this great opportunity
to express her great appreciation to everyone who assisted with this project
such as my parents, school mates and my teacher. The researcher is very
thankful for all the advice, tips and recommendations as this is what helped me
to complete my S.B.A correctly and she is forever grateful to you all.
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QUESTION

Much attention has been focused on the horrors and brutality of slavery in the
West Indies, however, in reality the system of brutality for African slaves was
experienced before their arrival in the West Indies from the point of capture
and their journey into the Caribbean.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

● INTRODUCTION……………………………………… 4

● SLAVERY ON THE PLANTATION……………. 4 - 5

● SLAVERY IN AFRICA………………………...….…. 5 - 7

● CONCLUSION……………………………………...….. 7

● BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………..….. 8

● APPENDIX…………………………………………...…. 9 - 16
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INTRODUCTION

Slavery began in 1494 in the form of the encomienda system and when that
failed, the Europeans resorted to Africa for slaves as it was convenient for a
cheap, reliable and huge labor force, hence the formation of "Middle Passage"
or "Triangular trade system" which would lead to the rise of sugarcane
production in the Caribbean. However it would be a very ruthless and
monstrous system for slaves.
Although many people only focus on the brutality of slavery in the West Indies,
it really all started in Africa itself, from the time the Europeans would capture
the slaves they suffered harsh conditions. From the route to the coast then the
slavers, the Africans suffered. The slavers especially was one of the worst
brutalities Africans could've gone through, the conditions were extreme and
most Africans would die before reaching the West Indies It can be certainly
seen that much attention has been focused on the horrors and brutality of
slavery in the West Indies, however, in reality the system of brutality for
African slaves was experienced before their arrival in the West Indies from the
point of capture and their journey into the Caribbean.

This was done in the form of the sugar plantation system, which was a large
scale sugar production with the use of forced African labour/ slavery and large
flat, fertile areas of land (figure 1). This system is also seen as a total
institution with clear lines of authority and strict control based on Hierarchy.

The Hierarchy of the plantation system placed Whites, which consisted of the
planter, overseer, manager, absentee owner, clerk and bookkeepers at the top,
then Coloreds which consisted of domestic and skilled workers in the middle
and lastly the Blacks/ Slaves which were the praedial slaves who worked under
the African slave drivers.
Blacks were separated into three gangs:
The main or first gang were the young and strong, responsible for holing,
cutting and carrying. The secondary gang which were the sick, pregnant
women and youths who did weeding and harrowing. The Pickney gang were
children and the elderly who weeded and cared for livestock (figure 2).

November to July was when the slaves worked the hardest and longest because
that was crop season and they had limited time when they harvested the cane
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(figure 3 and 4). Planters would increase brutality and overwork slaves in order
to make high profits. They would have to work up to 18 ½ hours a day.
Planters used methods of control which contributed to the brutality of slaves,
such as:
Economic Control- slaves couldn't earn wages, own property or become
educated.
Psychological Control- done through fear and brainwashing, also referring to
racism with regard to 'Black Inferiority vs White Superiority'.
Cultural Control- couldn't practice their culture and forced into Christianity
Social Control- not allowed to interact or congregate and separated from
families.
Physical Control- savage punishments like: whipping/ flogging, hanging,
mutilation, stretching, treadmill, branding, sweatbox, executions, planking,
collars and masks (figures 5, 6 and 7).
Legal Methods- police laws/ code noir/ las siete partidas were passed to
prevent slaves from leaving plantations without authorization (figure 8) and
they weren't allowed congregation, night meetings, or cultural practices.
Slaves couldn't own property or inherit wealth.

Slaves were only seen as property/ chattel to the Whites and their treatment
and brutality only worsened.
This would lead to marronage which planters used as an opportunity to hunt
slaves as sport. The minority who successfully escaped were those in larger
territories. Riots and rebellions would also start (figure 9), although all were
unsuccessful they would influence the first successful rebellion, ' the Haitian
Revolution' (figure 10).

Brutality was certainly experienced not only on the plantations as evidence

shows from the point slaves were captured in Africa itself.
After almost all the Amerindians died leaving the Europeans with a small
labour force, they tried labour schemes using European bondservants,
prisoners and convicts, however this failed miserably, forcing planters to look
for cheap, reliable and a large labour force.
They found this in West Africa because it was the closest continent to Europe
and Africans were not only skilled in agriculture but accustomed to subtropical
climates, hard labour, were in large numbers, racism and the fact that their
leaders were easily corrupted.
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African 'middle men' helped in sourcing slaves, by burning villages at night
and yoking the Africans as they ran in fear (figure 11), forming them into a
coffle and forced into a line to walk back to the coasts (figure 12).
This journey to the coast lasted weeks and it was brutal as many Africans died
due to starvation, dehydration, harsh climates and brutality from the raiders,
who beat them to maintain speed.

On arrival, the middle men met agents, merchants and traders from Europe.
Coffles were then broken, placed into barracoons and sorted by a doctor who
separated the healthy and strong from the side makrons or the sickly and unfit.
The healthy slaves were branded with a hot iron which imprinted the logo or
name of the company which traded to slaves (figures 13 and 14). All the tribes
were then mixed to avoid communication and rebellion before boarding onto
the middle passage (figure 15).
The middle passage was the second part of the Trans- Atlantic slave trade. It
was truly an inhumane experience as brutality was extremely high as captains
and sailors only cared about maintaining control. Slaves were placed in
box-like trays which were one hundred and fifty centimeters long by fifty
centimeters wide and high, shackled together in a lying down position and
women were separated in the fore-section of the ship from the men, so that
they could be raped (figures 16 and 17).
Slaves suffered heat-strokes and dehydration because of no ventilation,
movement was impossible and the deck was rarely cleaned with only sea water
and vinegar causing diseases such as fevers, smallpox, yaws and dropsy to
spread quickly. They were fed spoiled food which would cause slaves to starve
themselves to death, but sailors force fed them by breaking their jaws. This
process was extremely painful and resulted in many going into shock and
dying.

Many slaves tried to commit suicide by suffocation, strangulation and jumping

of deck when they had to work on the top deck where they also tried passive
resistance, if any managed to survive and run away they were called marrons.
However sailors started purposefully drowning slaves for insurance as they
would get more money ( figure 18).
Because of the slavery, West Africa suffered de-population, the development of
a generation gap, an increase in de-tribalization resulting in tribal wars
causing high death rates which were also caused by frequent slave raidings and
the journey from the interior toward the coast, and their trading stopped
because
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Europeans took over the coasts, which severely impacted their economy and
development. There was also a decline in farming, religion, craft, culture,
traditions also their resources because Europeans started exploiting them.

In conclusion we can definitely see that the harsh brutalities of slavery started
in West Africa itself and worsened on the journey to the Caribbean. West Africa
was deeply affected by the system of slavery and it is now sadly a big part of
their heritage. It influenced most Caribbean people today, their practices
developed during slavery still live on in the form of music, food, clothes,
agricultural practices and Emancipation day is still honoured across the
Caribbean every year as it symbolizes the horrible struggle and brave strength
of our ancestors throughout the brutalities of colonization.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

● Caribbean Story Book 1 (3rd edition)

● https://www.britannica.com/topic/transatlantic-slave-trade
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APPENDIX

Figure 1- showing the layout of a plantation in the Caribbean.

Figure 2 - showing the social hierarchy of the plantations in the Caribbean.

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Figures 3 and 4 - showing slave labour on the plantation.

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Figures 5, 6 and 7- showing physical control and brutally on the plantations.

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Figure 8 - showing the book code noir which defined the conditions of slavery in the French
colonial empire, restricted the activities of free Black people.

Figure 9 - showing a failed attempt at a slave rebellion.

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Figure 10 - showing the successful Haitian Revolution in 1804.

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Figure 11 - showing the process of slavery in Africa from the burning of houses to being
transported to the Caribbean.

Figure 12 - showing how slaves were coffled and the journey to the coast.

Figures 13 and 14 - showing how slaves were branded by the agency which would sell them.
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Figure 15 - showing slaves being boarded onto the slavers.

Figures 16 and 17 - showing the layout of a slaver which was the ships used to transport
slaves from Africa to the Caribbean.
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Figure 18 - showing how slaves were thrown overboard as punishment and purposefully so that
the sailors could collect insurance which would be more money than what the slaves were
worth.
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