Class, Color, And Culture

Slavery represents an important part of Jamaican history and the cultivated dominant atmosphere. For one, plantations highly depended on slave labor to maximize profit margins. Between 1655 and 1808 one million slaves were forcefully brought to Jamaica (Waters, 1985: 21-23). Persaud (2001: 72) suggests, “the plantation system, the totality of institutional arrangements surrounding the production and marketing of plantation crops, has seriously affected society in Jamaica”. In other words, the slave mode of production was a crucial factor in the establishment of Jamaica’s structural society. “Jamaica’s class structure today reflects its history as a colonial plantation society and its beginnings of industrial development

In the essay "The Evolution of Slavery in Colonial America," author Jon Butler examines the growth of the slave practice in the land which would become the United States. As the European nations began exploring North America, they overtook the native populations of the areas and turned them into unpaid laborers. However, these people were not enough to supply landholders with sufficient aid. To make up the necessary numbers, plantation owners utilized indentured servants and then a number of slaves imported from Africa. Indentured servants were people who would be taken from the Old World to the New in order to start a new life. However, since they would not have the necessary funds to pay for their transportation, their journey would be funded by either a manufacturer or a plantation owner and their debt would be paid off by working for their benefactor. Slaves were not given this opportunity. These were people who were taken from their homes and families and forced into labor by threat of violence or death. This practice did not begin in the United States, but America was still allowing slavery well into the 19th century, long after other nations had come to the conclusion that slavery was inhumane and brutal.

The transition from colonial era to Revolutionary era brought many variations that greatly affected indentured servants that would later be slaves. In the colonial era, indentured servants were individuals who signed a contract that tied them to a land under the authority of a master. They usually worked in plantations to cultivate crops especially tobacco. They were bound to the land from four to seven years to pay off their transportation to America. Once they worked off their time, they were assured land and freedom. At this time, indentured slaves were both black and white people. The profit from tobacco was growing therefore the demand for labor increased. For planters, the issue of indentured servants escaping was becoming common. African people were easier to identify and catch if they escaped because of the color of their skin and lack of resources.

After the Thirty Years War, Europe’s economy was depressed leaving many laborers without work. A life in the “New World,” gave European Immigrants a new sense of hope. Indentured Servants were people who sold their labor voluntarily in exchange for free passage to the “New World,” and given housing upon their arrival. They were willing to enter an agreement to work for a specified amount of time, nor were considered the property of the contract holder. Alike in certain aspects, however, divergent in many areas of Indentured Servants, in the early 1600’s Slavery began in America when the first African Slaves brought to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia. Virginia was one of the first states to acknowledge slavery in its laws, to aid the production of lucrative tobacco crops. In 1670. The law that defined which people could be enslaved declared, “all servants not being Christians imported into this colony by shipping shall be slaves for their lives.” (Norton, Mary Beth. (2015). Initially, slaves were treated as Indentured Servants and given much freedom until eventually slave laws were passed. When the slave laws were passed this had seized any freedoms that might have existed for African Americans. The colonies began to reflect contradictions between Indentured Servants and Slaves. “More important, the laws began to differentiate between races: the association of “servitude for natural life” with people of African descent became common.” (Law

Domingo’s essay, “Gift of the Black Tropics,” also paints a complex picture when it comes to the life of African-Americans. Throughout his essay, Domingo explores the diversity of Harlem’s (let alone New York’s) African American population. Domingo analyzes the statistical data of African-Americans and touches on the various types of foreign-born “Negro” immigrants, specifically focusing on individuals from the West Indies throughout the rest of his essay. Mimicking the optimistic outlook, Domingo touches on the fact that foreign-born African-American immigrants, specifically from the West Indies, refuse to comply with informal segregation. For example, Domingo states, “Skilled at various trades…many of the immigrants apply for positions that the average American Negro has been schooled to regard as restricted to white men only…[thus] West Indians have in many cases been pioneers and shock troops to open a way for Negroes into new fields of employment” (Domingo 345). Consequently, Domingo argues that foreign-born African-Americans are making great strides in helping to dismantle informal segregation when it comes to jobs, simply by refusing to comply. This, in turn, helps to provide both American- and foreign-born African-Americans with more occupational opportunities than before by showing that the engrained restriction in jobs is just a ploy that can be overcome with persistence. While many may feel that this is a good thing, Domingo

In an effort to discover how one thing affects another, I decided to study how race affects different aspects of life; those aspects being income, social class (or class) and education. How do we ascertain what effects what when preparing a study; does race effect how much we make or how far we go in our education or where we might live? There are many studies researching the variables mentioned, race, income, class and education. Perhaps education effects race, class and income. I am attempting to analyze the first combination. I want to determine to what extent income and class and education are affected by race.

All these factors encouraged a shift away from indentured servitude and towards African slave labor. With no regulations on slaves in place, owners were free to abuse the system and be as cruel as they

The shift from indentured servitude to racial slavery in the British North American colonies didn 't occur all at once. Instead, the transition was much more uneven, spreading across different colonies at different times, and triggered by various unique historical incidents. However, two themes show up consistently in the transition from indentured servitude to race-based slavery. First, as more and more indentured servants became free, the wealthy planter class began to perceive these newly freed men as a threat. Indentured servants acquired land at the end of their term, and were able to compete economically with their former masters. To quell this economic threat, the wealthy class began to prefer a system of lifelong servitude, e.g. slavery.

White indentured servants only had to work for their master for several years before being granted as a free man and given their freedom dues which included “one good cloth suit of kersey or broadcloth…fifty acres of land” (Bigham, 32). But indentured servitude started to be less readily available in the southern colonies because Europe’s economy started to improve after the 1660s and less people felt the need to make the long difficult voyage to America to give their family a better life. However, with slaves the status of the mother would ultimately determine the status of the children and whether or not they too would be deemed slaves, it was in the planter’s best interest that they status of slavery was

"Capitalism & Slavery," (published by The University of North Carolina Press, 1994) was written by Eric Eustace Williams and first published in 1944. Eric Williams' book, was at the time of its publication, considered years ahead of its time. It should be noted, early on within this report that, literary works on the history of the Caribbean or slavery for a matter of fact, was done by Europeans. In the preface of his book, Williams clearly asserts that his work, "is not a study of the institution of slavery but of the contribution of slavery to the development of British capitalism."1 His work takes an economic view of history, which is at the

The Ottoman Empires blockage of the once popular trade route to the east, led to the exploration of the America’s. In the late 15th century, with the European’s goal to find a new trading route, the Portuguese, with their strong maritime power, were the first to venture out. Not only was the establishment of a new trade route crucial, but so was the discovery of resources to exploit for European gain. Land empires formed, bringing about the enslavement of native populations, and control of production and labor. No more was this evident than in the Caribbean Islands. Small but crucial assets to Europe, why did the Caribbean islands have such a big impact on the slave trade? Many European countries had colonized several regions in North and South America, yet there was something about the Caribbean’s that made them indispensable to their respective economies. The politics in Europe, the Caribbean’s fertile soil, and its demographics were key factors in the Caribbean’s importance. All three factors were essential in the Caribbean becoming a staple in the slave trade.

In today 's society, culture is impacting our everyday life, experience and social relations; we are all categorized by our cultural “groups”, but this has changed rapidly throughout the years from one generation to the next. Cultural studies were developed in the late 1950’s, through the 1970’s by the British academic scholars. The British scholars were able engaged cultural analysis and the developed then transformed of the different fields, for example, politically, theoretically and empirically that are now represented around the world.

In addition, the Dutch acted a middlemen for other colonial powers and their mercantile contacts. This position as middleman is unique to Dutch colonization. Many researchers from several disciplines have explored this aspect of the colonial period. Corinne Hofman and her peers conducted an archaeological study of the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and how the arrival of Europeans affected the culture and society of the islands in their article Stage of Encounters: Migration, Mobility and Interaction in the Pre-Colonial and Early Colonial Caribbean. The authors give a good historical overview of native Caribbean populations in the pre-Colombian period.

Fundamentally, gender, racism and class are three controversial social issues that have for a long period triggered heated debate in the American society. In essence, this issues concern the daily lives of American citizen and immigrants disregarding their class, social status, educational level or the position they hold in the society. Therefore, it is imperative that these issues are analyzed comprehensively in order to take an informed stand about the impact they have to the society. This paper, seeks to critically examine how gender, racism and class are addressed in the two movies “Bread and Roses “and ”Hammering it”.

“To what extent can it be argued that genocide and revolution are central themes in Caribbean History?”