The Effect of Slavery on the Identity of Cuba Essay

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

Since the demand was so high, the manufacturers were faced with maintaining a high crop yield, but luckily the Caribbean islands provided an ideal location for growing cane sugar. Once plantations were constructed yet

At this point, plantation owners were more focused on the profits they made then their slaves. Although the author uses the document to discuss slavery on cotton plantations, there were many other industries where slaves were equally badly off. This document directly supports the author’s argument indicating the difficulties that many Americans faced due to the revolutions of the early nineteenth

more slaves. The slave work force had not only an economic effect but also a social effect. They

When Cuba was first discovered by Europeans when Columbus arrived in 1492, they discovered several groups of indigenous peoples already living on the island. These groups, known as the Taino, subTaíno, Mayarí, Ciboney Cayo Redondo, and Guayabo Blanco groups, did not have many members, and were largely wiped out by illnesses brought by the Europeans. Some populations in the rural western- and easternmost parts of the island, however, still retain these early indigenous genes (Stubbs, Haines, & Haines, 1996, p.

Afro-Cubans struggled to no avail for racial equality between the years 1886-1912. The slaughter of protesting blacks in 1912 shows that the battle cries for equality of Antonio Maceo and José Marté during the war for independence had dissolved. What was left was a unequal Cuban society, divided racially and fearing a black revolution. Aline Helg speaks directly to this issue in her book Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912. The aforementioned period was one in which the nation’s formation was taking place, thus the unsuccessful attempt at equality has left difficult remnants of racial inequality buried deeply in the fabric of the nation.

The period of slavery in Jamaica have left a number of legacies that the current Jamaican people continues to embrace. Some of these legacies are positive ones while some

Question: Examine the importance of the slave trade to the development of the plantation economies. The slave trade was vital to the development of plantation economies, which could only expand and survive in the West Indies with the use of slave labour. The slave trade brought enslaved Africans from Africa to colonies in the West Indies, which had begun to take part in the "sugar Revolution" starting in 1640. The plantation system which essentially is the organization of agriculture on a large scale usually producing a single crop such as sugar, coffee, cocoa and tobacco, small farmers were pushed out and a few large plantation rose up to take their place and the combination of these large plantations formed the plantation economies so

As addictive properties of sugar had exploded the demand for sugar at the start of the 1700’s, the demand called for higher production. The ideal climate in the Caribbean and the abundance of African slaves provided this higher production, transforming the small English sugar trade into the beginning of global commerce. After the discovery of the Caribbean in 1492, the land was colonized and used for its ideal climate to grow cane sugar (Doc. 1, 2, and 6). The cheap land had popped up colonies that started utilizing slaves and other resources to make a highly efficient labor system (Doc. 9, 10, and production facility (Doc. 7-12

The cause and effects of the Haitian Revolution have played, and continue to play, a major role in the history of the Caribbean. During the time of this rebellion, slavery was a large institution throughout the Caribbean. The success of the sugar and other plantations was based on the large slave labor forces. Without these forces, Saint Domingue, the island with the largest sugar production, and the rest of the Caribbean, would face the threat of losing a profitable industry.

In the South, large and wealthy landowners were the fortunate few who really benefited from plantation agriculture. For instance, Virginia and Maryland operated under what came to be known as the Headright System. Since leaders of each colony knew that labor was essential for economic survival, the system

By mid 17th century, slavery becomes essential to the prosperous colonial economy. Southern colonies of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and especially Maryland and Virginia were very devoted to exporting agricultural products, as now they have the vast fertile land and the labor force. The profits were escalating handsomely. “Only about 4,000 slaves toiled in South Carolina in 1708 but that number tripled in the next twelve years and then tripled again by 1740, when nearly 40,000 slaves inhabited the rice coast, outnumbering whites by two to one.” (Nash, 175) More slaves were required to clear land and plant as more land were acquired, notably expansions to the west. West African slaves experienced in rice cultivation were especially sought after in the Carolinas. Rice was a very profitable crop along with other cash crops: tobacco, sugar and indigo. With a balance in gender ratio during 1750’s, slave population naturally increased furthermore, lessening the need to import more slaves. The new generation of African slaves was essentially less rebellious than their native African parents, being born into slavery, thus more accustom to the way of life. Slavery was becoming even more important to the wealth of the colonies.

One big difference between the articles is that Mintz includes the plantations as part of one of the nine major factors which falls under capitalism of the Caribbean but Benitez-Rojo writes, "I think that one must agree with Mintz that the plantation seems indispensable to studying the societies of the area. In my opinion, nonetheless, the plantation could turn out to be an even more useful parameter; it could serve as a telescope for obswerving the changes and the continuities of the Caribbean galaxy through the lenses of multifold disciplines…" (38). Benitez-Rojo includes the history of the plantations and how the history affected the culture of the islands. For example, one of the subtitles is Hispaniola: the first plantations where he explains how the first plantations were started up, he writes, "Those who, for one reason or another, decided not to leave the colony began to think up enterprises that would allow them to subsist there… someone remembered the sugarcane that Columbus had brought to the island, and he began to get molasses and brown sugar using rudimentary machines" (40). As slavery was introduced to the system a creole culture emerge and the Africanization of culture.

The beginning of slavery in the Caribbean can be traced back to the emergence of piracy in the 16th and 17th centuries. This eventually led to the promotion of slave trading and sugar plantations. While enslaved on the sugar plantations, slaves were treated very poorly. Plantation owners treated their slaves so poorly that most were undernourished and diseased. Slaves were even forced to work on their "spare" time to provide for their own needs. Needless to say, slaves encountered cruel punishment that we can’t even comprehend. The slaves however, continually resisted white supremacy causing much tension between the two social classes. Despite this, a new social class was emerging, the free coloureds. This

This revolution as it is was a major element of change to the Caribbean economically and socially as well. With the introduction of sugar plantations there was chattel slavery and all its implications on Caribbean heritage and history. John F. Campbell (2010) in his study posited that Caribbean enslavement and its West African labour force was purely the result of economic necessity.