The role of enslaved women on the British West Indian...

TOPIC: What was the role of enslaved women on the British West Indian Sugar Plantation? RATIONALE In history women have been often perceived as useless and inadequate. This assessment is to highlight the role of enslaved women who resided and worked on the sugar plantations in the British West Indian islands before the abolition of slavery. In order to effectively understand the enslaved women’s role and situation, their social and economic states have to be taken into consideration. ENSLAVED WOMEN AS PRODUCERS In the British Caribbean, the enslaved women were very important in the production on the plantation. It must be noted that although reproduction†¦show more content†¦Hilary Beckles described the job of a woman working on a sugar plantation for 12 hours per day with only breaks for lunch and sometimes breakfasts six days a week weeding, cane holing, carrying and planting: Weeding or ‘grass picking’ was considered one of the most laborious tasks required of first and second gang women. With hoes, and sometimes just their bare hands, women stooped in rows under the scorching sun to pick out the weeds growing among the young canes†¦ when the daily tasks were not completed, it was not uncommon to see first gang women driven to complete them â€Å"by moonlight†. Cane-holing and carrying manure to the fields were also important parts of the work of first gang women. Both required strength and stamina, with driver’s whip being used to stimulate their productivity†¦ after the first gang had dug the holes, and, assisted by the second gang cleared the weeds, manure mixed with decomposed can leaves were applied before planting the young canes. Carrying dung from heaps near the cattle pens to the fields was considered as laborious for women as holing. They had to walk, sometimes distances of one mile, over a surface ‘now rendered very uneven by the holes, the drivers bringing up the rear, and often smacking his whip to increase their speed’†¦ manuring was again an ‘equal task to be performed in a equal time by people of unequal strength’. Slaves, especially female slaves, who wereShow MoreRelatedBook Report-Caribbean Civilization (Beyond Massa ) 20142503 Words   |  11 PagesMurray FOUN1101: Caribbean Civilization 14 November 2014 Beyond Massa: Sugar Management in the British Caribbean, 1770-1834. Dr. John Campbell is a lecturer at the University of the West Indies; St. Augustine campus. He specializes on Caribbean civilization and culture. In this book, â€Å"Beyond Massa: Sugar Management in the British Caribbean, 1770-1834†, he aims to describe the complexity of the relationship between the enslaved and their masters, as well as providing a revisionist perspective basedRead MoreImpact Of The Transatlantic Slave Trade885 Words   |  4 PagesThe transatlantic slave trade played a pivotal role in European nations and greatly impacted the economy financially. The transatlantic slave trade also known as the triangular trade was the network of three continents where men, women and children of African background were enslaved and deported from their homes. The trade itself had three steps. Ships with goods left Western Europe to leave to Africa where they exchanged them for slaves. Goods would include of weapons, gunpowder, textile pearlsRead MoreA Brief Note On The Ear ly Modern Period1523 Words   |  7 PagesPax Angeliene Professor Daniel Johnson History 162 12 October 2014 Midterm Essay During the Early Modern Period, International trade routes reached from the Indian Ocean/Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, and for the first time created a global exchange. Although Europe, Africa, Asia, Islamic Empires, and the Americas vary politically, socio-culturally, and economically, they all were forging new global economies and new biological and socio-cultural exchanges. The Europeans wantedRead MoreCaribbean Crucible: History, Culture, and Globalization4302 Words   |  18 Pagesrational approach to time management were applied to the production and export of sugar, tobacco, and other commodities to be consumed by the burgeoning European urban bourgeois, artisan, and working-classes. These industries, in the forms of plantations and haciendas of various sizes, presaged and enabled Europes Industrial Revolution. These new enterprises were worked by millions of enslaved Africans hauled from diverse West African societies from present-day Senegal all the way down to Angola; beforeRead MoreHow Revolutionary Was The American Revolution? Essay1242 Words   |  5 Pagespolitical and social levels, and a growing ideology on the obedience of a women and the dissolution of slavery. There were many events that led up to the American Revolution. After the British defeated France and the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763, Parliament began enforcing colonists to help pay for debts that were accrued during the war. George Grenville, Britain’s chief minister, constructed laws such as the Stamp Act, Sugar Act and Quartering Act. These new policies that set in place tariffsRead MoreHow Does The Rediscovery Of The Slave Burial Ground During New York Parallel The Way American History?2170 Words   |  9 Pagessegregation from the white population. It is also worth noting that it took America over two hundred years to identify and properly care for the remains. 2) Why did the Spanish turn to African slaves rather than other sources of labor? What were enslaved people’s lives like in this period? The Spanish turned to African slaves rather than other sources of labor because as Spain colonized the continent Africans and others saw economic value in selling human beings. The Spaniards and Portuguese tookRead MoreThe Abolition Of The Brazilian Slaves Essay3208 Words   |  13 PagesThe Abolition of the Brazilian Slaves Slavery in the Americas started with Christopher Columbus at the end of his first voyage, west of the Atlantic. When Columbus saw the Indians (as he called them) and he thought they would make great servants to overlords in Europe. The author writes, â€Å"he promised to bring Ferdinand and Isabella as many slaves as they required† (Nowara 10). This was a suitable proposition because the lifestyle of slavery was already embedded in the minds of the Europeans duringRead MoreSlave Society2192 Words   |  9 PagesSlavery done so we do not need to remember it!† Respond to this statement drawing specific reference to the nature of slave society and how the enslaved fought against their enslavement. Slavery done so we do not need to remember it!† Respond to this statement drawing specific reference to the nature of slave society and how the enslaved fought against their enslavement. Every society, in the Caribbean or anywhere else, is a product of the particular historical forces that shapedRead MoreThe Economic Effects of the Slave Trade on Africa, Britain, and America1398 Words   |  6 Pagesmajor difference is that in today’s world machines do all of our dirty work, back then it was all up to the slaves. Finding the perfect slave was a challenge to the colonists. First, there was the indentured servants, second, came the Indians. However because Indians and indentured servants could escape to freedom with ease, they were not the ideal slaves. The colonists’ third attempt proved to be a gold mine. The unfortunate people who were forced in to captivity were the Africans. In order to obtainRead MoreThe Making Of A Nation1519 Words   |  7 Pagesbonding of families with husbands, wives and children alike, presented their notion of love to be inevitable. Though slaves were bound by slavery and their life was merciless, they managed to persevere i n times of despair. Slavery played an important role in the development of the American colonies. It was introduced to the colonies in 1619, and spanned until the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The trading of slaves in America in the seventeenth century was a large industry. Slaves were captured