Cultural Patterns between the Sugar Industry and slavery in the Caribbean Essay

The origin of the Caribbean The Guanajatabey community were among the earliest inhabitants in the Caribbean is toss off, who migrated from the forests of the S step forwardh American mainland in 5300BC. They were a cosmos of about 100,000 hunters, gathers and farmers. Recent research speculates that they may receive migrated from the south of US substantiated by the resemblance of artifacts collected in both regions. Additional test suggests that the Guanajatabeyes were driven to the island by the arrival migrants, Taino and Cioney from the Orinoco delta in Venezuela. Colonization of the CaribbeanIn the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the expansion of Europeans took two directions. Towards the west coast of Africa where raiding and duty of products the like slaves, pepper ivory and gold was involved, and towards the Atlantic island which the Europeans collected products like honey and timber (Jennifer 1994). Eventually though, the colonists returned to settle and cultivate w heat and ice lolly since there was no arable land in Iberia. Sugar turn up to be a genuinely profitable commodity to produce nevertheless it needed huge tracts of land plus great motor personnel for ware.As a result lollipop and slave trade became entwined in the European exploitation in the Atlantic Islands and eventually string out to the Americas. more or less think of the Caribbean Islands as a place for a get then(prenominal) vacation. The historical background tends to differ though. The island has come along way later onward colonization and bondage for legion(predicate) years. The settlement of the European in the Caribbean began with Christopher capital of Ohio in 1492. Procession of an intricate feudal commission made him a long-term governor of all land discovered and as well realize him a fraction of all trade conducted.Caribbeans encounter with the European transformed the culture in the Atlantic Island affecting the lives of millions of nation. It d ecimated its autochthonic world and introduced plantation agriculture. Sugar was one of the commodities that came with Christopher Columbus. It was a lucrative commodity that incited the Europeans to incur plantations in the Caribbean. Sugars long floor in the Caribbean lands includes the monstrous era of bondage and just as dreadful era of bind labor.Being the primary economic structure in the Caribbean, it resulted in immaterial wealth g hagglingth and underdevelopment of internal markets and social classes. The colonists exploited the interior regions of the island to growth profits in the industry. They also enslaved Africans and indentured Asian laborers. They imported slaves from Africa to pass in the wampum plantations. thrall in the Caribbean Since slave trade was illegal, the Europeans use the Middle Passage. It was a very unpleasant and dehumanizing voyage. A good flake of slaves did non authorise it to the other end.Dreadful conditions below deck, poor gl ory conditions in the cargo, excruciating heat plus inadequate supply of food for thought and water were among the problems faced by the slaves. Only the strong ones survived the diseases like typhoid, measles, icteric fever and small pox in addition to vomiting and profligacy from the poor food. Apart from that, the conditions on the other end were just as appalling. In the mid 19th century, slave labor was greatly strong in sugar plantations (Marquez 1999). Plantation owners were dependant on slave labor since free labor was restrain. With time, the want of sugar rose and with limited labor, exertion was low.The Europeans were in dire need of laborers. The indentured servants could not meet the higher(prenominal) demand for labor. The plantations required a large amount of labor to be at par with the increasing demand. This resulted to further importation of slaves from Africa to work in these plantations. On the other delve there was a cost increase in the importation o f labor at the time. With rising costs and limited time to indenture, African slaves were the alternative. With the introduction of African slaves to the plantation sugar production rose by 300% (Payne Jennifer, 1994).Slave trade became the order of the day. With time the population of slaves rose by more than 200%. The interests of the slaves were also ignore despite the immense turnover from the sugar industry since most of it went to Europe. England would not only benefit from the lucrative commodity scarcely augmented demand would thrust slave trade. Planting, harvesting and bear upon of sugar is tiring, hot and dangerous. It also requires a gigantic amount of labor. The Africans were enslaved to work in these plantations despite the approximate weather (Conrad et al 1995).A vigorous adult was expected to work on the land, plant and reap five acres of sugar. Slaves both adults and children would move row by row across the fields, planting thousands of seeds-cane stems manua lly. They would work from 6 to 6 with a break of two hours at noon. During harvest, the slaves would work longer hours locomote against the weather to steer clear of attacks by insects on the harvest. Processing the sugar was also done manually under harsh supervision. Harvesting and bear upon cane was just as backbreaking as planting. Processing the sugar was done immediately by male slaves.The condition in the processing rooms was so severe that the slaves had to rotate out every quaternary hours, their limbs engorged from the heat and humidity. The slaves worked day and nights in the mills and sugarhouses with shifts lasting up to 18 hours during harvest to avoid bottlenecks in production (Simon and Schuster, 2003). Despite some planters giving extra food and drink to encourage competition in production, the result was due to coercion. The slaves were controlled by threat and use of deadly force. In the 1770s, there was the introduction of anti-slavery movements in Europe.In 1 787, The Society for the Abolition of Slavery was established which aimed at raising public awareness of the atrocious treatment of slaves. The fight however went on till 1807 when a law prohibition slave trade was passed. Many other countries endorsed similar laws soon after the law was passed. In 1831, a colossal anti-slavery rebellion destroyed some(prenominal) sugar estates in Jamaica, inspiring the government to Parliament to approve the liberty Act of 1834. The slaves who were quieten tied to plantation life were freed unconditionally.Most of the freed slaves acquired parcels of land on some of Caribbean islands for subsistent farming. For those who did not get went back to plantation work. Consequences of slavery in the Caribbean After the establishment of pertly colonization, there was the introduction of new cultures and languages. The world only focuses on Columbus as the great sendry the new land and tends to forget the destruction and damages caused on the lives of the native people who were the first people on the Island. These people were almost wiped out by the brutal incursion of the Europeans along with their cultures and languages.There was division among the people which resulted from the introduction of distinguishable cultures, languages and values. The slaves that were also imported from Africa also brought along their different cultures and languages since they came from different region in Africa. Even long after slavery had been abandoned the economic and political structure that was used to control the Island still lingered. Former slaves were forced to work in the plantations but at minimum wage. Power and social inequality There was introduction of many races and cultures in the slavery era. Classes were defined according to race, financial status and culture.Despite the many cultural differences which continually impede the territories from merging, the Caribbean societies are trying to come together socially politically an d economically in order to work as one nation. Facets of culture such as race, language, governmental systems, religion, history, values and morality among others differ in each territory and cause a roadblock between them. The different cultures that resulted from slavery Several religious groups were started and developed from past experiences. Judaism and Rastafarianism are among the major ones that were formed from previous ones (Michelle 1986).There is a respectable bond between the two religions. They were bound by the subjugation and persecution they went through and through in the past. Rastafarianism Rastafari history started with the colonization of Africa. The European colonists enslaved many Africans, divided them and sent them to exile as captives worldwide. The areas in which they were taken were named Babylon. The movement was initiated in 1930 in Jamaica after a prophecy made by a swart political leader, Marcus Following the prophecy was the crowning of Emperor Ha ile Selassie 1 in Ethiopia He is known to them as the Black Messiah, Jah Rastafari (Edwards 1999).The rituals and practices of the Rastafarians were adapted during the late mid-thirties and 1940s. Some of the practices are reasoning and binghi. Reasoning is done by the members aggregation to pray and smoke ganja or marijuana considered a consecrated herb. They would pass it around in a water pipe which they have likened to the Communion cup of the Christians in its symbolic meaning. Bighi on the other hand is anal night celebration consisting of dancing accompanied by idiosyncratic rhythms of Rasta drums. This is done to mark different occasions for instance Marcus Garveys birthday, investiture of Haile Selassie I and the liberation from slavery.Their deadlock hairstyle signifies the Blackmans pride for his skin discolor and hair texture. Rastafarianism remains to be a resistance culture in many parts in the world. Despite experiencing an unstable social history in Jamaica, the movement retains a momentous moral influence that has spread its wings way beyond Jamaica. Conclusion Nowadays, sugar is regarded the most reciprocal commodity. It is available everywhere and at very cheap prices. Conversely, there was a time when it was a very precious product desired by many. It was a luxury to many noblemen while the colonists considered it a way to make money.Sugar was very profitable back then and also very expensive. This lucrative commodity incited the Europeans to commence sugar plantations in their colonies especially in the Caribbean (Howard 1998) The demand for African slaves arose from the introduction and development of plantation agriculture, rise in the price of sugar, and need for miners. Africans were not only viewed as skilled laborers, but were also agricultural experts. Consequently, considering their high immunity for malaria, they were suited for mining and agriculture. that there were serious consequences as a result of slave trade. totally the same, there were positive results from colonization like urbanization and civilization of the colonies. workings Cited Conrad, D. , Glenn R, Lucas, C. , and Ray. A Brief History of the lanthanum Sugar assiduity, 1795-1995. Center for Louisiana Studies, 1995. Jennifer M. Payne, Caribbean History, 1994 Marquez Slavosevelie, Slavery to Free Labor 1999 Michelle H. The Caribbean, and the World Sugar Industry. New York University 1986 Sidney W. 1986. Sweetness and Power The Place of Sugar in advanced(a) History. New York, Penguin Books. Hagelberg, 1985