The End to Slavery in the Caribbean Essay -- Slavery Slave Racial Essa

The End to Slavery in the Caribbean The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) was the first victorious slave revoltin the Caribbean, and it was one of the most important events in the history ofthe Americas. Along with the obvious human rights benefits that the HaitianRevolution achieved, there were some sombre setbacks for the nation as fountainhead. Between 1783 and 1789, Saint Domingue was the first sugar producer inthe region, but by the end of the warfare the economy was completely destroyed,and to this day Haiti has not come anywhere determination to reattaining its onceprominent economic status in the Caribbean. The results of the revolutionsend fear through the European consciousness as well as strengthened thegrowing idea that slavery may be an degenerate practice. In the UnitedKingdom, slavery lost familiarity quickly and an antislavery movement wasinitiated. by and by May 1807, no British ship was permitted to leave with a freight rateof slaves, and by March 1808, it was made illegal for a slave to be landed inany British colony. The law became even stricter in 1811 when the traffickingof slaves was made into a felony. Despite the attempts to end the slavetrade, plantation slavery continued in the British Caribbean. Slavery was notofficially abolished in the Caribbean until 1834. The termination bill whichabolished it called for twelve years of apprenticeship for the ex-slaves,which was not very different from slavery. This system was abolished in 1838. During and after all of this vacillating lawmaking, a serious laborproblem developed in the Caribbean. The key to the production of theCaribbeans produce, mainly sugar, was the system of slavery. Slaverypractically eliminated labor costs, and all... ...s felt as though theywere being undercut by this sassy type of brazen labor. The blacks resentedthat their slavery had come to an end, but in order to compete with the newlabor force, slave-like conditions were once again the only option. Thecoolies in Jamaica, as well as the Asians on the other islands began theirjourneys as outsiders living in disgusting conditions. Today, a sort of blend has taken place in these cultures. A goodexample of the blending that has taken place can be seen in the music of theregion. In rural Trinidad there is a popular form of music that mixes classicalIndian singing with a soca beat. Soca is a music that combines the insistenttempos of calypso with the energy of hip hop and the quatrain-like structuresof handed-down north Indian folk songs. Tinker, Hugh. A New System of Slavery. Oxford University Press, 1974.