History Notes: Revision

## *Resistance and Revolt*

How were enslaved Africans controlled in the British, French, and Spanish Caribbean?

* *With the incredible number/population of the Africans in the Caribbean colonies during the colonial periods of the 17th and 18th century it was to be expected that the white slavers/settlers, and in some locations, mixed-race people were scared of their “inferior” counterparts, lest they revolt and start an uprising against them. As a result, these whites invented and concocted as if beverages various methods to control their slaves. The whites, consumed by fear, spread their fear to the Africans in order to control their otherwise reluctant yet crucial labour force.*

* ***Militia and Military Might:** As a resultant of their fear, laws were drafted to ensure that blacks were supposed to be intimidated by the power the whites held over them through the power of weaponry, and military might. Every white and some mixed-race people could carry arms, and every island had a militia. In fact, some very large plantations in some islands hired their own mercenaries to keep them under control till government reinforces could arrive, as well as slave hunters and the small police force, often staffed with mixed and black people.*
* ***Caribbean Slave Laws:** The whites, whether through the legislative systems of a colonial government as in the case of the British slave codes, or directly from the Crown (either based on an existing document like the Spanish code (Seven-part Code: Siete Partidas), or drafted completely from scratch like the Code Noir of the French Government. The British codes were a great deal more prohibitive for the most part, with the Barbados Slave Code wishing they did not communicate at all, as well as stopping slaves from owning property or engaging in commercial activities. They limited the involvement of slaves in any trade of skill and punished them for particular crimes such as slave assaults on whites and the destruction of white property, banning the meetings of slaves and permitted them from playing any loud instrument that might have been particularly of cultural significance. The Code Noi, also directly addressed matters of slave affairs in ther form of master’s responsibilies and punishments. These slaves were not allowed to own property, could be executed for attacking a white person and forbidden from gathering in groups at all. However, slavews were allowed to complain to authorities and be taught the Catholic faith and be allowed to buy their freedom, even banning torture.*
* ***Disability Clauses***

* *Slaves could not carry weapons unless hunting for their masters.*
* *Slaves owned by different masters could not gather at any time for any purpose.*
* *Slaves could not sell sugar cane, provisions, firewood, and a host of other goods.*
* *Theft of large animals and other valuable property could receive the death penalty*
* *Could not own property or fill any office*

* ***Beneficient Clauses***

* *Families were not to be broken up when slaves were sold*
* *Each slave was to get two line suits or four ells of linen every year*
* *Masters were to give a weekly supply of food to their salves above 10 years: two and half pots of flour, two pounds of salt beef and three pounds of fish*
* *Slavers should not be torture or mutilated and if they were they would be confiscated.*

* ***Physical Control***
	+ ***​**Physical punishment was one of the most primitiive and perhaps, somewhat most common form of punishment, and therefore control employed by the white slavers, as on the plantation, they primarily utilized the device of the whip as the main tool for the punihsment of the enslaved, a device with multifarious form and several different types. Slaves would be whopped during work for unsatisfactory work or even given a number of lashes after being tied down to a post for some form of infraction. As stated earlier, hardly were the Slave Codes' beneficient clauses ever taken into consideration, as slaves were mutiliated, being delimbed and neutered as if livestock, as well as tortured them, e.g smearing them in sugar and burying them near ant's nests.*
* ***Psychological Control***
	+ ***​**This form of control was often used to supplement the limited nature of the primary form of punishment employed by slavers, so as to force them to become docile and obedient, and this usually entailed portrayint the Africans as a subhuman race or alternatively, one with the lack of emotional development, allowing the master to better punish and show cruelty towards their slaves due to it being mentally justified, convincing themselves of their slaves' subhuman nature. Planters reinforced the subhuman status of the slaves at every opportunity, not allowing them to look at any white person in the eyes, and had to bow and respectfully address those individuals lacking melanin. In 1696, a law was passed in Jamaica that no slave became free because they became Christian. In fact, quoting passages on slavery in the Bible allowed religion to be used as a form of psucholgical control. Jphn Locke would state that slavery out of a "lawful war" was justified, but was so vile and miserable...that it is hardly to be conceived that an Englishman..should plead for it".*
		- *​**Socio-Cultural Control***
			* ***​**Culture is the foundation of all groups and esnured that slaves were bought from multiple tribes who were in constant conflict, which made it difficult for communication to occur, and even divided the slaves into specific "responsibilities", in truth simly stratifying the enslaved community on the colonies, having some of them be be house slaves and treating them better than their fellows and distance them from the field workers by appointing them as slave drivers. These favoured slaves would often warn the master and nigh-immediately halt the plans of a revolt. Also made sure they didn't obtain even minimal economic independence, though occasionally, some skilled slaves were hired out to other planters (though the slave got nothing in return basically).*
* *​''***Non-Insurrectionary Resistance**
	+ ***​**Non-violent or individual actions against enslavement.*
		- ***​Women***
			* *As main traiders in the Sunday markets, they were cricual in spreading news within and among plantations, which enabled them the capcity to act as unparalleled communicators by passing information form one group to the next.*
			* *Practiced several methords of contraception and the killing of their offspring, born or unborn, to deprive the acquiring or new/more slaves.*
			* *Spread culture through teaching their children about these cultures.*
		- *Pretended to be lazy*
		- *Poisoning*
		- *Acted stupid to avoid/deflect aggression*
		- *Concubinage*

*Berbice 1763- kOFI+ Atta and Akara*