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The experiences of ensl'ved

people
P:rt of History The tr'ns'tl'ntic sl've tr'de

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Key points
Key points
Between 1500 :nd 1800, :round 12-15 million people were t:ken by force
Video 'bout the from Afric: to be used :s ensl:ved l:bour in the C:ribbe:n, North, Centr:l
experiences of ensl'ved :nd South Americ:.
people
Despite the extreme brut:lity of pl:nt:tion life, people found w:ys to
Arriv'l in the Americ's empower themselves. Through religion, l:ngu:ge, culture, music :nd
revolution, ensl:ved individu:ls :nd communities resisted :g:inst
Life on pl'nt'tions
pl:nt:tion owners :nd Europe:n powers.
Forms of resist'nce

M'roon communities
Video 'bout the experiences of ensl'ved people
Surviv'l of knowledge
'nd skills

Open rebellions

Test your knowledge

Cont'ins some upsettinZ scenes.

An ensl:ved young wom:n sh:res her experience of living : life of sl:very

Video Transcript

Arriv'l in the Americ's

Between 1500-1800, Europe:n tr:ders were involved in buying :nd shipping
ensl'ved Afric:n people to work in the Americ's . This bec:me the l:rgest
forced migr'tion in history :nd is known :s the tr'ns'tl'ntic sl've tr'de .

Following their :rriv:l in the Americ:s, m:ny ensl:ved Afric:ns would h:ve
been sold in :uctions - : further dehum:nising :ct. OMen tr:ders :nd
pl:nt:tion owners would subject them to humili:ting :nd degr:ding checks.
Tr:ders would :lso pl:ce oil upon ensl:ved people's skin to m:ke them look
he:lthier :nd incre:se their s:le price.

During this process ensl:ved people were oMen br'nded :nd the m:jority
were sent to work on pl'nt'tions , producing l:bour intensive crops such :s
sug:r, cotton :nd tob:cco.

Wh't w's it like 'rriving in the Americ's on ' sl've ship?

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Wh't 'ctions did pl'nt'tion owners t'ke to control the ensl'ved

popul'tion?

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Life on pl'nt'tions
M:ny ensl:ved people died e:rly of exh:ustion, injury or dise:se. Between
1748 :nd 1788, tr:ders brought 335,000 ensl:ved people to the isl:nd of
J:m:ic:. Yet in 1788, only 226,432 ensl:ved people were recorded on the
isl:nd.

In 1798 the British P:rli:ment p:ssed the Amelior:tion Act, which :pplied to
the British C:ribbe:n colonies. This me:nt th:t ensl:ved people could only
be forced to work for fourteen hours : d:y. The Amelior:tion Act :imed to
protect ensl:ved people from cruel punishments by introducing fines for
owners who mistre:ted them.

In re:lity, the :ct did little to protect the rights of ensl:ved popul:tions. M:ny
histori:ns believe th:t the purpose of the :ct w:s to benefit pl:nt:tion
owners, :nd :ppe:se those ensl:ved following : series of l:rge-sc:le
uprisings from ensl:ved people in B:rb:dos, J:m:ic: :nd Demer:r:
between 1816 :nd 1832.

The process of producing sug'r

The m:jority of ensl:ved people worked on sug:r pl:nt:tions, where the

work w:s incredibly difficult. The sug:r crop needed : lot of l:bour :nd
t:king too long to h:rvest the c:ne could spoil : whole crop.

The ground on the sug:r

pl:nt:tion h:d to be dug
over, :nd holes to for
pl:nting the c:ne h:d to be
m:de. Once pl:nted, the
c:ne h:d to be fertilised with
:nim:l m:nure. The working
d:y w:s :t le:st 18 hours
long, in scorching conditions.

Const:nt weeding w:s

needed to protect the c:ne
:s it grew. At h:rvest time,
sug:r c:ne w:s cut :nd
lo:ded onto c:rts. This w:s
b:ck-bre:king work :nd
involved twenty-four-hour
l:bour. The h:rvested c:ne
w:s t:ken to the sug:r mill,
where it w:s crushed :nd
boiled to extr:ct the juices. L:rge rollers were used to do this. It w:s
d:ngerous work. M:ny people h:d to h:ve their :rms :mput:ted following
:ccidents using the m:chinery.

Wh't c'n the story of M'ry Prince tell us 'bout ensl'vement?

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Forms of resist'nce

At every st:ge of ensl:vement, people found w:ys to resist :nd empower

themselves :g:inst pl:nt:tion owners. Resist:nce occurred in everyd:y w:ys;
for ex:mple, deliber:tely working slowly or d:m:ging tools. Resist:nce w:s
m:de up of individu:l :nd collective :cts.

Resist'nce 't work

Ensl:ved people were forced to work long hours in gruelling conditions. Some
ensl:ved people would show their resist:nce :t work by bre:king tools or
working :t : slow p:ce.

Attempting freedom

Whilst working on the pl:nt:tions, m:ny ensl:ved people would run :w:y
from the cruel :nd brut:l tre:tment th:t they f:ced. They risked severe
punishments if they were c:ught :nd m:ny h:d been br:nded, m:king it
difficult to disguise themselves. Pl:nt:tion owners would displ:y notices in
newsp:pers offering rew:rds for the return of ensl:ved people who h:d run
:w:y.

F'milies 'nd communities

Despite the confinements :nd brut:l h:rdships of pl:nt:tion life, m:ny

ensl:ved communities developed. Ensl:ved people m:rried :nd cre:ted
f:mily units despite the thre:t of being broken up by pl:nt:tion owners.

Religion

Despite :ttempts to b:n West Afric:n beliefs :mongst the ensl:ved

popul:tion, m:ny communities continued to pr:ctise their religions. On the
isl:nd of J:m:ic: tr:dition:l beliefs were m:int:ined including the
tr:dition:l belief in Obe'h :nd Vodun . The legends of duppies – spirits –
within C:ribbe:n communities c:n be tr:ced b:ck to West Afric:n Obe:h
beliefs surrounding de:th.

British pl:nt:tion owners forced their own Christi:n beliefs on ensl:ved

people in :n :ttempt to prevent them from rebelling. Ensl:ved people were
forced to convert to Christi:nity :nd :ttend church services on Sund:ys.
Services would oMen include sermons from the Bible :bout obeying orders.
Over time, Christi:nity w:s blended with Afric:n music :nd culture to cre:te
forms of religious expression such :s pr:ise singing :nd shouting, :nd : l:ter
genre of religious music, which bec:me known :s the ‘Spiritu:l’.

L'ngu'ge

M:ny pl:nt:tion owners :ttempted to reduce ensl:ved workers' ties to their

homel:nds to m:int:in order :nd obedience. However, one w:y ensl:ved
people resisted their situ:tion w:s through the surviv:l of their cultures :nd
l:ngu:ges. Histori:ns who h:ve :n:lysed the l:ngu:ge of the Gull:h :nd
Geechee people, who live in the southern st:tes of Americ:, h:ve found th:t
their l:ngu:ge fe:tures surviving :spects of Yorub:, : l:ngu:ge of modern-
d:y Nigeri:, :nd Wolof, : l:ngu:ge in modern-d:y M:urit:ni:, Seneg:l :nd
the G:mbi:. In J:m:ic:, there is evidence of Nigeri:n Igbo words such :s
‘Buckr:’, which c:me to refer to the white owner of the pl:nt:tion or the
other white employees.

In J:m:ic:, m'roon communities would spe:k Krom:nti, : l:ngu:ge

origin:lly linked to Ak:n, : region in West Afric:. As m:ny ensl:ved people
spoke different l:ngu:ges, over time m:roon communities developed their
own w:y of communic:ting using body l:ngu:ge :nd gestures. Over time,
communities used their own l:ngu:ge, which w:s mixture of Afric:n di:lects,
broken English :nd Sp:nish.

Music

Tr:dition:l Afric:n instruments were :lso re-m:de in the Americ:s using

c:l:b:sh squ:shes :nd other m:teri:ls. In the southern st:tes of Americ:, :
form of d:nce c:lled the Jub: involved p:tterns of cl:pping body p:rts which
replic:ted the w:ys in which drumming w:s used to confer mess:ges in
cultures such :s the Yorub: of Nigeri: :nd As:nte of Gh:n:.

During the 1739 Stono Rebellion in South C:rolin:, ensl:ved people used
rhythmic drumming :s : w:y to communic:te with one :nother. Following
the rebellion :n Act w:s introduced in 1760, outl:wing the use of drums by
ensl:ved people. A pl:que loc:ted in South C:rolin:, re:ds ‘The rebels
m:rched South tow:rds promised freedom in Sp:nish Florid:, w:ving fl:gs,
be:ting drums, :nd shouting ‘freedom.’

A modern Afric:n Americ:n musici:n uses : Shekere. Shekeres were tr:dition:l

percussion instruments used throughout West Afric:. They were :lso recre:ted by
ensl:ved people following their :rriv:l in the Americ:s.

M'rkets

The m:rket w:s import:nt :s it w:s :n opportunity for ensl:ved people to

sell produce, m:ke some money, soci:lise with other ensl:ved :nd free
people from different pl:nt:tions, sh:re inform:tion :nd h:ve some leisure
time, :w:y from the g:ze of their ensl:vers. M:ny of the rebellions th:t
occurred in the C:ribbe:n were linked to white offici:ls trying to cl:mp down
on or influence m:rket d:ys, which gives : sense of how import:nt they were
to people.

M'roon communities
On m:ny C:ribbe:n isl:nds, ‘m:roon’ communities developed. These
communities were m:de up of formerly ensl:ved people who h:d esc:ped
sl:very :nd lived freely :w:y from pl:nt:tions, oMen in mount:inous regions.
The term ‘m:roon’ w:s used by Europe:ns to describe those who esc:ped
from pl:nt:tions. However, Afric:n ‘m:roon communities’ would refer to
themselves using different terms, such :s “Ny:nkipong Pickibu,” which is
Gh:n:i:n for “Children of the Almighty.”

How were m'roon communities 'ble to grow in J'm'ic'?

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Surviv'l of knowledge 'nd skills

Afric:n techniques for b:sket we:ving were used :cross the Americ:s :nd
studies of surviving quilts m:de by ensl:ved women for their homes h:ve
been found to show evidence of West Afric:n designs :nd techniques.

In Nevis :nd J:m:ic: :rch:eologists h:ve :lso found evidence of Afric:n

style pottery close to wh:t h:d been the homes of ensl:ved peoples. Cooking
pots, pl:tes :nd other forms of pottery were m:de by h:nd using Afric:n
techniques. In J:m:ic:, y:bb: pots, which ensl:ved people m:de to cook
with, :re still m:de.

Knowledge of herbs :nd Afric:n medicin:l pr:ctices were :lso bought to the
Americ:s. For ex:mple, Guine: Hen Weed w:s used to stop :nim:ls getting
ticks :nd bitter cucumbers were boiled down to m:ke tonics.

Skills in :griculture were :lso used to provide extr: food. Ensl:ved peoples
worked on Sund:ys on their own sm:ll plots of l:nd growing sweet pot:toes,
y:ms :nd pl:nt:ins. Excess produce :s well :s pottery, b:sketwork :nd
quilting were sold :nd tr:ded :t Sund:y m:rkets :nd could be : w:y to s:ve
up to buy freedom.

Pottery sellers in the m:rketpl:ce of Bridgetown, B:rb:dos, in 1910. These pots would
h:ve been m:de using the s:me techniques brought to the C:ribbe:n from West Afric:
by ensl:ved people.

Open rebellions
Following the 1807 Abolition of the Sl've Tr'de Act, m:ny ensl:ved people
believed they would be gr:nted their freedom. The :ct m:de it illeg:l to buy
:nd sell people. It did not, however, provide freedom for those :lre:dy
ensl:ved. In response, :nd despite the punishment for open rebellion being
de:th, ensl:ved people regul:rly rose up in l:rge-sc:le :ttempts to
overthrow sl:very. In S:int-Domingue the ensl:ved popul:tion overthrew the
French :nd developed : m'roon community. There :re :lso m:ny
documented inst:nces of resist:nce :nd mutinies on the Middle P'ss'ge .
Over 50 inst:nces of mutinies were recorded between 1699 :nd 1845.

The H:iti:n Revolution, 1791-1804: From 1791, freed :nd ensl:ved Afric:n peoples in
S:int-Domingue rose up to overthrow sl:very :nd French control. Up to 20,000 people
fought :g:inst the forces of the French, Sp:nish :nd British, e:ch of which tried to cl:im
S:int-Domingue :s p:rt of their territory. They were successful :nd in 1804 S:int-
Domingue bec:me the free republic of H:iti. The im:ge shows Touss:int Louverture, :
prominent le:der of the H:iti:n Revolution.

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