HOW DO THE CARIBBEAN

PEOPLE RESPOND TO OPPRESSION?

OPPRESSIONOppression is the

experience of repeated, widespread, systemic

injustice. It need not be extreme and involve the

legal system (as in slavery, apartheid, or

the lack of right to vote) nor violent (as in

tyrannical societies).

What Really happened Between 1662 and 1807, Britain

shipped 3.1 million Africans across the Atlantic ocean in the transatlantic slave trade. Africans were forcibly brought to British owned colonies in the Caribbean and sold as slaves to work on plantations. Those engaged in the trade driven by the huge financial gain to be made both in the Caribbean and at home in Britain.

They constantly rebelled against slavery right up until emancipation in 1834. Most spectacular were the slave revolts during the 18th and 19th centuries, including: Tacky’s rebellion in 1760s Jamaica, the Haitian Revolution (1789), Fedon’s 1790s revolution in Grenada, the 1816 Barbados slave revolt led by Bussa, and the major 1831 slave revolt in Jamaica led by Sam Sharpe. Also voices of dissent began emerging in Britain, highlighting the poor conditions of enslaved people.

How Were They Oppressed1 When taken to work on the

plantation they lived in huts in the slave villages which were very unsanitary and poor living conditions.

2 Their punishment were cruel and severe, flogging and beating became part of their everyday life.

3 They were given crowded barracks, meagre wages long hours of heavy manual labour.

Slaves Being Punished

There were three ways in

which they resisted

oppression

Non-violent Resistance They refused to work

They evade workThey deliberately lose their tools They behaved like they did not understand instructions given to them by their mastersThey made songs to mimicked the masters lifestyleThey committed suicide

MarronageThey ran away from the European societyThey waged war in the form of a attacks, raids and inspiring rebellion on estates

Violent ResistanceThey acted against the whites in groups They rebelled against them The revolution in Haiti mushroomed into war between France and the slaves in 1791 the slaves being victorious.Fedon’s 1790 revolution in GrenadaThe Barbados slaves revolt lead by Bussa

Now lets look at Jamaica and how they deal with oppressionMany of the Jamaican national heroes such as Paul Bogle, George Williams Gordon and Sam Sharpe all spoke out against oppression in Jamaica.

Paul Bogle, Sam Sharpe and

George Gordon

Paul BogleOn Wednesday, October 11, 1865, Paul Bogle and a large group of people from Stony Gut and surrounding districts in the Parish of St. Thomas, Jamaica marched down to Morant Bay. Their purpose was to make a demonstration before the Custos and magistrates who were having their regular meeting in the Morant Bay Court House that day. They wanted the authorities of their parish to know that they were no longer prepared to put up with injustice, with arbitrary arrest and with all the other indignities that sapped their self-respect and prevented them from attaining the full status as free people.

Sam SharpeSam Sharpe told the slaves to sit down and do no work until they were paid. He said he never wanted them to fight, many slaves followed Sharpe’s plan. He believed that all slaves should be freed.

George William Gordon

George urged the people to protest against and resist the oppressive and unjust conditions under which they were living.

Today Caribbean people today continue to resist oppression through music and song – reggae and similar movements in Jamaica music orientated among the poor and oppressed and so too did the Steel band and Calypso in Trinidad and Tobago.