Caribbean History/Studies

Prompt 3

The involvement of the British in the slave trade dates back to over 2,000 years ago. This can be seen around 54 BC, where Cicero writes about the British enslaving Julius Caesar. The British acquired slaves to provide labor. Most of these slaves were Negroes, and most of them were acquired during the war, captured by force, or could be sold by traders. In this paper, the focus will be investigating historical forces that challenge slavery in the British Caribbean region and also address the process that paved the way for the emancipation and established social order after the slavery.

Slavery experienced several challenges during its time in the European regions. Some of the historical challenges include the following resistance. It is without a doubt that slavery in Europe was contributed to by a significant number of people from the black race. And within Britain, the Negroes who formed the basis of slavery revolted against the British government, and this was evident in every corner that the British practiced this slave trade (Dumas 8). These slaves got support from religious leaders who saw slavery as a barbaric practice against human beings. The religious leaders empowered the slaves to stand up and express their needs to the British government. French revolution also contributed to the resistance of the slaves against the

British government. The revolution created awareness among slaves, and they started demanding for equality, and liberty (Dumas 12). An example of the revolt is that which occurred in Jamaica, Demerara, and Barbados, where their leaders stated it clear to the British government that they were not going to allow enslavement anymore. This exerted a lot of pressure and drawbacks to the British process of concurring.

Another historical challenge of slavery in the Caribbean is the change in economic interests. Changes in the economic interests contributed significantly to the abolishment of slavery in Britain. America gaining of independence in 1776 resulted in a decrease of British colonies since America opted to trade with countries like Dutch and French in the West Indies directly. The decrease was experienced in colonies like Barbados and Jamaica (Hayward 14). The British thus needed an increased number of slaves to ensure that labor provided in their territories. The change in economic interest paved the way for the industrial revolution. With the industrial revolution, it was apparent that the British no longer required labor from slaves to produce goods. The industrial revolution was associated with mass production, something that human labor was incapable of doing. Therefore it implied that the British needed to acquire another source of labor apart from slavery. The British government had to rely on machinery to provide labor, and this is the factor that led to the abolishment of slavery.

The other challenge experienced by Britain during slavery is the introduction of the slavery Abolition Act (1883). The act demanded that the British government should abolish slavery in most of its colonies, and this resulted in freeing of about 800,000 African slaves in the Caribbean and South Africa. The change in the system of international commerce implied that the British government should stop depending on the Caribbean slaveholding if it wanted to compete with lager plantation economies like Cuba and Brazil. Therefore the merchants started

pushing for free trade for the British markets (Hayward 87). The slave abolitionists speared headed the introduction of this act. The abolitionist saw slavery as an act of inhuman, and Britain needed to stop using the inhumane human labor. The abolitionist pushed for the implementation of this act, which led to the abandonment of slavery.

The process of emancipation and new social order was stirred by the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807 by the British parliament. The campaigners of the act were striving for the abolition of the slave trade within the British territories. The key players in this act were the politicians, religious leaders, and supporters of the Anti-Slavery Society. The movement gave women a voice where they were allowed to form associations like the Women's Anti-Slavery Association (Hayward 112). This association brought social order in the society as women were also seen to be fighting to end the slave trade across Britain and its territory. The anti-slavery association focused on promoting equality among the people of England regardless of one's color, and women were also to be part of it (Black Presence). Through these gender inequalities have been eliminated, both men and women have equal access to opportunities.

With the introduction of the slavery abolition act, almost all the slaves got a voice. After its introduction, some of the slaves became rebellious after they saw that the British government was not complying with the order. For example, over 13,000 slaves from Demerara joined rebellions in 1823 after the British refused to comply with the law (Black Presence). There were mixed feelings as individuals or planters who were pro-slavery continued to push for the practice to continue. The disagreement led to some violence between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery (Dumas 118). However, with all the violence, the anti-slavery emerged victorious because it was supported by Negroes, who wanted equal treatment as the whites. With this act, a social order