White servants in the Caribbean

When we think of emancipation, we know we are thinking of a time when human bondage was an economic reality. Driven by avarice and greed, the New World was "opened up" on the backs of those who laboured. But it was not only Africans who were brought here and sold as slaves.

The Spaniards, the first Europeans in this part of the world, tried to meet their need for labour by enslaving the native tribespeople. They needed them to clear the forest so as to establish villages, farms and ranches. They needed them to search the rivers for gold and to dive for pearls. The native tribal people, possessing no concept of work or being made to work, drifted away. They were hunted down in the forest and killed. Others, losing interest in life, sat down and died. Thousands were tricked or kidnapped and taken away to other islands or to the main. Some rose in rebellion and were wiped out. Whole villages committed suicide. Within a short space of 100 years or so, most of the Arawak population in many islands had fallen victim to genocide. The settlements could not prosper without people. Food had to be grown, fields tilled, houses built. These new settlements in St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, Antigua, in Virginia and New England, all tried to obtain the workers they needed from the British isles.

There were many poor folk there who wished to try their luck overseas. Some were tired of the harsh laws of tenancy which put great power into the hands of the landlords and left them little better than the slaves. Many Germans were anxious to get away from a religious war between Protestants and Catholics that had gone on for thirty years, producing terror and suffering. The New World offered a chance of betterment. It seemed well worthwhile to sign a contract and serve a master for five or seven years. At the end of that time, one would be free and have a grant of land and some cash. Between 1654 and 1685, more than 10,000 people sailed from the port of Bristol alone. This was a large number, bearing in mind that the population of England was then only around 5 million. A steady trade developed in bond servants and when the supply of willing men and women fell off, kidnapping, child stealing and the transportation of prisoners became the order of the day.

Kidnapping increased, especially the kidnapping of children. The "spirits", as the kidnappers were called, frequented the streets of the sea ports and "spirited away" people, causing that term to come into common usage.

Dr. Eric Williams, in his account of this business, describes how "the captain of a ship trading with the West Indies would visit Clarkenwell House of Correction, ply with drink the girls who had been imprisoned there as disorderly, and invite them to go to the West Indies..."

Then, there were the convicts. At that time, a man who committed a trivial offense might be sentenced to death. He could be hung for stealing a horse or sheep, or for picking of pockets. We read a petition that a wife who had been sentenced to hanging for stealing goods worth 3/4 of one penny might be transported overseas instead.

In the wake of one of England's many wars with Scotland, a judge by the name of Jeffreys sentenced hundred of innocent men and women to be transported to the islands to work in the fields. So many were sentenced to be transported to Barbados, that the phrase "to Barbados a man" came into use. To this day, there are the remnants of two classes of people of European descent on that island, the descendants of the masters and those of the servants. Hence the term "bacra".

It is said that in slavery days on that island, the masters and their wives sat in the front rows of the church on a Sunday, the white servants and overseers in the back rows, and the slaves stood around outside. As the service came to an end, the masters left the church first, and the slaves of course took off their hats in deference, but as the servants and overseers started to come out, the word went round, "Back rows, back rows," and hats were replaced...

The condition on board the ships were bad, even for the captains, and horrible in extreme for the indentured servants. Up to 100 people were packed into small compartments. The hatchway was guarded by armed men who prevented them from coming up on deck for air or easement. The water was stinking and the rations were small. Dirt, excrement and urine transformed the ship into a pest house. Smallpox, fever and the plague killed many. Others were devoured by lice until they almost died.

When the indentured white servant arrived in these islands, he or she was sold. A man by the name of Ligon, who lived in Barbados from 1647 to 1650, said that the African slaves were better treated than the white servants, because the owner knew he had a bond servant only for five or seven years, and so drove him hard during that time. Those owners who were merciful treated the bond servants well, but "if the masters be cruel, the servants have very wearisome and miserable lives... Upon the arrival of the ship that brings servants to the island, the planters go aboard. Having bought such of them as they like, they send them with a guide to the Plantation. Being home, he commands them instantly to make their cabins. The next day, they are rung out with a bell to work at 6 a.m. with a severe overseer to command them... I have seen such cruelty there done to servants as I did not think one Christian could have done to another."

So as we mark emancipation, let us remember all of those who laboured in the fields of the Caribbean. 

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African Kingdoms

The vastness of the African continent contains many mysteries, not the least are those that surround the origins of the human race. Some of the world’s more spectacular and mysterious monuments built of everlasting stone are found in the majestic ruins of Great Zimbabwe and in the awesome grandeur of the great pyramids and the enigmatic sphinx.

Against these enormous panorama of Africa’s past, one glimpses outstanding empires and great centres of learning and technological advancement at a time when the future’s master civilisations were still in their infancies. The rise, decline and fall of bygone civilisations are now often obscure and in the realm of myth, barely defined under mountains of sand. The vast sweep of peoples the African continent contains, ranges from proto-stone age to the genius of those who had mastered the mysteries of advanced astronomy, mathematics and other sciences, wome of which have not yet been discovered by western man and are still considered by him as occult.

It is from this world that millions were snatched, stolen, sold, sent or banished over a period of close to 400 years to another continent an ocean away, never to return. It was their fate, their unbelievable misfortune to become enslaved. It was the destiny of their descendants to form a significant proportion of the New World’s population. Their descendants’ challenge is to view themselves as heroic survivors of this terrifying passage, and not as its victims.

The great West African kingdoms, in fact empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhay, were centres of learning, science, political order, social progress and trade. It was from this cradle that many of our people - in fact, half of the population of Trinidad and Tobago - have come.

In ancient days, the migrations of people escaping the encroaching desert established a state that was later called Ghana by the west - the word ‘ghana’ meaning ‘king’ or ‘leader’.

“The people who migrated into the country from all directions had every reason to believe that they were far enough into the interior to be free and secure at last in a kingdom that had never been conquered either by the forces of nature or of men,” writes Chancellor Williams in his book ‘The destruction of black civilisations’.

The history of this reign goes back into time to well beyond recorded history, and may be glimpsed from its lists of kings dating from a period before the Christian era. This list of some 44 rulers takes on back to a period of about 700 B.C. Some claim the founding fathers came following the trade routes from ancient Ethiopia, the mother of Egypt. And some havew speculated whether it was an outpost in the west of that empire.

The kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay were known as the ‘Land of Gold’ and had expanded their territories by both peaceful alliances and conquest. Its dependencies included Sama, Garantel, Gadiano, Galam, Diara, Soso and Tekrur. The empire was a vast source of gold, but was also famous for its iron mining and iron manufacture for more than 1000 years. Leadership in this industry made her dominant over less progressive peoples and provided the impetus for a powerful army with enough gold to equip and support it.

Williams describes the caravan trade routes to the north east, Ethiopia and Egypt, and concludes that this was the most important factor in the ever growing wealth of this nation. There were import and export taxes, a system of weights and measures and the control of inflation by limiting the supply of gold.

At its heart were the twin cities of Kumbi-Kumbi, built of stone, with mansions for the nobles, temples, mosques and schools. The great Niger river was the road for trade, travel and conquest.

The most famous schools were at Kumbi-Saleh and Djenne. The world renowned university of Sankore was at Timbuktu.

The agricultural economy was mixed: wheat, millet, cotton, corn, yams, cattle raising. The guilds or societies of craftsmen included blacksmiths, goldsmiths, stonemasons, water diviners, carpenters, weavers, dyers, potters and cabinet makers, to name just a few.

The chief exports were gold, ivory, rubber and slaves. Its imports were salt, textiles, cowqrie shells, brass, dates, figs, pearls, sugar and dried raisins amongst others.

Under the emperor Tenkamenin, the imperial army stood at 200,000, of which 100,000 were mounted and 40,000 were bowmen.

The changing climate conditions over the millennia would affect this great nation, drying up its lakes, causing its rivers to vanish and its people to disperse. This was followed by Muslim conquest. But the memory of its greatness, its majesty and its genius will survive forever.

The inheritors of this great tradition now live still in their African homelands. They also live on in these islands on the world’s western rim. You may glance their souls in the eyes of the children. You may hear their wisdom in the worlds of the elders. All you need to do is look and listen!

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