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WE DNE S DA Y , 2 4 A UG US T 2 0 1 1
African Slavery Prior to 1783, there were few African slaves in Trinidad. A plantation economy was virtually undeveloped here. Slavery, in fact, operated from a different perspective in early Spanish times in Trinidad. For it was from Trinidad that large quantities of tribal people (Arawaks and Caribs) were captured and transported to other islands, such as Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic), Jamaica and to various places on the South American continent. Just a few people of African descent lived here along with the Spanish colonists and the dwindling Amerindian population. It
E L E CTRO NIC ME DIA DIS CL A IME R
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has been remarked by chroniclers that the overall poverty that pervaded the island was such that there was hardly any difference between the Spaniards, their ‘mestizo’ and ‘zambo’ children and their slaves. Plantations began with the arrival of the French and other catholic settlers in the 1780s. Sugar and cotton began to be grown in quantity and the need for African slave labour grew rapidly. Africans arrived with their owners from the other islands. They were considered ‘seasoned’: first, second or even third generation-born in the Caribbean, might have made them immune to some tropical diseases. They were French or Spanishspeaking and well assimilated into the estate life of master and
GERARD BESSON'S ARTICL ES IN FI RS T MA G A ZI NE (FE A TURE D HE RE WI TH K I ND P E RMI S S I O N O F FIRS T MA G A ZINE )
History of the Oil Industry in Trinidad and Tobago Part 1 (2009) History of the Oil Industry in Trinidad and Tobago Part 2 (2009) History of the Oil Industry in Trinidad and Tobago Part 3 (2009) Trinidad's Raj (2009) Folklore of Trinidad and Tobago (2012) Sidney Knox and the Birth of the Conglomerates (2012)
servant. Many were highly regarded and considered ‘valuable’. Other slaves came increasingly out of Africa. They were often
ENJOYED READING THIS BL OG? G O TO THI S WE B S I TE !
sick after the sea journy. Some were not used to labour, others
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pined and died.
Other books by Gerard Besson
Professor Bridget Brereton of the University of the West Indies writes in ‘Book of Trinidad’:
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“African slavery and European colonisation in the Caribbean are
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inseparable. Africans and Spanish-born blacks arrived in the islands along with Columbus and the earliest Spanish settlers and enslaved Africans soon became the major work force for the mines, plantations and ranches established in the Hispanic Caribbean in the 16th century.” By the end of the 18th century, African slave labour would
RE V I E WS A ND P RE S S E CHO FO R BOOKS BY GERARD A. BESSON
The Cult of the Will
become the basis of the social and economic structure of these
TAKE A L OOK AT THE BIBL IOGRAPHY FOR THE BL OG
islands. After the British conquest of 1797, there was a dramatic
Bibliography
increase in the black population. At the time of the conquest there were some 10,000 slaves in Trinidad. By 1802, just five years later, there were 20,000. That year, the island was formally ceded to England and Trinidad’s first significant fortunes were made. By 1806, the slave trade was prohibited in the British Empire. This resulted in a gradual decline in the slave population up until 1834, when slavery was abolished by the British altogether. In this period, Trinidad’s African-born population came from a variety of areas. They were brought out of Senegambia in western Africa, to northern Angola in the south, to central Congo. Some people were islamic Mandigoes from sub-Saharan Africa.
ABOUT THIS BL OG
The articles on this blog were written by Gerard Besson for Trinidad Newsday in 2000/2001.
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It has been suggested that as late as 1813 the majority of slaves
October (38)
were African-born. This was somewhat unlike older colonies
September (46)
like Tobago or Barbados, where slaves had been imported at a
t August (72)
much earlier date and the slave population was already in their
Tobago
second or third generation.
Woodford's Years
In 1813, slaves from the Bight of Biafra formed the largest single
The Antique Saints of Trinidad
group (about 39%) in Trinidad. After 1834, as the older Africans
Nothing much has changed in 200 years
passed away, the balance shifted in favour of the Creoles, those
Banking Part Three
born in Trinidad and in the other islands.
The Lost Portraits
The relationship between masters and slaves was not always
Easter Special: The Missions
clear-cut. Many young Frenchmen with little prospects at home
Trinidad in the World View Part One
set out to make a fortune in the Caribbean. Taking advantage of the generous land grants and other encouragements being offered to them in the 1790s, they acquired slaves and cleared land and built the necessary infrastructure to set up sugar plantations. Hard work was the order of the day. Outnumbered by the slave population, the master had to depend on brute force and coercion on the one hand and on the other the real need to look after the health and upkeep of his most significant investment, his slaves. For land there was plenty of, but increasingly slaves were becoming a dwindling resource. Often plantations were bought up not for what they produced or for their acreage, but for their slave populations.
Life back then Head first through the Wall Tobago Stories San Fernando The History of Rum and Sugar Cane Part 2 The Illustrious Cabildo Longtime Days The History of Oil Part Three Chinese Immigration The History of Banking Part Two African Slavery
European women were also pretty scarce in those early years
Ti Jeanne's last laundry
(1770s - 1790s). Many relationships were formed between
Little Tobago
master and female slave. It is only through the wills of these
The History of Banking Part One
slavemasters that a true glimpse of the nature of these
The Queen's Park Savannah
relationship may be gleaned.
19th Century Carnival
Translation of the Will of Jean de Lampètre, a French
Reclamation of the foreshore at ‘Conquerabia’ and ...
planter who died at an early age on his estate at Marabella, 1821
St. James Police Barracks The History of Oil Part 2 Calypso - the Creation of a Creole Myth
(names changed) “In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit, etc. etc.
Obeah Story
I, Jean-Amard Marie Alphonse de Lampètre, commend my soul
Yseult's Flight
to God.
The History of Aviation Part 2 Early Aviation
I declare that I am the proprietor of the estate of Marabella in
Tobago's Chronology
partnership with Mr. Charles Burlington, and the estate called
A Question of Self-Respect
Union in partnership with Governor Picton, also in the estate in
The first oil well in the world
Grenada called Thelsaide.
The Pitch Lake
I wish that the Negro called Sampson and the two Negresses
Bunsee
called Jeannette and Marguerite be given to Messrs. Alysen
Raleigh
directing that they should sell the said slaves to the owner of best
Begorrat
repute in the island or give them the opportunity of choosing
Historical Tidbits
their own Master.
St. James in 1880
I declare that I have two natural children by the Mulatress Luce living at present in my house. The boy was baptised in Guyana on the 3rd April, 1792, under the name of Charles Barclay and the girl was born in this island on the 26th November last and baptised under the name of Marie-Anne.
Prices of Yesteryear Town Council Life before air conditioning Port-of-Spain's early city life San Fernando of the Purest Conception
I declare that I give to my Mulatress Eliza her liberty and my
Elma Francois
wish is that she enjoy all that is possible after my decease; I give
J.J. Thomas
to her fifty pounds portuguesas.
The Count Lopinot
I give to my Mulatress Magdelaine a negro named Jean Francis,
The first meridian of the New World
at present employed on Union estate.
Hummingbird
I give to the Mulatress Luce the sum of five hundred pounds portuguesas.
Lord Harris: Live and Learn! Fire, Riots and Disasters J.B. Philippe
I give to my son Charles Barclay the sum of one thousand
Valiama and Poleska
pounds portuguesas, which is to be paid to him on his majority
As Cool as Gokool
and which is to be guaranteed by all my properties bearing
The first mass media in Trinidad
interest at the rate of six percent for his upkeep and education.
Tobago's Folklore
I give to the girl Mulatress, Marie-Anne, his sister, the sum of three hundred portuguesas, which sum is to be paid to her at her majority and which is to be guaranteed by all my properties
The Early History of Tobago Streets and Forts Trinidad's Economy
bearing interest at the rate of six percent for her upkeep and
Jamette Society
education.
The History of Transportation Trinidad’s Folklore and Legends
I appoint for tutor to my above mentioned children M. Salvador
The History of Immigration
Dominic, my neighbour and friend.
The British pick a quarrel
I give to Governor Picton a cask of Madeira wine and a cask of
The Ciprianis - a family at the heart of the count...
rum which are at present in my store with his mark.
The Land of Beginnings
I give to the Mulatress Luce all my clothes and household
The Early History of Trinidad
furniture which have been declared to belong to me by the
The de Boissières
district police.
Keys to History Bibliography
(from ‘Book of Trinidad)
2008 (3) 2007 (8)
A note on the origins of slavery The institution of slavery has been a part of the human condition
LABELS
from very early in recorded history. From biblical times it is
1789 (1)
recorded that the Egyptians made slaves of the Hebrews. The
1790 (1)
entire Greek civilisation was founded on economic leverage
1st October riots (1)
provided by slavery. At first, the Greeks mostly enslaved each
A Free Mulatto (2)
other, but later, as their empire expanded into Asia, the
A. A. Pierre (1)
Mediterranean basin and north Africa, their slave population became quite cosmopolitan.
A.P.T. James (1) Abolition of slavery (4) Adrian Cola Rienzi (2)
Following the Greeks, the Romans too possessed a vast slave
African culture in the Caribbean (4)
population, many of them Greeks. Educated and multi-talented,
African Slavery (8)
they often served to improve their masters. The Germans enslaved their neighbours of the Slavonic tribes, the ‘Slavs’ from whom the term ‘slave’ originated.
Africans (1) Africans in Trinidad (3) Afro-Franco culture (1) agricultural workers (1)
From the early 14th century, continuing almost to present times, considerable numbers of slaves were brought out of Africa
agriculture and livestock in T&T in the 1950s (1) Albert Gomes (3)
across the Sahara to Muslim countries in North Africa, and from
Alexander Grey (1)
there to other Islamic states in the Middle East. Fr. Anthony de
Alexander Selkerk (1)
Verteuil notes in his book ‘Seven Slaves and Slavery’ that as late
Alfred Codallo (1)
as the 1950s, there were over half a million slaves, mainly
American independence (1)
African, in Saudi Arabia.
Amerigo Vespucci (1)
Slavery assumed significance to us with the arrival of Europeans
Amerindian Names (1)
in the New World. Its origins in this context had to do with the
Amerindians (4)
Portuguese explorers, making their way along the west coast of
Amerindians in St. Vincent (1)
Amerindian culture (1)
the African continent, seeking routes to Asia. The first African slaves were brought back to Lisbon in 1441 by the navigator Gonzalves. They were a gift to the King. With this mindset in place, the European exploitation of an entire continent, its people
Amerindians in Trinidad (5) Ancient tribes of Trinidad (2) André Beddoe (1) Andre Cipriani (1) André Marie Ampère (1)
and its primary resources was set in motion. This produced the
Andrew Phillips (1)
most significant displacement of people against their will seen in
Angelo Bissessarsing (1)
modern history until Joseph Stalin did the same thing to various
Angostura Limited (1)
peoples in central Europe in the 1920s and 30s, sending millions
Anne Marie Lindbergh (1)
to perish in slave camps in Siberia. Amongst those who suffered were the Slavic people - the ironies of history are very seldom lost.
Anne Palmer (1) Anthony Sabga (2) Arawak (3) Architecture in Port of Spain (2)
As historian de Verteuil states:
Architecture in Trinidad (4)
“Between 1530 and 1600 an average of 13,000 slaves a year
Armorial Ensign (1)
were shipped to the Americas. The number doubled in the 17th
Arnos Vale Waterwheel (1)
century, touched 70,000 a year during the course of the 18th
Arthur Count Dillon (1)
Ariapita Estate (1)
century and soared to 135,000 per annum.”
Aruacs (1) Ashton Warner Byam (1)
It has been estimated that approximately 12,500,000 slaves were
Aviation (2)
exported out of Africa. This does not take into consideration the
Banking in Trinidad (2)
numbers of those who died on the journey.
Barclays Bank (1)
By the 1720s, the process had become more selective. Cargoes
Basanta family (1)
shipped from Ghana of 600 slaves were organised so that two
Battle of Rockly Bay (1)
thirds were males and one third females. Six seventh of each
Begorrat (1)
Barrister (1)
cargo had to be between 16 and 30 years of age, one seventh boys and girls of which none should be under 10 years of age. The records show for Liverpool merchants in 1789 that slaves exported (that is, abducted) from Africa were as follows:
Belgian Blackstone (1) Belmont Estate (1) Belmont Tram (1) Belmont Trinidad (2) Benoit Dert (2) Benoît Dert (1)
”Total exports for the year 74,000; the British 38,000; the French
Betty Stiven (1)
20,000; the Portuguese 10,000; the Dutch 4,000 and the Danes
Bhadase Sagan Maraj (2)
2,000.”
Black Caribs (1)
Subjects of African kingdoms became slaves in various ways in
Blue Mountains (1)
Africa itself too. Sometimes they were enslaved as a penalty for
Boa (1)
a crime or as recompense for a debt, sometimes travellers may
Book Reviews (1)
Black Power (1)
have been caught by local warlords and sold. People in outlying districts were kidnapped. Great kings received thousands of slaves as tribute. Throughout west Africa, slavery existed. It was,
Borroughs (1) Bridget Brereton (3) Brigadier Thomas Gale (1) British (3)
however, as a result of tribal wars that the vast quantity of
British Empire (5)
prisoners were sold as slaves to Muslim traders, who in turn sold
British in India (1)
them to the Europeans. These wars were often fought mainly for
British in Tobago (1)
the capture of slaves.
British in Trinidad (2) Bromwell Booth (1)
In 1813, there were 11,633 slaves in Trinidad who were
Brunswick Square (2)
described as ‘Creole’, that is born in Trinidad or other West
C.R. Ottley (1)
Indian territories. There were 13,984 slaves born in Africa and
Cabildo building (2)
brought to Trinidad. Amongst these were 2,863 Ibo from
Cabildo hall (1)
Nigeria, 2,450 Congo, 2,240 Moco, 1,421 Mandingo, and 1,068 comprised of the peoples of Komantyn, Fanti and Ashanti. Other tribes such as Horuba, Haussa, Fulani (Peul), Rada and Susu made up the remainder in smaller numbers. In total, some 25,696
Cadiz Road (1) Calypso (2) Calypsonian Spoiler (1) Canadian Mission (1) cane farmers (1)
slaves made up Trinidad’s slave population in the decade before
Cannes Brulee Riots (2)
emancipation.
Cannes Brulées (1) Capitalism and Slavery (1) Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani (6)
Slave Uprisings
Capuchin Priests (5)
In the period following the establishment of the plantation system
Carib (5)
in Trinidad (1783) and especially after the dramatic and
Carib Wars (2)
devastating events of the slave uprisings in Haiti, the planters
Caribbean (1)
grew increasingly afraid in Trinidad. Already, there had been the
Caribbean and Southern Steamship Co. (1)
Caracciolo family (1)
terrible effects of poisoning on many estates. Not only slaves had fallen victim of poisoners, but also overseers and sometimes the children of the master and one of his favourites.
Caribbean Folklore (5) Caribbean history (1) Caribbean Society (1)
Rumours of a planned uprising spread. A conspiracy was meant to wipe out the slave-owning population of Trinidad in one go. Over the years it has been suggested by some historians,
Caribs (3) Carnival (1) Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago (1) carnival riots (1)
however, that this was not so much a conspiracy halted ‘in the
Carriacou (1)
nick of time’, as much as it was a preemptive measure mounted
Carter family (2)
by planters who were hysterically afraid for their lives and a
Cedula of Population (20)
British administration only too eager to impose authoritarian rule.
Celeste Rose Peschier (1)
It would appear that some sort of plot was planned for Christmas
Champs Elysées (2)
day 1805. Historian E.L. Joseph in his ‘History of Trinidad’
Champs Fleurs (1)
(1838) calls attention to this plot and states that “the revolt was to
Charles Conrad Stollmeyer (1)
have commenced on Shand’s Estate. It appeared to have originated among some French and African Negroes.”
Celim Cunningham (1)
Charles Hugon (1) Charles John Walker (1) Charles Kingsley (1)
In Fraser’s History, mention is also made of this terrible incident.
Charles Lindbergh (1)
He points out that the slave population was some 20,000, while
Charles Warner (1)
the slave-owning, white and free coloured inhabitants were half that number.
Charlie King (1) Charlotteville (1) Chevalier de Jobal (1)
History tells us that the authorites acted by declaring martial law and moved swiftly to apprehend those involved. As it turned out, the slaves had organised themselves into various societies. This was not unusual as in their African homelands there were many such secret groupings, denoting advancement into maturity and initiation into tribal rites.
Chevalier de Johal (1) Chief Justice (1) Chinese in Trinidad (2) cholera epidemic (1) Christopher Columbus (4) Churches in Tobago (1) Cipriani (2)
In the context of Trinidad’s slave society, where members of various tribes were mixed and mingled on plantations for
Cipriani Boulevard (1) citrus (1) CLR James (1)
security reasons, these groupings or societies of Africans
Coblentz (1)
continued, but had assimilated European systems of order and
Cocoa economy (5)
designation. The slaves started to give themselves names such as
cocoa estates (1)
‘Major’ or ‘Captain’ and described their societies as ‘Regiments’.
Cocoa in Trinidad. French Creoles. De Verteuil (1)
By His Excellency Thomas Hislop
Cocoa industry in Trinidad (2) cocoa pagnols (2)
Proclamation of Martial Law in Trinidad
Cocoa panol (1)
(abridged from the Barbados Mercury and Bridgetown Gazette, February 1st, 1806)
Coconut in Trinidad (1) Cocrico (1) Code Noir (1)
“Whereas there are strong reasons to apprehend that this Colony is threatened with internal dangers from the nefarious
Colonial Bank (3) Colonial Hospital (1) Colonial Life Insurance Ltd. (1)
machinations of ill-disposed negroes and slaves in this community: And His Majesty’s Council of the said Island having recommended me to adopt the masure of Martial Law.
Compagnies de Cordelier (1) Compagnies de Mallet (1) Company Villages in Trinidad (1)
All persons must suffer temporary and individual inconvenience for the general welfare of the community. Notice is hereby given that the several patrols will be ordered to take up all negro and
Congo (1) Conquerabia (1) Conquistadors (1) Conrad Stollmeyer (1)
other slaves, who shall be found in any of the streets of Port of
Corps of Blacks (1)
Spain, after eight o’clock at night and to lodge them in security
Cosmo Damien Churruca (1)
during the night. Such negro or other slave who may be found to
Cotton (1)
have offeneded against any of the ordinances now in existence
Count Alessandro Giuseppe Anastasio Volta (1)
will be immediately punished with death, or otherwise, according to the regulations of the siad ordinances. All such negro or other slave attempting to escape from the patrols will be
Count Lopinot (2) Court (1) credit societies. (1)
immediately shot. All persons concerned are therefore required
Creole proverbs (1)
to make the same known to their several slaves.”
Cricket in Trinidad (1) Crop over (1)
Punishment of persons found guilty of conspiracy in
Crown Colony (2)
contemplated insurrection of slaves
Cuba's struggle for freedom (1)
(abridged from the Barbados Mercury and Bridgetown Gazette, February 1st, 1806)
Cyril Duprey (2) Dahomey (1) Daniel Defoe (1)
Roo - Colonel in the Cocorite Regiment to have both his ears cut off, to receive as severe a flogging as the Surgeon attending may think he can bear without injuring his life, and to be banished from the Colony, not to return to it under pain of death.
Daniel Hart (2) Davis family (1) de Berrio (1) de Boissière (3) de Gannes family (1)
Bastian - Colonel in the Sans-Peur Regiment, Carenage, to receive one hundred lashes and to be returned to his owner, first having an iron ring of ten pounds weight affixed to one of their legs, to remain thereon for the space of two years.
De Montrichard family (1) Development of Tobago (1) Devenish family (1) Diego Columbus (1) Discovery of Tobago (1)
Adelaide Dison - alias Buzotter, free woman - Queen of the Macaque Regiment, to work in chains for life, with an iron ring of ten pounds weight affixed to one of her legs.
Dog River (1) Dominican Sisters (1) Don Antonio de Berrio (2) Don Antonio Sedeno (3)
P O S TE D B Y G E RA RD A . B E S S O N - CA RI B B E A N HI S TO RI A N A T 9 : 1 7 A M
Don Carlos Diegert (1) Don E.S. de Liñan (1)
L A B E L S : A FRI CA N S L A V E RY, S L A V E RY I N THE CA RI B B E A N
Don Felix Espinosa de la Monteros (1) Don Sebastien Ruez de Apodaca (1) Don Simon Agostini (1)
1 COMME NT :
Doña Marie Beatrice Bay (1)
Danie Nagassar said...
Donald Stewart (1)
The information presented in this blog was very informative and
Down the Islands (1)
student friendly for the Caribbean History student.Additionally, the
Dr Richard Mercer (1)
information helps the reader to understand the conditions which
Dr. Arthur Jennings Humphrey (1)
the enslaved individuals had to endure before they were
Dr. Jean-Baptiste Philippe (5)
emancipated.
Dr. Philip Sherlock (1)
M ON M AR 1 6 , 0 1 : 5 1 : 0 0 PM GM T -4
Dragon mas (1) Dragon's Mouth (1)
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A B O UT ME
G E RARD A. BE S S O N - CARI BBE AN HI S TO RI AN P O RT O F S P AI N, TRI NI DAD, TRI NI DAD & TO BAG O
Archivist, Artist, Curator, Folklorist, Historian, Publisher, Researcher, Writer V I E W MY CO MP L E TE P RO FI L E
