The Spanish had soon developed a strong monopoly in the Caribbean that was legitimized by a Papal Bull, the Treaty of Tordesillas. The then Pope, Pope Alexander VI, constructed a decree that divided the new world in half between Portugal and Spain. Spain received exclusive control of the of the Lands of the West while Portugal received exclusive control of the lands of the East. However, as these two countries begun to amass large sums of wealth other European countries rejected the Papal Bull and started to challenge the monopolies so that they too could acquire a share of the wealth. Subsequently, a number of attacks were directed towards many Spanish colonies, those that were deemed valuable like Cuba were well fortified while others like Jamaica were poorly guarded. Therefore in the year 1655, the British snatched the island of Jamaica from the Spanish with ease.
Cheap sugar cane was then becoming popular in Europe and the new settlers decided to take full advantage of these new developments by utilizing the island of Jamaica. Lacking the necessary labour needed to effectively run large scale sugar farming the British turned to the continent of Africa, specifically West Africa, to acquire cheap slave labour. Large gangs of African field labourers were herded, branded and brought to the island to serve as new labourers. The rise in demand for sugar cane in Europe prompted and maintained the demand for cheap African slave labour.
As the years progressed billions of enslaved Africans were brought to the island of Jamaica to work on the sugar plantations. The treatment of the enslaved Africans was not at all any less severe than it was for the Tainos; in fact it was far worst. The British was very innovative with the methods that they used to coerce the enslaved Africans. However, resistance from the Africans was strong and revolts frequent. Each successful revolt fuelled their burning desire to acquire freedom. Resistance to slavery was not only active in the form of revolts but also passive in the form of resisting mental slavery and dehumanization. Once slaves were arrived on the plantation the undertook an orientation process where they were forbidden to practise any the culture they left behind, music, language and religion were all forbidden . They were taught christianty and English by holding on to something that could be used as a constant reminder of who they were which was their culture.The slave masters also attempted to teach the enslaved English but due to the informal way in which the enslaved Africans were forced to learn the language they developed a hybrid form of the language by incorporating words and phrases of their native dialects so as to better understand the language. The enslaved Africans too held on tightly to aspect of their culture such as their music, food and oral tales of the MotherLand, Africa.
As the years progressed billions of enslaved Africans were brought to the island of Jamaica to work on the sugar plantations. The treatment of the enslaved Africans was not at all any less severe than it was for the Tainos; in fact it was far worst. The British was very innovative with the methods that they used to coerce the enslaved Africans. However, resistance from the Africans was strong and revolts frequent. Each successful revolt fuelled their burning desire to acquire freedom. Resistance to slavery was not only active in the form of revolts but also passive in the form of resisting mental slavery and dehumanization. Once slaves were arrived on the plantation the undertook an orientation process where they were forbidden to practise any the culture they left behind, music, language and religion were all forbidden . They were taught christianty and English by holding on to something that could be used as a constant reminder of who they were which was their culture.The slave masters also attempted to teach the enslaved English but due to the informal way in which the enslaved Africans were forced to learn the language they developed a hybrid form of the language by incorporating words and phrases of their native dialects so as to better understand the language. The enslaved Africans too held on tightly to aspect of their culture such as their music, food and oral tales of the MotherLand, Africa.
Gradually with the rising number of slave revolts and persecution from humanitarian groups slavery lost its profitability. As a result of this the slave trade was ended in 1807 followed by the abolishment of slavery in Jamaica in 1834. However with the abolition a new form of slavery emerged in the society in the disguise as apprenticeship. With apprenticeship the former enslaved Africans were told that inorder to be properly prepared for the workforce they must be apprenticed This was in a sense an strategy used by the former slave masters to have a steady supply of labour until they could fully stand on their feet. However, the horrify memories of life on the slave plantations deterred a number of former enslaved Africans from returning to the plantations and only a few returned while others sought employment opportunities elsewhere. The low yield of returning labourers and mistreatment of the system contributed to his quick end in 1838 and full emancipation was granted to the enslaved Africans.
A drawing depicting a Slave Revolt
