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Train tracks across which the train transporting sugar cane often went

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Train tracks across which the train transporting sugar cane often went

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Sugar cane and the sugar cane industry was one of the defining features of Caribbean nations. Much of our History is tied into the cultivation of sugar cane and production of sugar.  It can be argued that the Caribbean nations would not have the cosmopolitan societies they have now if it were not for 'King Sugar'.
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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia. "Missing Overhead Train Tracks" Claxton Bay, Trinidad". 2018.JPEG file

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Railway Switch with tracks buried under the pitch

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Railway Switch with tracks buried under the pitch

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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia." Buried Railway Switch". 2018. JPEG file.

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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."Buffer". 2018. JPEG file.

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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."Old Railroad Switch". 2018. JPEG file

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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."Railmaster Station Ste Madeline" 2018. JPEG file.

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Railway transportation aided the economy which led to the development of the country as people began to settle in organised areas close to the railway tracks. This aided in social and economic development as it allowed people get from one area to another easily.  The Trinidad Government Railway was dismantled in the 1960's.
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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."Old Train Station, San Fernando". 2018. JPEG file

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Background Picture:
von Langsdorff, Georg. Mission San Jose Natives 1806, Mission San Juan Capistrano: A Pocket History and Tour Guide (p. 5).

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Civilization -The railway systems were laid (1800’s to early 1900’s) through Trinidad reaching as far as Siparia and Rio Claro. These systems railway systems were important to the economic development of Trinidad as it perpetuated the Sugar Industry which was introduced during colonial times in the 1600’s.
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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."TGR Engine # 11, San Fernando." 2018. JPEG file.

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Was White bonded Labour a form of Chattel slavery?

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Was White bonded Labour a form of Chattel slavery?

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White Indentured Labourers were introduced into the Caribbean between 1652 and 1659.Some of this migration of Irish and English was forced and some was voluntary as they sold their labour for a period of time. These Labourers were bonded for four to five years and it was a contract. They were not treated well as they were underfed and overworked. They were allowed to be married. Children born to white indentured servants were free. White Bonded Labour was not sustainable especially since there was an uproar in England about the conditions of work.

West African slavery evolved into Chattel Slavery. Some of the enslaved were kidnapped and sold into slavery. All of the enslaved were to be slaves for their entire lives. Chattel slaves had no rights and were beaten and punished regularly. Rape was prevalent with many women being impregnated simply to ensure that the plantation had future slaves, and many men raped as punishment. Children born to the enslaved were enslaved. Chattel slaves  were often worked to death or killed during punishment.

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Chattel Slavery began with being a slave in West Africa. The West African Slavery was one whereby people got into slavery because they were unable to pay debts, war or drought made it difficult to care for their families. West African slaves were treated with respect. Their children were not automatically slaves and enjoyed all rights of a citizen. If they paid off their debts, the slavery ended.

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Pigmentocracy was practiced in the Colonial Caribbean with Whites being at the top of the social ladder and the dark slaves being at the bottom. Being lighter skin afforded the following “benefits”: Lighter skinned slaves were trusted more by the white master and were often given work in the house. They were rarely beaten. Their social status was higher than that of the darker enslaved who were given laborious work to do such as field and skilled work. However being in close contact to the white master left the lighter skinned enslaved at the mercy of the white master’s desires.

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Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church

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Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church

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Ethnocentrism – Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church was built in the 1800’ and is also of historical importance as a Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism was taught to the enslaved and the The Code Noir Regulations (1779-1784) gave them the Sunday after worship off. The enslaved native religious practices were discouraged and seen as pagan and inferior.
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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."OLPH, San Fernando" 2018. JPEG file

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Revisionism – The Catholic Faith is still one of the dominant religions in Trinidad and Tobago. The people of this country may have included parts of our culture in to the practice of this religion such as the celebration of Carnival and including drums during the worship, but for the most part, attitudes to religion mirrors what was brought here by our colonizers and this is reflected in our patriarchal culture and laws.
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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."Sign showing the history of OLPH, San Fernando". 2018. JPEG file

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Caribbean Nations add Spice to the World

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Caribbean Nations add Spice to the World

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Colonizers entered into the Caribbean with the three G’s on their mind. Gold, Glory and God.
The Imperial governments supported these expeditions for several reasons, bullionism – the drive to increase gold stores, mercantilism – the idea that there was wealth in trade, which led to colonialism- formal political control of invaded territories. There was also a drive to increase the membership of the Christian church because of the newly completed war with the moors. There was little gold to be found in the Caribbean so in the 17th century, the colonists turned to agriculture, cultivating crops such as cocoa( profitable in Trinidad but subseptible to disese and pests), ginger, indigo, tobacco and cotton and rearing of animals some of which were used to power windmills. These crops were exported and brought some wealth to these colonies at the cost of the native population of these countries who were almost made extinct through the actions of these colonists. However crops like cotton and tobacco could not compete on the international market as the production was small scale and the tobacco was inferior to that which could be found in the Americas

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Sampson, Lynette. " (UNIFIED) FOUN 1101 Caribbean Civilization Plenary 1"[29 January,2018] University of the West Indies

Mulchansingh, Vernon C. “A Model Approach to the Understanding of the Transportation Network of Trinidad, W. I.” Caribbean Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 3, 1970, pp. 23–51. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40653167

Fergu, Claudius. “The ‘Siete Partidas’: A Framework for Philanthropy and Coercion during the Amelioration Experiment in Trinidad, 1823-34.” Caribbean Studies, vol. 36, no. 1, 2008, pp. 75–99. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25613140.
Picture:
Many thanks to our willing tourguide Philbert Stanley whose father was railmaster. He and his family were proud of this aspect of history and took the time to show it to my family and I.
Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."Philbert Stanley". 2018. JPEG file

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My Family and I insid the Rail Master's Station

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My Family and I insid the Rail Master's Station

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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."Family". 2018. JPEG file

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Sugar production was a catalyst to economic development and the creation of wealth for the Colonizers. Sugar production required large plantations, a large supply of labour and a large capital investment for lands and equipment. . Sugar production made the Imperial countries great wealth. Wars were fought over the rich and fertile land of the Caribbean islands.  The cultivation of sugar led to the development of plantations and towns. Each colony had a form of government and laws which were enforced, often to the detriment of the enslaved. Trade between colonies increased even though it was forbidden if the two colonies were not governed by the same colonial power. There was also extreme competition to become the top sugar producer. Santo Domingo was followed closely by Barbados and then Jamacia. The small island of Tobago had numerous colonial powers fighting for the fertile soil.

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Now Abandoned Sugar Factory at St Madeline

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Now Abandoned Sugar Factory at St Madeline

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The end of the Slave Trade and Slavery,  and the rise of beet root sugar ,meant an end to the obscene profits of sugar production.
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Reid-de Gourville, Aurelia."Abandoned Sugar Factory". 2018. JPEG fil

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In my youth, when I was taught about Christopher Columbus, I learnt that he discovered the Caribbean islands. As time went by. I was taught that he rediscovered the Caribbean islands, that there were people living here when he arrived. These people I learnt were called the Caribs and the Arawaks. The Caribs were warlike and the Arawaks were peaceful.  I have come to realize how misinformed I was.

The Caribbean was home to many races before the advent of the Europeans in 1492. There were many tribes of Paleo Indians, who came across the sea from South America around 5000 BC, Meso – Indians came around 500 BC and created pottery,and then Neo- Indians also known as the Salodoid or Salodoid- ‐Barroncoid people who had thriving, organized  civilizations that existed on agriculture, trade and fishing. There were civilizied communities that existed in the Caribbean region before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492.  Although there were sometimes wars among the different tribes, wars can hardly be a measure of whether a tribe is civilized. Most of the historical accounts were written from the point of view of a male European and so in many cases did not reflect a true account of the past.

The article by Rex Nettleford cited above. Mentions that there was evidence of Africans in the Caribbean before 1492. He spoke about the Eurocentric view that existed in 1992 that civilization was a gift from them to the barbaric peoples that inhabited the Caribbean islands at the time of Columbus’ arrival.

I cannot agree with the idea that Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean or that the Caribbean was even a ‘New World’ which only experienced civilization after the arrival of Columbus.

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Worrel, Rodney. "1101 Caribbean Civilization Plenary 4"[19th February,2018] University of the West Indies

Allahar, Anton. “"Race" and Class in the Making of Caribbean Political Culture.” Transforming Anthropology, vol. 10, no. 2, 2001, pp. 13–29., doi:10.1525/tran.2001.10.2.13.

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Sampson, Lynette. " (UNIFIED) FOUN 1101 Caribbean Civilization Plenary 3"[12 February,2018] University of the West Indies

Mccook, Stuart. “The Neo-Columbian Exchange: The Second Conquest of the Greater Caribbean, 1720-1930.” Latin American Research Review, vol. 46, no. S, 2011, pp. 11–31., doi:10.1353/lar.2011.0038.

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Sampson, Lynette. " (UNIFIED) FOUN 1101 Caribbean Civilization Plenary 2"[5 February,2018] University of the West Indies

Nettleford, Rex. “Surviving Columbus Caribbean Achievements In The Encounter Of Worlds 1492-1992.” Caribbean Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 2/3, 1992, pp. 97–112. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40654183