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Identify and name collection of old artifacts in your community or museum and provide photos of the material you find there. Explain, what you believe are the messages the collection conveys about the Caribbean. In your explanation consider how these artifacts relate to concepts such as:

Civilization

• Ethnocentrism

• Revisionism

• Defining the Caribbean

The theme for my collection is History of Caribbean Structures. The following are three of the many  important buildings found in Trinidad, I've chosen these because, in my opinion, they add historic value to the country and ultimately the Caribbean.

The Red House Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The Red House was built by Governor Col Sir Henry MacLeod on February 15th 1844. Since then the building would have undergone some major reconstructions but approximately three years ago during one of is reconstructions, bones and artifacts were discovered buried under the building. Upon investigation by archaeologists it was announced that the findings had indeed belonged to the early Amerindian civilization in Trinidad. This is a good example of the concept of revisionism because this new discovered allowed the history of the Caribbean to be revised and possibly rewritten as new discoveries emerged. From this new discovery the one off republic day was given for the First Peoples and a monument would be established when the Red House is finished reconstruction. The history defining the Caribbean would have been revised in other to acknowledge the Amerindians civilization that existed in Trinidad. Like many of the histories told from other perspectives, being androcentric or Eurocentric, the history of how long and where the Amerindians were in Trinidad may have been told from an ethnocentric perspective.

Freedom Hall Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

Formerly known as Milner Hall, is the oldest residence on the St Augustine campus which was named after Alfred Milner. Recently the history and background of Alfred Milner was revised and discovery emerged of his involvement in the “genocidal European imperial project in Africa which brutally wiped out a large number of ethnic groups while plundering resources using forced labor” (Newsday Prof. Beckles).  Alfred Milner initiated the Second Boer War along with the African with the promise that they will regain the land they lost to the European, Milner succeeded although he did not honor his commitment and referred to the African groups as “primitive savages.”  This new acknowledged discovery has refined Trinidad and Tobago history about who really was Alfred Milner and his role he played in the writing of history.

References

"Ancestors remain at Red House." Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. October 14, 2017. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://newsday.co.tt/2017/10/14/ancestors-remain-at-red-house/.

"Amerindian bones found at Red House dig site." The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper. April 06, 2013. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-04-05/amerindian-bones-found-red-house-dig-site.

"The Red House: 150 years of history." The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper. February 25, 2013. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-02-17/red-house-150-years-history.

"Prof Beckles: UWI must change Milner Hall name." Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. October 10, 2017. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://newsday.co.tt/2017/10/11/prof-beckles-uwi-must-change-milner-hall-name/.

Author, Nation News. "UWI St Augustine's Milner Hall to be renamed." Www.nationnews.com. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/101971/uwi-st-augustine-milner-hall-renamed.

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Activity 2.1          "Columbus Discovered the Caribbean" 

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Activity 2.1          "Columbus Discovered the Caribbean" 

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The statement that Columbus discovered the Caribbean may be misleading. The least educated to the most wide read, know that there were early settlers in the Caribbean before Columbus arrived. The first people who the Paleo- Indians, Meso-Indians and Neo- Indians who migrated from Central and South American around 5000 to 500 B.C. These tribes were the first to discover the Caribbean although, they had no knowledge about geography but they were only in search of good settlement land. Columbus however, was the first to discover these tribes and give a name to the area. Due to his influence, he was the first make the Caribbean known to the Europeans. Thus, Columbus was the first to record the existence of the Caribbean and its first inhabitants but he wasn’t the first to actually discover the islands. Of course, since the first settlers weren’t seen as powerful or important they were completely disregarded and only seen as invaders. Columbus could not discover what was already discovered. It can be said though, that Columbus rediscovered the Caribbean but he didn’t even know he was in the Caribbean.

How accurate is it to describe the earliest inhabitants of the Caribbean as primitive and to state that the “New World” only experienced civilization following Columbus’s arrival.

To describe the earliest inhabitants of the Caribbean as primitive would be moderately accurate when looking at the earliest Caribbean people from the modern perspective. They were primitive with their lack of modern tools and way of living and so too it can be said about describing their civilization. It is inaccurate to say that they were uncivilized because to them, at that time, they were civilized considering they didn’t have anyone to compare themselves to, they lived comfortably with what they had. To say that they only experienced civilization following Columbus’ arrival is saying that they were uncivilized before and this is inaccurate because we are comparing to completely different cultures.

references

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After the failure of the system of white bonded labor to effectively contribute to the

development of a thriving sugar economy in the Caribbean, Africans were transplanted from

West Africa to the Caribbean.

a. Was bonded white labor equivalent to chattel slavery?

b. In what ways did the practice of Caribbean chattel slavery differ from traditional West

African slavery?

c. Do you think that skin color provided benefit within Caribbean slave society?

Bonded white labor was not the equivalent of chattel slavery. The former recognized the slave as a person with rights and a property, the structure of slavery was legal and very different from the chattel slavery seen on the plantation and they were not traded as a commodity to be worked to death. The majority of the enslaved person came about due to war, being accused of criminal activities, inability to pay off loans, being accused of witchcraft. These slaves were values as social beings and most were skilled in agriculture, craft, domestic activities etc.

The chattel slavery differed from the traditional West African slavery in that the chattel slavery had no laws that kept them from implementing cruel acts toward the slaves and as far as they knew they slaves were bought and so they could have done anything they wanted with them. The laws that were made were out of bare need and were biased since the Europeans themselves made them and slaves were excluded therefore they had no say in the making of these laws. The chattel slaves were seen as property therefore they would have been raped, murdered, sold and traded without consequences. It sought to strip the slaves of their dignity and had the intention of breaking the slave was human beings. The children inherited the slave status and became slaves themselves. All the slaves were taken from their land never to remain alive, they worked on the plantation until they died or were murdered.

It is know that the plantation was a hierarchical system of color and race with the black African plantation workers at the bottom and white masters at the top. Women born from white masters and black African mothers had better chances of being manumitted, they worked as domestic/ house slaves, ate and dressed better than field slaves that consisted of black African. Although, they had less personal freedom than the field slaves since they worked in very close proximity to the masters, so they were more exposed to their brutality and would be raped and beaten more frequently. Also the house slaves were worked 24/7 and were rarely allowed to interact with other slaves and family members, they were also ostracized by the field slaves because they were viewed as traitors for working so closely to the masters. So skin color did provide some benefits in the Caribbean slave society but also had its bad side; they were domestic slaves, sex slaves and mothers.
References

Dr Rodney Worrell, “Beyond the Rivers of Babylon” Lecture: Caribbean Studies (St. Augustine, February 27, 2018).

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“Neither freedom nor enslavement”. How apt is this an assessment of the apprenticeship period?

This statement is very accurate to describe the apprenticeship period. The ex-slaves were given some sort of ‘freedom’ but it very little changed. They weren’t properly informed of the change and still made to work in the brutal conditions. The ‘apprentices’ were made to work forty hours a week and were beaten, whipped or imprisoned if they refused, the planters found their own ways to still dominate the system and over work the apprentices without having to pay them for their extra work. If the planter decided that the work done was not satisfactory he would have the apprentices work with wages, the still excised their power against the ex-slaves. The apprenticeship period was one that presented very changed from the slavery period, the slaves still had no freedom; it was even illegal for them to leave the planation on their free time unless permission was granted by the planter or magistrate. The magistrates were frequently agreed with the planters on their dealing with the ex-slaves. The apprenticeship period was just a pretense to continue slavery and for it to be looked at from a better angle.

46. THE APPRENTICESHIP PERIOD. Accessed February 28, 2018. http://www.guyana.org/features/guyanastory/chapter46.html.

"Http://www.avensonline.org/fulltextarticles/JSUR-2332-4139-S1-0001.html." Journal of Surgery, 2015, 01-07. doi:10.13188/2332-4139.s100001.

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The end of slavery | Apprenticeship: slavery by another name? | Freedom from slavery | Against Slavery | Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery | PortCities Bristol

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The Emancipation Act of 1833 came into effect on 1 August 1834. It was the final law to be made in the campaign to end slavery in British territories . The new law freed immediately those slaves under the age of six years old. Older slaves were to be 'apprenticed' for up to eight years.