Caribbean history - Research Paper Example

Preceding the European invasion, Caribbean region was densely inhabited with millions of native people. The period starting in 1492 realized a sudden influx of explorers that caused the natives to almost face a total extermination. Following this period, only a few native Indians survived, most of who relocated to the mountains far from European control (Beckles, & Verene, 3- 6). Here they intermingled with Africans escapees and other colonial rebels. The speedy decline of native Caribbean matched with the initial importation of slaves from Africa.

Trans-Atlantic slave trade played the greatest role in these relocations, as it brought close to 11 million Africans to the Americas. Out of these African slaves, over 40percent were taken to the Caribbean were they greatly shaped the region's culture and population. This work explores the gradual changes that characterized the Caribbean slave societies as they struggled to oppose their enslavement and secure their freedom. The purpose of this paragraph is to detail various modes of resistance developed in plantation societies by field, domestic, and skilled slaves as well as the evolution of maroon societies.

African fight against enslavement and captives’ revolt against the slavery conditions were a common reaction. According to the enslavers, ‘slaves were notoriously lazy and ill disposed to labor’ which suggest daily resistances as ubiquitous. (Beckles, & Verene, 12)The forms of resistances depicted by the enslaved Africans included: runaways, day to day resistance, adaptation and conspiracy. ‘RUN AWAYS’ Taking off was considered a common and most frequent act of resistance displayed by the enslaved throughout the slavery era in the Caribbean.

In taking off, slaves in this region peacefully opposed their enslavement. This presented a gross mistake of subordination in the eyes of the slave masters who regarded every successful escape as serious failure in security. In addition, the act of running away depicted erosion of discipline which was established to maintain control and order among the enslaved. ‘Run aways’ caused the slave owners serious inconveniencies, while on the other side carried no negative implication on stability of the slave society (Beckles, & Verene, 65).

In essence, ‘run aways’ served to deny the enslavers the much needed labor and at the same time signal those who remained behind to assert their power , thought to have significant impact on economic activities. The fact that all enslaved peoples needed freedom above all other things is no secret; the only puzzle remained on the issue of how one would accomplish such a desire. Individuals who successfully ran from their captures later came together on their own to form what is commonly referred as maroon communities (Engerman, Seymour and Robert, 23). . DAY –TO- DAY RESISTANCE The purpose of this paragraph is to detail on day –to –day resistance as a tool used by the slave societies to fight against their enslavement.

While slaves taking off from their enslavers publicly showed their opposition to the status they were in, fellow slaves who choose to remain continued with other forms of resistance. These different approaches to opposition were shown throughout the slavery era on a daily basis. Most of them were hard to identify as intentional owing to their subtle nature. Many of these actions were