transformations and connections ii
UNIT 4: Belize in the Atlantic System up to 1838
4.1 Explain what it means to be enslaved.
WHAT IS AN ENSLAVED PERSON?
An enslaved person is owned by somebody else. A person is enslaved if they do not have personal freedom to move, decide who to work for or choose what work to do. An enslaved person is not usually paid, or paid a fair amount, for the work they are forced to do. An enslaved person is often subject to brutal and violent discipline inflicted by their owners.
An enslaved person is owned by somebody else. A person is enslaved if they do not have personal freedom to move, decide who to work for or choose what work to do. An enslaved person is not usually paid, or paid a fair amount, for the work they are forced to do. An enslaved person is often subject to brutal and violent discipline inflicted by their owners.
On form of modern day slavery is human trafficking. This is a serious problem for Belize.
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Human trafficking also referred to as modern day slavery, is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person by means of threat or use of force or other means of coercion, or by abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability, or by giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Belize Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2013 |
4.2 Outline the geographic and economic features of the Trans-Atlantic trade system up to 1807.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
By 1700, most of the Americas had been turned into colonies of the major European countries. Spain controlled most of Latin America apart from the east coast of Central America and the northern part of south America. The Caribbean islands were mostly divided between Britain, France, Spain, The Netherlands. In North America, there was competition for control between Britain and France although in reality, their control was limited to the east coast.
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KEY QUESTION: Some Europeans became very rich from the slave trade. Why do you think this was so?
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4.3 Describe the occupations, treatment and family life of enslaved people in Belize up to 1838.
Slave Work
At first, slaves were first brought to Belize to work in logwood camps. Logwood camps were small and temporary. Some whites would use only one or two slaves to cut logwood. Larger camps might have around ten people, including Miskito Indians that acted as guides. After 1770, most slaves were no-longer involved in cutting because it had become much harder to make money from it. Instead, slaves worked in extracting mahogany. Mahogany camps were more permanent and larger than logwood camps. The whites and slaves would spend several months each year in the forests in gangs of between ten and fifty people.
Some of the specific job slaves had in the mahogany camps were:
Foreman who was the slave in charge or organizing the work of the camp;
Huntsman who surveyed and searched the forests to find mahogany trees
Axeman who cut trees using a heavy exe, usually by standing on a springy platform more then ten feet above ground level. This was highly skilled, hard and dangerous work.
Trimmers who cut felled trees into smaller, square trunks.
Other Jobs
A slave register from 1834 listed the numbers of slaves doing the following occupations: Woodcutter (795); Washerwoman (161); Waiting boy or girl (155); Domestic Servant (129); Chambermaid (117); Seamstress (53); Drudge (30); Labourer (38); Carpenter (48); Sailor (13); Cattleman (10); Footman (9)
At first, slaves were first brought to Belize to work in logwood camps. Logwood camps were small and temporary. Some whites would use only one or two slaves to cut logwood. Larger camps might have around ten people, including Miskito Indians that acted as guides. After 1770, most slaves were no-longer involved in cutting because it had become much harder to make money from it. Instead, slaves worked in extracting mahogany. Mahogany camps were more permanent and larger than logwood camps. The whites and slaves would spend several months each year in the forests in gangs of between ten and fifty people.
Some of the specific job slaves had in the mahogany camps were:
Foreman who was the slave in charge or organizing the work of the camp;
Huntsman who surveyed and searched the forests to find mahogany trees
Axeman who cut trees using a heavy exe, usually by standing on a springy platform more then ten feet above ground level. This was highly skilled, hard and dangerous work.
Trimmers who cut felled trees into smaller, square trunks.
Other Jobs
A slave register from 1834 listed the numbers of slaves doing the following occupations: Woodcutter (795); Washerwoman (161); Waiting boy or girl (155); Domestic Servant (129); Chambermaid (117); Seamstress (53); Drudge (30); Labourer (38); Carpenter (48); Sailor (13); Cattleman (10); Footman (9)
Information for this section came from Colonialism and Resistance in Belize by O. Nigel Bolland.
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4.4 Examine the impact of colonial control practices on the inhabitants of Belize up to 1838.
4.5 Examine the methods used by enslaved peoples in Belize to resist enslavement and improve their living and working conditions.
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Slave Resistance in Belize
Enslaved Africans were owned by their masters and could be beaten for disobedience. However, slaves did not have to entirely accept the situation they were in. There were various actions they could take to improve their conditions and resist their masters. These included:
There were slave revolts in Belize in 1765, 1768, 1773 and 1821. |
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