The first part of the course will be blogged here at CaribbeanAgri.blogspot.com For the next five weeks you are expected to visit this website and participate in the discussion and activity that occurs. Each week a question will be posted. You, the student, must use your critical thinking skills to give an insightful and in depth answer of 250 words. In order to do this you should:
- Attend your lectures.
- Read the supporting material
- Utilize the web resources posted on the blog
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To submit your answer:
Submit your answers by leaving a comment under the Question of the Week. To submit:
- Under each post you will see the link to "Comments" Click it.
- A comments box will appear prompting you to "Post a comment"
- Underneath this space you will see "Comment as" with a drop down menu option next to it.
- Click the down arrow and a menu will appear. Select "Anonymous"
- Enter your answer in the comments section using the following format:
Name
Student ID
Once finished and reviewed, click "Publish" and your done.
You are free to post on a previous comment. Simply indicate which comment you are referring too. Exercise proper etiquette while posting. Obscene language, Capital letters and other improper behaviour will not be tolerated.
Any questions please email me at keron.bascombe@my.uwi.edu
To begin, after the true indigenous inhabitants were annihilated, colonizers introduced the ‘plantation system.’ This system was a productive as well as an economic one as it was developed to extend the European empires. The West African slaves were then introduced since this system called for the use of labourers. The plantation system consisted of a hierarchy which had social structures with rigid patterns of stratification and where social mobility was limited. This hierarchal structure comprised of the masters, overseers and slaves in that order. This system was chiefly based on race, colour and other ascriptive characteristics. During the period of slavery, these slaves were oppressed, deprived of their cultural identity and their human rights. Moreover, one of the main aspects of this system was the dehumanization of the African people. The slaves were considered ‘chattel’ and hence they were not paid for their labour.
ReplyDeleteSlavery was abolished in 1838. Many of the slaves refused to return home and hence seeked refuge in the mountainous areas around the plantation. These lands in which they occupied were referred to as ‘marginal lands,’ which was mainly hilly, infertile, and lacked a proper irrigation system. The ex-slaves didn’t have much of a choice since the rich fertile land was already occupied. When these ex-slaves started to multiply, they divided their lands and distributed it to their offspings into fractions as low as ¼ acre per person; these descendants, in order to survive used this land to produce cash crops. The land started to lose its quality and value since slash and burn practices made it uncultivable and exhausted. The present situation in the Caribbean today is due to the depletion of soil nutrients and it could have been avoided if these slaves had co-operated and fought for their human rights.
STEPHANIE JAGDEO
812001988
The “Plantation System” was fashioned by the Europeans as new agricultural form. West African slaves were imported to work on these plantations since there was a shortage in labour. The plantation was almost a little community by itself. The plantation was hierarchical with a rigid system of social stratification where the owners had a higher status or authority above the slaves who had little or no rights. It was comprised of masters, overseers and slaves. The slaves were considered “chattel” denoting they were perceived as the owner’s personal property. The slaves were forced and did almost all the work, which was done by hand labour for little or no wages on vast tracks of land. Slaves were deprived of their cultural identity and their basic rights as human beings. During the civil war great changes occurred such as the freeing of the slaves. In 1838 slavery was abolished. Descendants of the slaves lived in the outskirts of the plantation in mainly mountainous areas since most slaves rejected the proposal to return home. The land in which the ex-slaves planted was marginal, infertile land as the rich land already belonged to their ex-masters who they refused to work for. The ex-slaves divided their land and allocated it to their offspring into fractions. Because of the quality of the land, it became exhausted quickly due to practices such as slash and burn. The descendants used the land to produce cash crops solely to survive. A restriction was that the ex-slaves didn’t have any rights to the land on the plantation and therefore had to settle for depleted land or work for the plantation owners which they refused to do. Since plantations needed labourers to work on the land ex-slaves could’ve exploited the owners into making some sort of bargain for better standards of living.
ReplyDeleteRODERICK MOHAMMED
812002027
Caribbean slave plantations were organized units that utilized a large number of closely supervise laborers in producing a main crop, for example sugarcane, to make sugar for export. There existed on the plantation a master and overseers to supervise the slaves.
ReplyDeleteToday, Caribbean work ethics is different from the work ethics on the plantation long ago. This difference may have been influenced by the treatment of our fore-parents on the plantation. Our fore-parents were driven and whipped to work on the plantation; hence agricultural field work is looked down upon today. People may see field type work as slave type work and their attitude to agricultural type work may be described as ‘lazy’ with an unwillingness to work. This even with mechanization and automated systems that can be used to make field work easier.
Slaves were powerless and had ‘no’ rights; they had to work on the plantation. Emancipation has given Caribbean people a voice in which to say ‘massa’ days done, so we work at our leisure rejecting capitalist imposition of work routines. Many farmers have part-time jobs and use the remainder of their time engaged in planting mainly cash crops, being ‘massa’ unto themselves.
A Laborer could have taken advantage of the plantation system by being a more-skilled worker than other slaves, therefore moving up from the intense work in the field to a less laborious job. Also, if a field slave understands the language of different slave tribes, he would have the ability to translate what other slaves were saying, which now puts him in a higher position in the plantation system. Finally’ if a laborer is hard-working and discipline he could achieved upward mobility to a house slave, where he gets the better of everything as opposed to the field slaves on the plantation.
Shelly Ann Mohammed
811004118
You very good job in outline the reason why agriculture is stereotyped
DeleteMitch Jnocharles
peasantry is a major factor when looking at modern Caribbean agriculture today.During slavery when the plantation system was popular, the slaves were taught farming skills, though through force. After slavery ended, thenow free slaves retreated to the hills to eke out an existence. The nutrient lacking land and difficult terrain made for hard planting, and farming grew difficult as year after year more and more nutrients were drained out of the soil. Some of thee freed slaves adapted to the conditions and continued to struggle. Others however worked for the whites until they could afford to purchase small plots of land to build their houses ,start families and begin planting again. These lands were more fertile and yeilded better results than the hillsides did. Some were not allowed to purchase lands,however, and remained in bondage as farmers were unwilling to give up their cheap labour. Also,the islands were faced with the problem of natural disasters. Some,like Grenada,were hit with powerful hurricanes like Ivan. Others,like Martinique were plauged with volcanic activity. these disasters not only destroyed infrastructures, but also devastated farmland and crops.
ReplyDeleteclevon Oliver
812003824
peasantry is a major factor when looking at modern Caribbean agriculture today.During slavery when the plantation system was popular, the slaves were taught farming skills, though through force. After slavery ended, thenow free slaves retreated to the hills to eke out an existence. The nutrient lacking land and difficult terrain made for hard planting, and farming grew difficult as year after year more and more nutrients were drained out of the soil. Some of thee freed slaves adapted to the conditions and continued to struggle. Others however worked for the whites until they could afford to purchase small plots of land to build their houses ,start families and begin planting again. These lands were more fertile and yeilded better results than the hillsides did. Some were not allowed to purchase lands,however, and remained in bondage as farmers were unwilling to give up their cheap labour. Also,the islands were faced with the problem of natural disasters. Some,like Grenada,were hit with powerful hurricanes like Ivan. Others,like Martinique were plauged with volcanic activity. these disasters not only destroyed infrastructures, but also devastated farmland and crops.
ReplyDeleteclevon Oliver
812003824