Awareness of the horrible conditions of Caribbean slavery and the constant struggle for freedom among enslaved people has been part of Emancipation Day observances. How did the ex-slaves respond to their newfound freedom? Who comprised this oppressed group? They belonged to a diverse group and also followed different religions.
Few persons are aware that not all Africans or those of African descent were enslaved before 1834.
During 1839–1849, an estimated 10,300 free Blacks from Grenada, St Vincent and Barbados migrated to Trinidad. This island also received 8,000 liberated Africans from the United States, Sierra Leone and St Helena.
In 1805, a cargo of slaves from inland Africa arrived in Trinidad. Anthony de Verteuil noted that “They were Mandingos, ‘followers of Mohammed the prophet’ and had been enslaved by ‘infidels’, that is, by one of the pagan tribes, and sold to a slaver on the coast. Among them was Jonas Mohammed Bath, who was the Sultan of Yalliallhad.”
Who were these Mandingos? They were one of the first tribes in West Africa to accept Islam. They originated from Senegambia. In the April-June 2009 issue of The Message (a publication of the United Islamic Association in England), there is an article on Islam in the Caribbean. The first group of enslaved Muslims originated from West Africa and was from the Fulani and Mandingo tribes. The article stated, “They were very devout Muslims, and in spite of the harsh and inhuman conditions under which they were forced to work, they practised their religion as best as they could under the circumstances....Neither could physical violence nor mental torture succeed in causing them to give up Islam in favour of the religion of their masters.”
Barry Higman, an academic, noted that by 1813, about 10 per cent of the slaves imported into Trinidad from Africa were Mandingos. These Mandingos settled in Port-of-Spain and Moruga. In a public lecture in August 2007, Bridget Brereton noted that leaders of the Mandingo community were “well-educated as boys in Africa, were literate in Arabic, and came from high-status families.” These Mandingos also submitted a petition to Britain demanding their return to Africa.
It is important to note that the Mandingos were part of a group of Africans who were free before the Emancipation Act became law. The second group of free Africans was the Merikens.
These were formerly enslaved Africans in the United States who had fought with the British forces in the War of 1812, which ended in 1814. After the war, most of these free Africans arrived in Trinidad and settled in areas which soon became known as Company Villages.
These communities were around Princes Town and in south Trinidad. The final group of free Africans comprised those who served in the West Indian Regiments. These units were created when Britain was at war with France from 1793 to 1815. The members of these regiments had to defend Britain’s West Indian colonies. After the war ended, these men and their families were given lands in the areas of Cumuto, Valencia and Manzanilla. Many of our African brothers and sisters have a colourful and varied past that extends beyond Trinidad.
Various factors contributed to the eventual freedom of enslaved Africans. Forms of passive resistance included avoiding work by pretending to be ill, working at a slow pace, deliberately injuring themselves, allowing the ‘chigga worms’ to remain in their feet, which caused them to limp, and reopening old wounds.
Disobedient and stubborn slaves, particularly those involved in active resistance, endured horrible punishments, including having body parts cut off. Some suffered a gruesome fate as they bled to death. The enslaved who were deemed guilty of planning revolts or poisoning the planters or fellow slaves were murdered. Of course, the Christian planters who committed these atrocious acts were never jailed or fined because the slaves were their property. This was part of the genocide.
After slavery ended, many freed Africans were reluctant to return to the plantation. Ivar Oxxal noted, “The former Negro slave disdained estate field labour as symbolic of an inferior status, a perception perhaps encouraged by the presence of numbers of free Negroes already ranking higher on the social scale.”
Malcolm X once said, “History is a people’s memory, and without a memory, man is demoted to the lower animals.” Today, young persons seem reluctant to read their history. Hopefully, a few of our filmmakers in the Caribbean would increase awareness by producing movies depicting the trauma of the slave trade, the cruel life on the plantations and the struggles that resulted in freedom.
