African Diaspora In Jamaica
Jamaican Diaspora
Slavery in Jamaica was very hard and had come out of nowhere for the indigenous people of the island. Under the command of Penn and Venables the English had captured Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655. In 1662 there were only 400 slaves on the island, but as the cultivation of the sugar cane had been introduced the population of African Americans had grew to 9,504 by 1673. The population of slaves just kept increasing on the island because of more labor demand. The colonists were impressed with the performance and endurance of the Africans, as well as the fact that African labour was cheaper and more promising.
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African Diaspora in Jamaica
Resistance to slavery
As the indigenous people had become more debilitated to the tasks, they were told to perform they started to rebel against the English. Examples of these jobs were, including the poisoning of animals and owners, and sometimes turned it against themselves by committing infanticide, self-mutilation and suicide. It was not unusual for slaves to absent themselves from enslavement for a few hours or a few days, regardless of the punishment they might receive on their return.
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“The Abolition Project.” Case Study 4: Jamaica (1831) - The Rebellion: The Abolition of Slavery Project, abolition.e2bn.org/resistance_54.html.
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