Jamaica Research Paper

Slavery and plantation life in the British colonies were especially complex systems when compared to those in areas under Latin rule, and historically have played a large part in molding more modern lifestyles on the island. One can understand many modern social structures by looking into the history of Jamaica and how the large role of sugar and other plantations shaped the island into what it is today. By looking at the historic social structures on plantations in Jamaica one can begin to make sense of the rebellious nature and sense of identity that formed and led to the almost constant stream of rebellions and revolts that took place.
The plantation system can somewhat be characterized as a total institution in which the life of the slave was completely controlled by the planter (Higman, 1). The plantations in Jamaica dominated their own territory and represented “a kind of isolated state with the ingredients for the development of a creole perception of community and sense of place” (Higman, 1). With regard to the idea of “complete” control, however, it is important to note that the large degree of absenteeism among plantation masters or owners led to the appointment of overseers to supervise the slaves; these overseer’s laziness led to “a relaxation of tyranny outside of the work situation” which meant slaves

could do more undetected and begin to carve out a life of their own within the plantation structure (Patterson, 93).
Jamaica was the first island in the West Indies to utilize the provision-ground system as the main way to supply it’s slaves with their subsistence and it was the island in which “the system was most highly developed,” likely in part due to the large degree of relaxation with regard to slave activity outside of the work period (Patterson, 216-217). The slaves were allowed to use their provision grounds, which were allocated by the planter, to produce their own food in their own time and were permitted to sell their surplus in the internal market of the island (Higman, 3). By about the middle of the eighteenth century, almost the entire population of freepeople were dependent on the slaves not only for their labor which was the base of the economic system, but also almost all of their vegetables and cash crops (Patterson, 216).
Due to the isolated state of each plantocracy aforementioned, and the “enforced relative immobility” of the slave population, kinship networks developed within the confines of the plantation settlements (Higman, 300). The kinship seen among plantation societies were both fictive and biological; they provided support as well as a sense of identity that linked individual slaves who often yielded from different countries, held different beliefs, and spoke different languages, together (Higman, 292-293). The formation of these strong bonds of friendship and ultimately kinship between African individuals initially began on the slave ships as individuals made their way through the Middle Passage, and continued on within the plantation society (Patterson, 150).
The family group structures on the plantations were constantly under attack. Males and females faced different difficulties with regard to relationships and familial structures within the plantation society; both faced the risk of being separated and sold, marriages were not recognized on the island, and women were often exploited sexually by white men (Higman, 115). To a remarkable extent, however, the “families of slaves held together and created the cement that molded the slave population into a community with a sense of identity and idea of its place in the world” (Higman, 115). Nuclear families were not the familial structure found in Jamaica, both historically, and often times still today, as there was a risk that their small unit would be torn apart. Instead, family ties were extended, and continued to change over one’s lifetime with the inclusion of more individuals, and sometimes the loss of others.
The slave plantation system gave women opportunities to use and exploit her sexuality to her own advantage. Slavery in Jamaica, has been claimed to have ultimately led to “the breakdown of all forms of social sanctions relating to sexual behavior” and it has been said that “in no other area was the degrees of sexual abandonment so great as in Jamaica” (Patterson,159). Due to the fact that all slave women were the property of the master,control they could exercise with regard to providing protection or offering any advantages which “led to the complete demoralization of the Negro male” (Patterson, 167). This loss of masculine pride and the development of irresponsible parental and sexual attitudes that resulted can be seen throughout Jamaica today (Patterson, 168).
The relationships between the African slaves and their creole counterparts is also important. On the plantation individuals who were lighter skinned or mixed were recruited to work within the household, and were viewed as “superior” to the blacks (Patterson, 59 & 64). This concept of color is seen at all levels in Jamaican slave society, however the high or low status assigned to each individual based on skin tone “was merely a reflection of the attitudes and estimation of the masters” (Patterson, 65). The household slaves formed a “kind of slave aristocracy” due to their value and proximity to the master when compared to the field slaves (Patterson, 65 & 57).
The relationship with the overseer and the slave was also a key feature of Jamaican slave society. The overseer was feared but not respected, and ultimately the slaves viewed him as an “enemy never to be trusted, an to be foiled at every opportunity” (Patterson, 173). The slaves often expressed their resentment toward the overseer by stealing from him, it was said that “to pilfer from their masters they consider as no crime” for “when a slave makes free with his master’s property, he thus ingeniously argues- ‘what I take from my master, being for my use, who am his slave or property, he loses nothing but it’s transfer’” (Patterson, 222). The Jamaican term Quashee likely stemmed from this relationship as a stereotype of the slave, yet it held some small kernel of truth or at least became a self fulfilling prophecy (Patterson, 179). Ultimately Quashee describes an individual who is cunning, crafty, artful, capricious, childlike, revengeful, deceitful, and over-reaching (Patterson, 175-177).
The relationship between slave women and their children was unique as well. Due to the demoralization of the male slaves as mention previously, the women became the dominant and often times the sole factor in rearing children (Patterson, 168). Trying to balance the extreme requirements and mistreatment of slave life as well as caring for infants and eventually children led to a excessively high death rate among children between 0 and 4 years of age (Patterson, 111). Over time the women on the plantation, especially creole’s, developed and held onto “anti-breeding” attitudes and were unwilling to bear children (Patterson, 111-112).
When a child was born on the plantation it faced almost ritualized neglect (Patterson,154). Women held an attitude of resignation toward children during their first eight or nine days, and often times the child was not changed or fed until after this period had passed (154). Despite this neglect children were also viewed by their parents as a form of security (Patterson, 169). Ultimately the child faced a “combination of extreme cruelty and great love and affection” that is found in parenting in Jamaica still (Patterson, 168).
These anti-breeding attitudes led to problems in maintaining the slave population in Jamaica without further supplying it from outside.

The slave population of Jamaica, unlike other areas often times failed to reproduce itself and thus slaves from Africa were continuously having to be brought in (Patterson, 275). Prior to 1807 slave-owners “regarded buying slaves rather than breeding them as a necessary practice” (Morgan, 231). During the eighteenth century Jamaica alone imported 575,000 Africans in an attempt to increase the enslaved population, but due to the high mortality rate the population only increased by approximately 250,000 (Morgan,

231).
This constant influx of African’s led to some complications that are not seen in other plantation areas. The basis of the creole society that formed in Jamaica was initially laid down by Africans who arrived against their will and were enslaved on the island, once this creole slave society was established, however, it then formed the main host society for the constant and newly arriving slaves from Africa (Patterson, 145). The high proportion of African slaves, who had at one period of their life been “free”, led to a greater tendency to revolt (Murdoch, 2009: 70-71). As a result of this increased tendency to reveal, it can be said that Jamaica, unlike many other places during this time harbored a culture “born in resistance” (Patterson, 258).
Another feature of Jamaican society that further enabled the increased instances of revolts and rebellions was the “numerical insignificance of the whites” which led to a “fear regime” (Patterson, 93). This ratio of masters to slaves enabled the slaves to go frequently undetected and therefore several times historically there was “a wider resistance which only rumbled under cover until such times as a leader, with a plan and an ability to recruit and organise the disaffected, rose into action” (Hall, 50).
Due to these two factors, “rebellion, or the threat of it, was an almost permanent feature of Jamaican slave society” (Patterson, 266). One of the largest and more well known of these rebellions is The Baptist War of 1831-1832, which is also known as the Christmas Rebellion; it continued for two weeks and involved anywhere from 20-50,000 slaves (Higman, 262). The motive behind the rebellion was the false belief that freedom in Jamaica had been granted by the queen but was being withheld by the planter class (Smith, 2009:48). The result of the Christmas Rebellion was the death of at least 200 slaves and 14 whites, a loss of property values at £1,132,440 and the execution of 312 slaves (Higman, 262). This rebellion showed clear evidence of detailed planning on the part of the slave population months prior to the revolt, and a use of networks of communication to execute the plan (Higman, 262-263). Two other rebellions during this period are the Argyle War and The War in August which were not as successful because information was leaked to the planters ahead of time and therefore the slaves were unable to mobilize as effectively (Higman, 260 & 287).
Ultimately Jamaica is unique in that it is one of the rare times in which human society was artificially created using people who were moved to a society against their will, for the sole goal of making money using it’s plantations (Patterson, 9). This tumultuous beginning continued throughout the islands history as the large slave population clashed with the small yet strong planter class. Historically the planter’s attitudes toward the slaves and their rebellious nature “oscillated between extreme hysteria and unbelievable smugness” (Patterson, 276). The character of the slave society of Jamaica appears to have been built out of toughness and resistance, while simultaneously holding both biological and fictive kinship in high regard.