CARIBBEAN HISTORY

Caribbean history

Introduction

The Caribbean was once a centre for European ambitions in the New World. Its history is spiced with tales of dashing pirates, slavery, and revolution. Caribbean Islands were once of great importance to the world, and the shaping of its history. Now, the small islands are poor, and no- one seems to care about them. They have almost become a backwater, but they remain interesting. Senior lecturer in history at the University of Canterbury, Trevor Burnard, has a special interest in the Caribbean. It was the first place he went to teach. This term he will give an eight-week course, Pirates, Planters, Slaves, and Revolutionaries, as part of the university's continuing education program. ``The Caribbean is rich in history, and its history hangs over it like a cloud,'' he says. ``It was a meeting place for cultures. Europeans were on the make. Africans were on the move. Indians were struggling to stay. ``The Haitian revolution, in 1791, was the only successful uprising by black people. The Caribbean was once so important that in 1763 the English negotiated with the French for the control of Canada or Guadeloupe, a Caribbean Island. ``No-one these days would compare the island with Canada. About the only relevance the Caribbean has today is in sport and music. It has many ``what ifs'' in its history, he says. Its fortunes started with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Its decline started in the late 18th century with the American revolution and the abolition of slavery. The final episode was the Cuban revolution of the late 1950s.

The rich history of the Caribbean provides us with a vast array of insights on some of the most intricate of issues that have been kept secret for over 400 years. Studying the Creole society, its evolution and the colonization of the Caribbean at the time of slavery explains how much change has been brought to the world. Important as European expansion, slavery, the plantation system and the deracination of Africans unquestionably are; it is now generally recognized that the conjoint participation of different peoples, not least those from Africa, produced from a very early time a distinctive African-American or Creole culture(Williams.E.1974).

The American, British and African perspectives mostly overlook the contributions of the Caribbean in their own history. The history of these regions has been changed completely due to the colonization and slavery that took place over 400 years ago. (Samuel M. Wilson.1999)

Discussion

The emphasis on a common rather than a plural culture involves an attachment to a 'homeland' as well as a sense of social identity, thereby sharply distinguishing Caribbean people from expatriates. It was the innumerable every-day practices of these progenitors, slaves and freed people, Africans and Creoles, throughout the political process of Caribbean history, that made this nationalist claim possible. Their daily struggle was, and continues to be, the central dynamic of Caribbean social history. The Creole-society studies have contributed to our understanding of Caribbean cultures and societies by drawing attention to the creative activities of ...