Slavery In Jamaica And The United States

Slavery has had an ubiquitous and almost universal role in nearly all ancient civilizations. More recently, in the Americas, slavery has played a role in the economic development of several countries such as Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica and the Untied States.

Its major benefit has been the economic advantage it gave to the slave owners and the major contribution it has made to the economic development of the countries in which the slave owners lived.  In the cases of Jamaica and the United States of America, major differences in the way the system was administered would have made no difference in its overall impact on the economies and, above all, on the social life of the people enslaved, neither during the period of slavery nor in the societies that developed after its abolition.  For example, Absenteeism was a major factor, which accounted for differences in the ownership and management of plantations in the two countries.  However, Absentee or resident ownership and management would have made no difference and did not reduce the impact of the dehumanizing and demoralizing treatment meted out to black slaves.  These differences in the system in either country amounted to no reduction in sexual exploitation, the erosion of family and religious values, the removal of individual rights and freedom from persons who were nothing more than the legal property of persons who had the legal right to buy and sell them.  Wherever there were differences, it was to the further disadvantage and the increase in suffering among the slaves themselves.

 Slaves planted the crops and helped build the roads upon which they were transported as well as many other things. The cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane harvested by slaves became important exports for the United States and Jamaica. The money generated by this trade was mostly used to support the minimal subsistence of the slaves and expand the lifestyle of the slave-owners.  While Absenteeism accounted for no differences in the social status or wellbeing of enslaved (or formerly enslaved) Blacks, it was responsible for a major difference in the economic benefits in the two countries.  This is so because in the United States the owners and managers, who were, in the main, recipients of the economic benefits, were resident and these economic benefits accrued to the United States.  In Jamaica, however, the owners of the plantations and the companies engaged in shipping and marketing were mainly resident in Britain.  As a result, the wealth created in Jamaica was exported to Britain, contributing significantly to the development of that country and the corresponding impoverishment of Jamaica.  It is a legacy whose impact is being felt right up to the present time.

The importation of slaves into the United States was banned in 1808, by which time about 300,000 had been imported. Subsequent slaves were nearly all born in the United States. By 1800, nearly all slavery in non-southern states had been banned and was on the road to being abolished in the South. Once the cotton gin had been invented in 1793, cotton became the main cash crop of the South and slavery became the backbone of the southern oligarchy and their plantation life style. Slavery in the United States also had important political implications. During the westward expansion of the United States during the early and mid-1800s, many Northerners, thoroughly detesting the institution of slavery, tried to prevent its expansion into new territories and new states entering the Union. Attempts by the North to exclude slavery from these lands angered the South and helped bring on the American Civil War in 1861.

There are broad arrays of effects arising from the adoption of slavery. Slaves provided a relatively cheap source of labor. To hire non-slave workers would have been more expensive, as the early experience of using English indentured workers in the United States demonstrated. In the end, slavery in the United States was abolished after a Civil War that cost over 600,000 lives. Slavery was abolished in August 1st 1834 ending over 300 years of slavery on the Island .  The actual slave trade had already been abolished in 1807, and the system allowed for a four-year Apprenticeship period so that the real Emancipation took place on August 1, 1838.

The most consequential and dominating element in Jamaica slave society was that of absenteeism. This element was at the core of the structure of the Jamaican slave community.  Between 1625 and 1792 most plantation owners resided in England, leaving incompetent and evil overseers to manage their estates. In some cases wills were made leaving an entire slave community attached to an estate to someone residing in England, who had never seen or visited Jamaica.  Residents of England who inherited estates in Jamaica and refused to give up their extravagant life to live on the Island had no direct link with enslavement in Jamaica, thus for this reason, the numbers of absentee owners continued to increase.

Similarly, absenteeism was also an element of enslavement in the United States; however, the extent was not as profound as in Jamaica.  For instance, the Good Hope slave community lived in South Carolina grew cotton and had an absent owner. Although the Good Hope slave community had an absent owner, the absent owners did not reside in England or another country. Because absent owners resided in the United States there was an intimate link between slave communities and owners. Slave owners were more aware of the management of their estates than the owners of Jamaican estates. Despite the absentee owner in the Good Hope community enslavement of Black slaves in the United States was almost the same as enslavement in Jamaica.

The most striking effect of absenteeism in the Jamaica slave community was the paucity of qualified people from the beginning to the very end of slavery; the system lacked the very people it needed in order to function effectively. The absence of qualified men to fill management positions together with the absence of women on the Island contributed to a break down and loss in moral norms. Qualified men who were in charge of authority and public office were evil and corrupt and used the system of absenteeism to their advantage.

Absenteeism also contributed to lack of education and religion on the Island. White planters who resided on the island viewed the establishment of schools with contempt, although monetary donations were made towards building schools, only a few of them found fruition. The absence of educational facilities, together with the absence of owners and the absence of slave women and white women eroded religion and moral order, which further resulted in the complete breakdown of the institutions of marriage and the family.

Finally, but not least the most disastrous consequences of absenteeism were the mismanagement of economic affairs in the Jamaica slave society. It appears that it was almost impossible for one attorney to supervise many absentee- owned estates for which he acted as agent. The result was that attorneys left the management of estates entirely to overseers who treated slaves with contempt and forced them to work far beyond their physical strength. Because estate owners resided in England most of the economic returns were sent abroad with no reinvestment in the island. The people who suffered the most as a result of inefficient management and absenteeism were the slaves.

Social hierarchy among slaves resulted from absenteeism in Jamaica. The absence of slave owners and qualified men led the overseers to recruit slaves with lighter skin color or more physical strength to be in charge of the management of other slaves. For instance, slaves with lighter skin color were attached to the estates and possessed authority over slaves with darker complexion. Slaves with darker complexion were called field slaves and were given the most intense labor jobs. There was an elite slave population among the slave society in Jamaica, that was well respected by the white overseers, the absent owners, and slaves of darker complexion.

On the contrary absenteeism did not affect the slave society in the United Sates as it did in Jamaica. Although the Good Hope slave community took a longer time to develop in South Carolina with absent owners, it did not lack qualified people to manage the slave plantations. Owners employed efficient people to successfully manage their plantations in their absence. 

Like the managers in Jamaica, managers of Good hope plantation did not support education for slaves or allow them to practice their religion. Unlike in the Jamaica slave society, there were schools, but the black slaves were not given the opportunity to attend. Therefore, the impact on the slave population remained the same.  White planters and managers considered educating black slaves a waste of resources and also had the latent fear of slave uprisings. So it was important for slave owners to break social relationships formed among the slaves. In the Good Hope slave community managers of plantations appeared to have allowed some marriages.

Yet, while this made it appear as if they did not completely breakdown the institution of marriage and the family, the overall impact was little better than what obtained in Jamaica.  This was because, the managers, after allowing the institution of marriage among slaves, showed no respect for it.  It was, in part, seen as an economic advantage since it could increase the slave population.  Additionally, it contributed further to the degradation, demoralization and disrespect of the slaves, since husbands were forced to accept the rape of their wives and daughters; wives were encouraged into forms of prostitution; and children remained the property of the slave owners.

Absenteeism did not result in an elite group of slaves on the Good Hope plantation as it did in Jamaican slave society.  Slaves from the Good Hope plantation obtained social hierarchy from marriages and skin color. Slaves with lighter complexion worked in the manager’s household. Usually marriages occurred after the birth of one child or two children. Marriages were viewed as an increase of social status for slaves especially for women.    It is for these reasons that women entered prenuptial sexual relationships with men to get pregnant. Slave owners and managers supported prenuptial relationships. For these further reasons, despite the differences in the two systems, the overall impact was little different in America than it was in Jamaica.  There was no moral advantage to the approval of marriages in America.

Slaves communities that possessed resident owners did not treat slaves much better than slave societies which had absentee owners. The Stirling slave community that developed in Louisiana with a resident owner developed differently than Good Hope, but quite similar to the Jamaican slave society. Lewis Stirling had a more intimate link with his slaves and he focused more on achieving greater profits than the lives of slaves. He did not support educating slaves or slave families, hence, there was a significant number of single mothers. He kept track of all slaves born on his plantation because it was an addition to his wealth. Black slaves were treated as his property; they were used and abused, and treated with the same disrespect as the slaves in Jamaica and Good Hope.

Absenteeism or resident owners did not prevent the inter-generational and intra-generational kin network or improve the treatment of slaves in Jamaica and the United States. Children were born into slavery and received the same inhuman treatment as their parents.

Marriage was very rare in the structure of slavery in Jamaica, over time it became associated with social and economic status. As a result of the absence of women and the complete breakdown in social order the sanctions of marriage was unknown. Slaves ridiculed the idea of marriage, particularly the women. Many women disliked the idea of marriage because it entailed extra work, resented the idea of adding extra labor on the plantation and felt it silly to be confined to one man. The women’s attitude appears to be as a result of the continued sexual exploitation from the overseers and the male elite slaves. Also women were resisting slavery by refusing to be mothers that would have increased the numbers of slaves and contributed to the wealth of the owners.  Also, their sense of resistance made them unwilling to give birth to children who would not be free.

Over time slave women gave in to the sexual exploitation of overseers and the male elite slave because of the fear of being whipped and because it provided them with some degree of benefits. Pleasing the overseers and male elites released them from the intense labor in the field. For women in the Jamaica slave community it was more beneficial for them to have sex with the overseers or the elite slave because they would be treated more favorably, hence, marriage was viewed as an obstacle to social status and economic security for women.

In addition overseers did not support the idea of marriage. Unstable union was the most common type of relationship found on the estates in Jamaica. Overseers wanted the slave women for sexual pleasures and also encouraged and supported male elite slaves to have sexual relationships with the slave women.

The nuclear family hardly existed in Jamaica society. Overseers actively discouraged families. Families ran the risk of being severed at any time, although a family did develop, the father and husband did not have authority over his family.  His wife was the property of another. Mothers were expected to work as intensely as the men. Her family was not as important as her owner’s work. This form of motherhood was an additional reason for women resenting marriage.

Similarly in the United States marriage was not the norm in the slave structure, however, slave marriages depended on the type of owner of the plantation, whether or not the owner is resident or absentee, and the women had a child or children. For instance, managers of the Good Hope plantation supported marriage only because the women had children, on the other hand women entered prenuptial relationships because it provided them with the opportunity to get pregnant, which may result in marriage. It is possible that slave women considered that marrying, would relieve them from sexual exploitation from Good Hope managers or released them from the intense labor in the field.  Unfortunately it did not. Pregnant black slave women were given the same intense work in the field and were also whipped.    Marriages were the licensing of parenthood not sexual relationships; hence, a broken family results in dissolution of marriage. Slave women from the Good Hope plantation were more in favor of marriage than women in the Jamaican slave community.

Although marriage occurred after slave women had children there were some tendencies to support family relationships to some extent. In some households both parents were present until the families were torn apart by sale, death or transfer of slaves. Children were born into slavery so they were taken at an early age to work in the plantations, to be sold or transferred. When this happened family relationships as well as marriages were broken.

In contrast, in the Stirling slave community marriage was strongly opposed by the resident owners. Marriage was an obstacle for the increase in wealth for Lewis Stirling; marriage means that fewer children will be born into slavery. He preferred the women to have as many children with as many men. He recorded the date of birth of each child, name and mother’s name, father’s name was not important hence; in most cases it was not documented. In the Stirling slave plantation single-headed households increased over time; women were the head of these households.  Men and women were prevented from a prolonged intimate relationship; hence, marriage was seen more as an obstacle to the successes of his plantation by the resident owner Lewis Striling. If there was a marriage it did not last long, in most cases marriages were broken because of the death of husband or wife, or the transfer or sale of slaves. Striling’s attitude was similar to the overseers who were in charge of the Jamaican slave system but the difference was that in Jamaica marriage was viewed as an obstacle to gratifying sexual pleasure of the overseers and the male elites. On the other hand, Striling viewed it more with a decline of his wealth rather than sexual pleasure.

The family structure comprised mostly single women who were never married and headed households. They were placed in authority to provide for their children until they were taken away by the owner. Most women formed doubled- household with other women who had children. It was the norm for two single mothers to live together with their children . This was a way in which black slave single women established moral support and economic security not only for themselves but for their children. Most times children were raised without knowing their father. They often took the names of their mothers not their fathers.

The family structure in Jamaica and the United States slave communities comprised mostly of mother- child families, with either the father unknown, absent, or, if present, incapable of wielding influence. The mother- child family was the only kind of family that could survive, hence, both slave communities comprised mostly of matriarchy and matrilineal culture.

Extra- marital sex was universal in Jamaica and United States slave populations. The absence of moral sanction and the uneven male-female ratio led to sexual exploitation of the female slaves.  White overseers supported and encouraged sexual relationship outside of marriage. Women were raped or forced to surrender to the sexual demands of the male elite slaves, white overseers, their visiting friends and slave owners. If slave women refused they were either flogged or subject to harsh labor.

Eventually slave women as young as nine years old entered sexual relationships with a multitude of older men who had social status with the hope of obtaining benefits such as becoming a household slave or released from intense labor. Almost every slave woman was having sex with at least five different men . Wide spread sexual promiscuity led slave women entering the business of prostitution, every man a libertine, every slave hut a brothel and every slave women a prostitute. 

Prostitution provided slave women with autonomy from men as well as economic security. Most slave women of lighter skin complexion became prostitutes. Extra- marital sexual relationships was very rampant in the island mainly because women had to satisfy the sexual desire of the men in authority and the slaves who labored on the plantation all day.

Similarly in the United States extra marital relationships were the norm. In the United States, slave owners strongly supported this kind of sexual activity because it contributed to their economic wealth. Unlike in Jamaica where extra marital relationships were mostly associated with satisfying the sexual pleasure of men, in the United States it was mostly to increase the slave population and to lead to social and economic status for slave owners. For instance, this is well illustrated on the Striling plantation, the owner Lewis Striling was a farmer but he craftily increased his economic and social status. He became a planter by manipulating and controlling the reproductive activities of slave women and men. It was important that his slave population continued to increase, which resulted in his status among other slave owners.

Extra martial sex was the norm in Jamaica and the united sates. In Jamaica it was mostly associated with sex for pleasure, however, in the United states it was mostly associated with the increase of the slave population which will benefit the slave owner.

Although Black slaves in United States and Jamaica were dehumanized and demoralized and suffered extreme hardships, they did so under different plantation systems, in Jamaica there was a core element of absenteeism, which was important to the function of the slave system. In contrast, in the United States the dominating element was that the original settlers played the key role in the management of Black slaves. These different systems in the management of slavery in these two geographical areas influenced the economic, political and social lives of Black slaves differently. 

Gender expectations in Jamaica were quite different from those in the United States. The institution of the family was not the norm in the Jamaican slave system.  Marriage was viewed as the practice of the upper class and seen as a crime among the slaves.  Women disliked marriage simply because it gave them extra work. Husbands were demoralized because their wives were someone else’s wife or mistress. Prenuptial sexual relationships were encouraged and supported by black slaves and the plantation owners.

It was sex for pleasure and not reproduction. Because of the shortage of women in the plantation, it became essential that the female slaves sleep with the Black slaves and plantation owners and their visiting friends.  Child rearing was neither encouraged nor supported by plantation owners who considered it to be more economical to import slaves from the continent of Africa, hence many unwanted pregnancies give rise to abortion. Prostitution was the norm of the plantation slave system. Many women preferred to enter the profession of prostitution because of its benefits. 

On the contrary, in the United States gender expectations resembled those in Jamaica but had economic expectations. Marriage was encouraged between Black male and female slaves. Marriage, motherhood and prenuptial sex served as both an economic factor as well as pleasure for the White slave owners.  Unwanted pregnancy was not the norm in the United States because the white slave owners needed the additional labor for the plantation work force. In addition to laboring all day either in the field or in the homes of plantation owners women were also required to serve the sexual desires of the slave owners.

Men were demoralized because their wives and daughters were raped and beaten before their eyes and they were helpless to prevent it.  Whereas in both regions the birth of children to slave women was seen as an economic advantage, one of the main differences was therefore in the attitude to marriage.  In Jamaica the system had no use for marriage and monogamy among slaves.  The system had no use for family ties or spousal loyalty, since all children belonged to the slave-owner.  In the United states on the other hand, slave marriages had economic value because they encouraged the production of children.  In Jamaica it was more encouraged for the blacks to have as many children out of wedlock as possible since this added to the slave population without any problems of family loyalties.