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1.Describe the various ways in which oppressed peoples have resisted colonialism in the Caribbean from both a micro - (individual) and macro- (societal) level perspective.
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Since the dawn of time, Europeans roamed the sea searching for new land and more opportunities, even before Christopher Columbus ever set foot in the Caribbean. The Europeans powers were very eager to expand their wealth and find new ways of accumulating more lands and resources. So when Christopher Columbus discovered the so-called new world sponsored by King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, he tried to take full advantage of the indigenous people by making them look for gold and taking them away from their own responsibilities. With the abundance of land in the Caribbean, Europeans were not satisfied with the existing numbers of workers, and therefore in order to exploit the land to its fullest they had to bring more labour to the Caribbean. So they enforced Africans to come to the new World, where they had to work under the slavery system. This is how the Slave trade and an era of 500 years of colonialism, enslavement, and oppression started. With the accumulation of land and resources, the Europeans represented by the white race were by no question the dominant race at the time. Having all the power, the Europeans tried oppressing the enslaved Africans on the plantations and followed by the Emancipation period. However in spite of the Europeans tries to oppress the enslaved Africans, the later fought back fiercely by resisting against the Europeans ways on different levels. From a micro level, the Africans resisted by carrying out various revolts, as well as creating maroon communities. From a macro they resisted by creating a Creole culture while maintaining their own. The Africans were caught in their homelands and sold to Europeans. Then they were packed in ships and sent to the Caribbean. The Africans had to go through the Middle passage before getting to the Caribbean. The Middle passage was that part of the slave triangle that brought them from West Africa to the Caribbean. These trips were known for their very poor conditions; the Africans would be packed in the ships below deck like sardines, no place to sit or lift your head. As well most of the ships were extremely overcrowded. With the huge number of Africans packed in the same place, inadequate ventilation existed as well as no sanitation. Due to the poor ventilation, and poor sanitation conditions infectious diseases would spread and kill many people. This is where the suffering started. For the Africans the Middle passage was one of the longest, hardest and most dangerous trips. The Middle passage represents the Africans suffering and the inhumanity of the treatment. The Africans were brought out of their culture and land to the unknown. They started their resisting and rebelling even before arriving to the Caribbean. A number of enslaved Africans on those ships rebelled against the captain and crew.
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