In discussing the response of Caribbean people to oppression, we can date back as far as pre 1807,

known as pre abolition of the slave trade. The response to oppression can come in the form of either
active or passive resistance. By definition, active resistance requires participation and can be sub-
categorized into confrontational and decisive active resistance. In both cases of active resistance,
something major is done to oppose. Passive resistance, on the other hand, is more subtle and can
simply be the body language, behavior or attitude of the slaves who are in opposition.

Oppression, which is defined as the exercise of authority in a cruel or unjust manner came in many
forms. Some of these were racial oppression, gender oppression and religious persecution. Of
course, in the times of slavery, racial oppression was what set the Europeans apart from the Africans
as they held their race to a higher standard and saw the enslavement of the Africans fit. In terms of
gender, oppression took the form of gender roles. In Caribbean society and in the days of slavery,
there was heavy emphasis on males in society which is known as Androcentrism, meaning that more
power was shown to the males. This introduces the next point of religious persecution as gender
practices reflected religious ideologies in society. The Europeans tried to get rid of the religion which
the Africans brought with them as they tried to emphasize suffering and life after death. This
oppression of the African religion to their own was therefore used as a means of control by making
the Africans believe in the European’s religion and making them feel inferior. Religion became one of
the main forms of metal control on the plantations as the Europeans tried to convince the slaves
that in the form of bondage which they were held, their only salvation would be life after death.

There are many examples for the two forms of resistance with active resistance being acts such as;
infanticide; suicide; maroonage; confrontation by war; protest action; abandonment of plantation
duties; formation of political parties that expressed dissent and lastly, an attitude of lawlessness by
the slaves. Before giving examples of forms of resistance with respect to passiveness, the actual
earliest form of resistance to oppression observed in the Caribbean was from the Tainos who took
part in infanticide and suicide against the Spaniards who they attacked and killed as a response to
the harsh treatment which the Spaniards put them through. It should be noted that infanticide is the
killing of one’s child so that they do not grow up to become a slave, this is commonly interpreted
falsely as the killing of another person’s infant. Secondly, suicide, more commonly known is the
killing of oneself in order to escape oppression.

Now on to examples of passive responses. These resistance methods included; working slowly; back-
talk to owners; pretending to not understand instruction given to them; pretending to be sick;
formation of economic organizations using European services; formation of cooperatives;
mockery/ridicule; trickery against the Europeans and lastly, a response that would not seem
harmful, the development of creative expression avenues such as the steelpan and reggae. These
methods of resistance considered to be passive were not done in any effort to harm others
physically, however, they caused provocation of the slave owners resulting in anger.

It is important to know the difference in meanings of the terms revolt, revolution, rebellion and
resistance as they are commonly used interchangeably. Firstly, revolt simply means to break away
from constituted authority. Next, revolutions are an overthrow and replacement of an already
established government or political system by the people whom it governed. Thirdly, a rebellion
deals with the open, organized and armed resistance against a government/ruler. Finally, the word
resistance has to do with the act of resisting, opposing or withstanding.

Now what was just discussed are mere forms of resistance however, we can really see them play out
when we look at real life events that occurred in the Caribbean as a response of the people to
oppression. These examples in the Caribbean are known as revolts/revolutions/rebellions which
were forms of confrontational resistance and this, as discussed is a form of active resistance which
required participation by the slaves.

The first example we can quickly note of is that of the Haitian Revolution. Sometimes referred to as
the St. Domingue revolution/rebellion, which occurred between 1791-1803 between the African
slaves and French colonial forces. At the time of this revolution, Haiti was called St. Domingue. This
revolution is an outstanding event in history as it is, to this day, the only successful slave rebellion.
This revolution started in 1791 and took 13 years as the slaves overtook more and more colonies and
took part on acts such as beheading of the French. The main cause of this response was directly
influenced by the French revolution where the National Assembly was abolished and slaves were
given citizen status. The white colonists refused to accept the abolition of slavery and citizen statues
granted to Haiti’s population thus leading to rebel of the Africans against the planters. The outcome
of this rebellion was the declaration of Haiti’s independence in 1804.

The second important rebellion, among many in the Caribbean is the Morant Bay Rebellion which
took place in 1865. This event took place in Jamaica between the now emancipated Africans and
British colonial forces. Despite their status of emancipation, oppression remained and, so too
exploitation and brutality. The root cause of this rebellion is actually documented as a situation
where a black man opposed a British officer and was beaten. Notably, before the Morant Bay
rebellion, crown colony governments, which allowed more direct control from the British Monarch,
were limited to Trinidad and St. Lucia. However, after this rebellion, it was mandated for all British
colonies to have this form of government.

The firstly discussed Haitian revolution occurred before the abolition of the slave trade however, the
Morant Bay event took place post abolition. This draws the comparison of the outcome of both
rebellions with respect to the time at which they took place. The Haitian revolution served as a sign
of hope to the rest of laves within Haiti and the Caribbean, indicating that there was a possibility of
revolution incoming. Furthermore, it was successful in doing this and achieved its goals. On the
other hand, the outcome of the Morant Bay Rebellion actually served to show that the slaves now
had a say and that their actions had drastic consequences. As opposed to just resisting in order to
show a sign of possibility and hope, the rebellions that took place post abolition of slavery indicated
the fact that the former slaves were now being treated with more respect. These post abolition
revolts were now more focused on speeding up the road to emancipation.

Resistance then led to the rise of peasantry where, members of a certain class in society, with land
obtained legally or illegally would operate small farms. The peasantry composition at the time of and
after slavery comprised of those who obtained the land by “squatting”, European indentured
labourers who completed their contracts, those known as “proto-peasants” who developed their
farms while enslaved and the “runaway peasants” who formed their communities unauthorized in
interior regions. It is also important to note that this life of peasantry started during slavery by the
runaway slaves.

In conclusion, the response of the slaves and native people to oppression took two main forms.
Those of active and passive resistance. It was also mentioned that before the abolition of the slave
trade, these acts of resistance only acted to give hope to the slaves as they had no real effect on the
bigger picture. However, after the abolition of the trade, the acts of resistance eventually is what led
to the gaining of emancipation to most of the colonies. Some may argue that resistance to
oppression was only violent, however, in cases such as the Tainos, resistance was very peaceful and
considered to be passive. All in all, I think that resistance to oppression was important in order to
show the Europeans how inhumane their acts were and to, as was discussed, lead to eventual
emancipation of territories.