Religion on Barbados

Obeah on Barbados

        Religion on Barbados developed in different ways to those described by Sensbach in Rebecca’s Revival. English missionaries journeyed across the Atlantic to convert the ‘heathen’ hordes to Christianity. According to John C. Appleby, “English interest…was mobilized by a crude combination of profit, patriotism, and Protestantism” (Paquette and Engerman, 87). The missionaries’ religion of choice was Protestantism in the form of the Church of England. The missionaries were overjoyed by the conversions they achieved. Much like Rebecca’s Revival, the missionaries were wary that the slaves were converting to take advantage of the reading and writing the missionaries offered or to cover for their continued practice of their native religion. Unlike Rebecca’s Revival, the planters saw Christianity as a way to civilize the African slaves.

The African slaves brought their religions with them across the Atlantic. The English masters did not like this and tried to stamp it out at every opportunity. One in particular proved extremely resilient, it was called Obeah (Beckles, 52). Obeah is defined by Udal as “a  kind  of  pretended  sorcery  or  witchcraft practiced  by the  negroes in  Africa” (Udal, 255). Udal also said that Obeah sometimes masked itself as Voodoo. Despite legislation outlawing it, it survived in underground social movements for years. Thousands of miles away from their homeland, the African slaves still held allegiance to their tribes and tribal religion. It was not uncommon to see people from the same tribe gathering after the work day was finished to participate in sacred rituals that were part of their religious life. The masters did not like this one bit. They saw this as a continuation of the savage life they led back in Africa. The planters did everything they could to wipe any form of African religion off of the island. The slave codes explicitly outlawed the practice of any non-Christian religion by the African slaves on Barbados. The legislation and threatened punishment did nothing to deter the practice, they simply drove them underground.

After the slave codes failed to have the desired effect, the planters welcomed the missionaries with open arms. They thought that by exposing the ‘heathens’ to Christianity, their ‘savage’ instincts could be suppressed. The planters wanted the slaves of African descent to act more like their Creole brethren. So the slaves obliged to achieve their own ends: “by openly assimilating European-derived elements of the Creole so as to achieve social and material betterment” (Beckles, 52). Their public expressions of faith and their private ones were by no means identical. By appearing to adhere to the Christian faith, slaves were able to mask and hide their African religion. There is no way of knowing who took their conversion seriously and who did it simply as a means to an end.

The differences between Rebecca’s Revival and the development of religions on Barbados are marked. The planters on Barbados encouraged their slaves to convert to Christianity so that it would hopefully quell the ‘savage’ instincts in them. In Rebecca’s Revival, the planters threatened, intimidated, and beat slaves trying to discourage them from converting and attending religious services. The planters on Barbados thought that Christianity would prevent the slaves from rebelling against their masters, in Rebecca’s Revival the planters thought that the religious education would encourage the slaves to rebel. The only similarity between the book and real life was that the missionaries could not be sure that the conversions were genuine. As in real life, the only people who could know that are the person undergoing the conversion and God.

Bibliography:

Hilary Beckles, A History of Barbados: From Amerindian Settlement to Nation-State (New York: Cambridge, 1990), 52-57.

Robert L. Paquette and Stanley L. Engerman, editors, The Lesser Antilles in the Age of European Expansion (Gainesville: University Press of Flordia, 1996), 87.

J.S. Udal, “Obeah in the West Indies,” Folklore Vol. 26, No. 3 (September 30, 1915): 255-295. 

Conflicts in Barbados

        The seventeenth century was not an easy one for the people on Barbados. There was a struggle for ownership of the island and power on the island as well as a fight for the profits made on the island. These struggles took place among the plantation owners on the island and the peerage back in England. This left the everyday farmer, their family, slaves, and their indentured servants caught in the middle of a vicious power struggle. It took roughly twelve years, from 1627 when the first settlers arrived to 1639 when Henry Hawley established the first effective parliament on the island, for stability to be established on Barbados (Beckles, 9-12).

        The dispute over the ownership of the island was the first conflict to have an effect on the island and people of Barbados. The first person to claim ownership of the island, through Letters of Patent, was a London merchant named Ralph Merrifield who took a “noble patron, the Earl of Carlisle” as protection (Hart, 5).  Merrifield put up the money for the Earl of Carlisle to apply for a royal grant from Charles I, King of England. The application was successful and the Earl of Carlisle soon claimed ownership of Barbados. At the same time, Sir Peter and Sir William Courteen, brother merchants from London, had financed the first exploratory mission led by Captain John Powell as well as the first settlement expedition and claimed the title of the island through those efforts. Because the brothers never got a Royal Patent for the island, the settlers that had been financed by the Courteens were portrayed as squatters on an island owned by the Earl of Carlisle. Unfortunately for Carlisle, the settlers and the representatives of the Courteens were actually on the island. Another claimant to the island was the Earl of Pembroke who had received an “erroneous subsequent issue of a royal patent” from Charles I (Beckles, 8).

For a while, ownership of Barbados bounced back and forth between the Earls of Carlisle and Pembroke. Supporters of those two skirmished back and forth across the island until Carlisle received a second Royal Patent that was meant to revoke the one given to Pembroke (Beckles, 8). While they were settling that issue, the Powell faction, who represented the interests of the Courteen brothers, still controlled the island. However, after the dispute between Carlisle and Pembroke was settled in Carlisle’s favor, he dispatched Charles Wolverston to administer the island on his behalf. Wolverston “landed in Barbados in June 1628, and by August had brought the entire island under his authority. On 4^th September he was selected Governor of Barbados” (Beckles, 8).

The struggle continued. Wolverston set up a government and excluded everyone but those who supported Carlisle. The colonist disliked him and accused him of keeping them as “tenants-at-will” by enforcing the Courteen’s unpopular land management policies. After there was a short lived uprising led by the Powell faction, Wolverston was deposed and deported. Carlisle then sent Sir William Tufton to Barbados to act as the new Governor. Tufton had strict instructions to set up a loyalist government. Among his other aims, Tufton aimed to help the indentured servants and poor people while ignoring the elite planter class. This made him unpopular and the planters wrote to Carlisle complaining about Tufton’s autocratic rule. Tufton was recalled and Carlisle sent Henry Hawley to replace him. Tufton was still on the island and tried to overthrow Hawley but was unsuccessful and was executed for sedition. Hawley was considered ruthless but ultimately managed to stabilize Barbados and started the Parliament system that they still use today.

Profit and politics are the issues that sparked and drove the conflicts on the island of Barbados. Each person claiming to own Barbados wanted the political power and profits that came along with the title of the island. The governors on the island were representative of the political struggle. They also got overcome with their own political aspirations and some turned into small time despots. No matter which way they turned, the colonist on the island found themselves caught between rival factions that put their life and property in jeopardy. Both Wolverston and Hawley can be credited with bringing about the stability the colonist found themselves living in.

Bibliography:

Hilary Beckles, A History of Barbados: From Amerindian Settlement to Nation-State (New York: Cambridge, 1990), 7-12.

Richard Hart, From Occupation to Independence: A Short History of the Peoples of the English-Speaking Caribbean Region (London: Pluto Press, 1998), 5.

Colonization in Barbados

         The European country that colonized Barbados was England. The first English explorers landed on the island on May 14, 1625. The first settlers arrived on February 17, 1627. Barbados was picked to settle on because it was believed to be unoccupied by Amerindians. It was also believed to be highly suitable for agricultural pursuits. While the location and topography of Barbados made it ideal for agricultural, it was a hindrance in the defense arena. The Amerindians had discovered this decades before the Europeans arrived. While Barbados was still in their environment and sphere of influence, it was not regularly inhabited. According to Beckles, “Barbados was settled prior to English colonization by a succession of Amerindian migrants from South America” (Beckles, 6). These Amerindian settlers had to contend with Spanish slave raiders who would sweep through every so often and snatch the unsuspecting and undefended. This accounts for the lack of indigenous people on the island when the English arrived.

As a result of these Spanish slave raiding missions and the indefensibleness of the island, the English settlers on Barbados did not have to contend with unhappy natives and were able to get down to the business of farming almost immediately. In true English fashion, the plantations were built up in a matter of years. This allowed Barbados to become the most prosperous islands in the West Indies in the seventeenth century. Because the settlers on Barbados were able to get to work immediately, it was seen as one of England’s biggest colonization success stories. By the mid-seventeenth century, Barbados had rushed to the fore of world sugar production (Paquette and Engerman, 5). Barbados was also one of the most ‘civilized’ islands of the Caribbean because it did not have the skirmishes with indigenous people like most of the other islands in the area did.

While the Amerindians did not trouble the settlers, the proprietors of the island caused enough grief for everyone. The monarchs changed over time as did the title to the island. At various times, Barbados belonged to the Earl of Carlisle, Earl of Pembroke and Sir Peter and Sir William Courteen. The very first settlers on Barbados were actually employees of the people who financed the venture. Although the settlers worked the land and helped Barbados to prosper into one of the most successful Caribbean islands, they did not see any of the profit their employers were bringing in. The settlers made roughly £100 a year which was supposed to be their wages as well as provide supplies for their laborers (Beckles, 8). The proprietor of the island implemented unpopular land management rules and techniques which made the settlers extremely unhappy. This made it easy for the various factions to drum up support among the settlers and lead to control of the island changing several times in a handful of years. The island of Barbados was also used as a political chip to be passed back and forth between the various owners to try and get as much out of the title as they could. Finally, the crown claimed the island and the profits from it.

Bibliography:

Hilary Beckles, A History of Barbados: From Amerindian Settlement to Nation-State (New York: Cambridge, 1990), 6-19.

Robert L. Paquette and Stanley L. Engerman, editors, The Lesser Antilles in the Age of European Expansion (Gainesville: University Press of Flordia, 1996), 5.

Settling in Barbados

Barbados has an interesting history. It is believed that the first people to pass through Barbados were Amerindians known as Arawaks from Venezuela. They had large canoes that could operate in the ocean and were able to navigate through currents that baffle sailors and ships today. The Arawaks originally called the island of Barbados Ichirouganaim. Ichirouganaim can be translated in several ways, the most popular version is “Red land with white teeth”, possibly referring to the red stone on the island and the coral reef that surround the island. Archaeologists have only recently discovered evidence to support this. The Arawaks were unable to hold on to their dominance of their island home because they were soon conquered by the fearsome Caribs who were another Amerindian people. The Carib had more modern weapons than the Arawak. They dominated the island until the Europeans began to arrive.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive on the island. They did not want to settle there but thought it could be a nice place to visit. In anticipation of future visits, the Portuguese let loose some wild hogs to ensure that there was plenty of meat. The Portuguese and Pedro a Campos in particular, are the ones who gave the island the name Barbados which means the bearded ones, possibly referring to the fig trees that looked like they had beards or the water foaming around the reefs. The Spaniards, who were the next to arrive, changed the composition of the island inhabitants. The Caribs were unable to resist the might of the Spanish. The indigenous people were either enslaved or fled to other islands in the Caribbean. The population of the island was so decimated by the Spanish that it could be classified as uninhabited by 1541. The Spanish, like the Portuguese, chose not to settle on the island and soon moved on to other places and opportunities.

The British were the first people to settle on the island. The first ship arrived and claimed the island for King James I on May 14, 1625.  The first group of settlers did not arrive until February 17, 1627. These first settlers were not actually occupants but tenants. The title for the island of Barbados was owned by a London merchant named Sir William Courten and he received the profits from the settlers’ labors. In the “Great Barbados Robbery”, Courten lost the title to James Hay who was the 1^st Earl of Carlisle. Carlisle is the one who appointed the first governor and created the House of Assembly as a governing body for the planters on the island. Pieter Blower introduced the sugar cane industry in 1637. This led to the importing of African slaves in large numbers. The slave’s life expectancy was extremely short and the plantation owners ordered replacements like any other commodity, as if they were ordering a new pair of shoes.

In the story of the settlement of Barbados, the Spanish and the British have equal stakes in the villain category. The Spaniards are the ones who decimated the indigenous population and either enslaved or ran off the few who remained. While the Spanish enslaved the indigenous people, it was in small numbers and they took them on to other destinations. Their biggest sin was the almost complete destruction of a people and a culture. The British are the ones who introduced slavery in large numbers to the island. In the beginning, the British brought over English and Irish kids they used as indentured servants. When the sugar cane industry got into its full swing, the African slaves were brought over en masse. One quote was that there were three slaves for every one planter. Both the Spanish and the British are shown in unflattering lights in the history of Barbados.

The heroes of the story are the Amerindians, the Arawaks and the Caribs. They managed to survive on the island for centuries. Near the end of their dominance, they did so while dealing with the first waves of European sailors. The Arawaks were able to hold their own until the Caribs arrived and attained dominance. The Caribs were able to survive until the Spanish arrived. Even after the Spanish arrived, the Caribs and the Arawaks who were not killed or enslaved escaped to more defensible, mountainous islands. Hints of their culture, now known as Kalinago, can still be found on Dominica, the Grenadines, and Saint Vincent.

The most interesting part of the story is the British and their indentured servants, the young English and Irish kids that were runaways or kidnapped and then the persecuted Irish Catholics who came to the island later. I would like to find out more about their circumstances and the history behind their move or removal, whichever the case may be, to Barbados. I am also interested in finding out whether or not there are descendants of these people on the island and how they feel about their ancestor’s arrival on the island and the way it came about.

Sources:

Barbados History http://barbados.org/history1.htm

Barbados Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados

History of Barbados Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Barbados