Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean

Early American Studies

by Randy M Browne

A groundbreaking study of slavery and power in the British Caribbean that foregrounds the struggle for survival

Atlantic slave societies were notorious deathtraps. In Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean , Randy M. Browne looks past the familiar numbers of life and death and into a human drama in which enslaved Africans and their descendants struggled to survive against their enslavers, their environment, and sometimes one another. Grounded in the nineteenth-century British colony of Berbice, one of the Atlantic world's best-documented slave societies and the last frontier of slavery in the British Caribbean, Browne argues that the central problem for most enslaved people was not how to resist or escape slavery but simply how to stay alive.

Guided by the voices of hundreds of enslaved people preserved in an extraordinary set of legal records, Browne reveals a world of Caribbean slavery that is both brutal and breathtakingly intimate. Field laborers invoked abolitionist-inspired legal reforms to protest brutal floggings, spiritual healers conducted secretive nighttime rituals, anxious drivers weighed the competing pressures of managers and the condition of their fellow slaves in the fields, and women fought back against abusive masters and husbands. Browne shows that at the core of enslaved people's complicated relationships with their enslavers and one another was the struggle to live in a world of death.

Provocative and unflinching, Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean reorients the study of Atlantic slavery by revealing how differently enslaved people's social relationships, cultural practices, and political strategies appear when seen in the light of their unrelenting struggle to survive.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2017

Reviews

[Tyler Zamora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a fascinating read! Browne’s examination of slavery in the 1800’s Caribbean is eye opening and heartbreaking. For instance, I’d like to talk about the cover. My ignorant self thought maybe it was a husband telling his wife he’s going back to work while she feeds her baby. But no, that is not the case. It is actually a slave driver (an appointed slave higher in the hierarchy) who is telling her to get back to work, despite the fact that she has an infant and is trying to feed. That’s just one of the ways this book surprised me. And he’s obviously carrying a whip in his hand, but we are so far removed in time from this photo, that my mind couldn’t quite equate this scene, so I’m also a bit slow. I soon found Browne would have me doing a bit of catching up throughout this entire book. I couldn’t believe some of the things I was reading!

It was hard enough for the slaves, but the amount of psychological warfare enforced on them made their physical toils even worse. Take the African slave driver for instance, one of the hardest positions (I think after reading this book) was the position of the African slave driver who was caught between being a slave like his people, but also having to keep them in order, like his white master. I thought that was a horrible situation to be in. Brown proved this too, as slave owners often held drivers responsible for not meeting quotas, not disciplining their crew, and sometimes when rebellions happened. When you think of slavery, you don’t necessarily think of politics, but if you were a slave, you very much had to play the game (and even more so if you were a slave driver among fellow slaves). I thought this was one of the worst forms of slavery Browne describes in the book (besides the forced physical labor and physical beatings). This was psychologically, morally, and spiritually damaging for these individuals.

Also, don’t get me started on how the women were treated. My heart went out to mothers who had to plea to the deputy protector because they’ve already lost several children due to a neglectful owner who didn’t provide enough food and worked her family too hard. Women were also at the very bottom of the totem pole, so they absorbed the most shock of this very defunct and horrific system. It’s nice to see instances where some of these women fought back by using the newly found system of amelioration, but it’s clear that instances where they came out ahead were far and few in between. Bottom line, it was clear these women fought daily for their lives and family. The author didn’t talk much about children, but did speak to amelioration helping strengthen the bonds of family, as slaves began fighting for their right to own property and not allow their owners to separate their family by selling them individually. It was empowering to see the point in Caribbean slavery where slaves were able to start gaining some agency which would pave the way for abolition in the future. Although, the author is always quick to point out, that the road of amelioration is a long and treacherous one.

For those who don’t know (because I certainly didn’t before this book), amelioration is basically a fancy word for the phasing out of slavery based labor into pay based labor. This was enforced and encouraged by the British motherland in order to establish and sustain self sufficient economies and communities in remote islands and regions in the slave trade, but it also occurred because it ensured more money and a stronger work force. Looking at the book through the time period in which it was written, everything Browne lays out makes sense, but it’s crazy how slavery was treated like any other business/workforce. With the negotiations, the bargaining, the fighting to secure rights for themselves; it sounds like a group of factory workers trying to unionize. And I know this is a poor comparison, but I couldn’t help but see it like that in Browne’s description, except you obviously have innocent people being killed, harmed, and worked to death in this situation. It’s sick what people in power will do and allow to their fellow humans.

With that being said, Browne does a great job at always bringing the human aspect to the facts he presents. For instance, just by looking at the offenses chart, you can see some of the horrible scrutiny these poor people were subjected to. Indecent language/behavior, selling work utensils, not coming to work on time, and the list goes on and on. This list can also show the legal “protections” that were offered to certain groups, as it prohibits abuse against wives and children. As mentioned earlier, many women would lean into this for support and aid. Lists like these ended up becoming a double edged sword for the slaves of Bernice though.

Another thing that was on the list, was the practice of Obeah, which I understood to be a spiritual/healing ideology that exists among the slaves and has roots in African culture. When bad things were going on or things weren’t good with someone’s health, the Obeah practitioner would come out and have sessions with those inflicted. The whites basically thought this was a joke and also saw it as a threat to their ability to assimilate slaves to a more “civilized” and “modern” lifestyle, which would be rooted in a more typical faith, like Christianity etc. I swear I could read an entire book on Obeah practices and ideology. It was very fascinating and something I’ve never heard of, except for maybe the Minje Mama (or Mami Watta) dance, but I had no idea of its cultural significance. This was clearly another attempt to “colonize” the slaves of Bernice and disrespect their natural religion/faith.

Overall, Browne does a great job sticking to the facts and it’s clear he did his research. My only complaint about the book is that it’s not long enough and I wish Browne would’ve weaved more of a story throughout the book. Right now it does feel like a collection of very well written scholarly articles. It does have an arch and works, but I could’ve used more of a storytelling element. Sometimes it came off as a listing of facts. I also wish he would’ve spoke way more about other places in the Caribbean apart from Bernice. He does mention Jamaica and a couple other places, but nothing in depth. I highly recommend if you’re interested in slavery, history, and learning why we must never repeat our old mistakes. Please also be warned this book details a lot of explicit abuse and violence. If you can stomach that, it will definitely be eye opening.

[Devin McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Browne's central thesis is simply that in viewing Caribbean slavery through a lens of escape/resistance to slavery, we can erase much of the reality of life for enslaved people whose primary struggle was often first and foremost one of daily survival. By focusing on the British colony of Burbice (now part of modern Guyana) and the relatively large amount of records kept during the time period surrounding the British attempt at "Amelioration" of Slavery, we get a clearer picture of the daily lives of enslaved people from as close to their own perspective as possible. Interesting, heartbreaking, horrifying, and very informative, this book is about as approachable and engaging as University Press books get. In showing a version of slavery that was different (yet no less insidious) than the US version, Browne paints a broader and more human picture of the many lives of the people who can so often otherwise come off as faceless and voiceless in historical narratives.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and learned lots about the individual experiences of those forced in to slavery at that time. Always tarnished though the the bias in the records of the time.

[Marlon Jude · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst book I've ever read
Black blaming

[Sasha (bahareads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randy Browne says his "focusing on survival thus not only reminds us how difficult life was in Atlantic slave societies, but also enhances our understanding of the complex social worlds in which enslaved people and their enslavers confronted each other."

Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean places the struggle to survive at the center of enslaved people's experiences. It focuses on the British colony of Berbice as it transitions from being Dutch to British.

Browne says the focus on freedom in slave studies is a western abstraction that holds little resonance among the enslaved. But by focusing on the challenge of staying alive readers learn more about how it shaped the range of social relationships, cultural practices, and political strategies for slave societies.

The bulk of the source material Brown uses comes from first person testimonies and complaints all lodged by enslaved people. It is the largest single archive of first person testimonies from and about enslaved people in the Americas. It is an intimate study of enslaved people's daily lives and voices. Thanks to the Dutch legal system, enslaved people's testimonies were taken and recorded in full. They offer powerful insights in the perspective enslaved people and reveal painful details about the world of African descendents.

I enjoyed reading Browne's book. It did make me think about the way scholars approach slave studies and what it means for the field and the historical subjects.

[Amber]

A compelling read using accessible source material and language. I would have liked for the author to spend more time on the thesis of the work itself--the relevance of survival as an aim among the enslaved for those interpreting these pasts. Nevertheless, an important consideration and useful read.