Country: St. Lucia

Group: Black/Africans

Date:  10/30/2020

Team: Arisha Khan (leader), Rebekah Kamer, Ann Thomas, Alicia Hernandez

Content Warning: slavery

Approximate Time Period: 1500-1838

          Many St. Lucians are descendants of Africans transported from West Africa during the slave trade (Marren, 2015).  Under French rule, the governor declared all slaves free in 1794. However, due to concerns from many wealthy landowners, the British attacked St. Lucia. In 1803, the British gained control, and restored slavery. St. Lucia was very attractive to European settlers after the sugar industry developed (Permanent Mission of Saint Lucia To The United Nations, n.d.). The British abolished the African slave trade in 1807, but it was not until 1834, that slavery was actually abolished. Even after slavery was abolished, all former slaves had to serve a four year ‘apprenticeship’ which forced them to work for free under their former masters. Final freedom didn’t come until 1838 (All About St. Lucia, n.d.).

          The data quality was a 2 because of the detailed information about the forced labor of the African people around these times with specific dates and specific events. However, there were few peer-reviewed sources that focused specifically on St. lucia.

Sources

  1. Malena, K. (n.d.). Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Encyclopedic History REANNOUNCE/F05: Volume 2: Performing the Caribbean Experience. University of Texas Press.
  2. Marren. (2015, February 16). St. Lucia’s Plantation Economy. Yelhispressing. https://yelhispressing.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/st-lucias-plantation-economy/
  3. Permanent Mission of Saint Lucia To The United Nations » (n.d.). About Saint Lucia.  Retrieved October 23, 2020, from http://saintluciamissionun.org/about-saint-lucia/
  4. All About St. Lucia (n.d.). Saint Lucia History. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://allaboutstlucia.com/history/
  5. Buckland, D (2017, April 11). St Lucia: A beautiful island with a dark history. Evening Standard. http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/st-lucia-a-beautiful-island-with-a-dark-history-a3512816.html