West Africa in the Caribbean: art, artefacts and ideas

Africanisms in the Caribbean Region: African Descendants’ Resistance to Enslavement and Subjugation in Post-Emancipation

“…Davis (2016) provides convincing evidence that most enslaved Africans who revolted in 1791 in Saint Domingue were of Congolese origin. In Haiti, the language was Congo, and there are reports that the Creole leaders of the Haitian Revolution in 1791 declared that their followers had difficulty to make out two words of French (Thornton, 1998;Warner-Lewis, 2003). The military experience of the 18th-century Dahomey populations, especially the Araras, played a leading role in the Haitian revolution.…”

“…As previously noted, absentee ownership was prevalent in Jamaica. The overseers and managers inflicted cruelties on enslaved Africans in Jamaica and Haiti, which are well documented (Parkinson, 1978;Warner-Lewis, 2003). By 1734, African descendants made up 90% of Jamaica's population (Gomez, 2020).…”

“…Chambers (2008) wrote that in post 1750 Jamaica, Igbos, who were the majority African group in Jamaica, impacted on existing institutions and ancestral memories to forge connections amongst and between each other and to make sense of their new contexts. Warner-Lewis (2003) wrote that around 1750, approximately 40% of Africans in Jamaica spoke Coromantee (Akan or Twi) as their primary language. Whites were called buckra.…”

“…African customs, religious beliefs, languages, and other types of cultural survival tended to be strong during the 18th century in areas with high percentages of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean region. Warner-Lewis (2003) wrote that enslaved Africans of different regions of Africa during the enslavement era "acknowledged their common heritage in order to consolidate political, trade, security, and labor alliances" (p. 38).…”

“…They used their knowledge of poisoned fire-hardened spikes that were concealed under dry leaves to kill their enemies. Similar techniques were used in Haiti (Warner-Lewis, 2003).…”