Through kidnappings by Europeans and the African rulers of the time, millions of Africans were sent to the Caribbean and forced into slavery. By 1789 there were

192 800 slaves in Jamaica out of a population of 216 000 and this huge imbalance could be seen throughout the rest of the Caribbean. Even in Africa within certain communities there was discrimination towards so-called savages and criminals. This is where the issue

In every society in the world there are different levels of standing or ranking within a community. The difference between what we see as the traditional social structure and the social structure seen in the Plantation societies was that the plantations structure was determined by complexion. Europeans largely destroyed the native Caribbean population, imported Africans as slave labourers and developed the Plantation system.

For centuries before the eventual emancipation of the Caribbean slaves, there was a certain degree of unease towards slavery. Even in the 16th Century, Pope Paul III condemned slavery as anti-Christian. Despite the fact that a number of well renowned figures of the time displayed outbursts of conscience, the issue was not so much the colour of the slaves but the idea of slavery as a whole. However, public attitudes began to change during the eighteenth Century. Many factors began to coincide to increase the opposition to slavery in the Caribbean and particularly in the Plantation societies of the British West Indies.

of colour becomes important as it was easier for the Europeans and their consciences to enslave an 'inferior black race'. "The administering of lashes was everywhere the norm, in addition to various forms of gruesome punishments designed to inculcate in blacks, especially the young, the awesome power of whiteness." Power and the pursuit of wealth were seen as more important than a few million black people. Basically because the Europeans saw themselves as racially superior they were willing to enslave a black race for their own benefit.

With the development of Caribbean slave society in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, occupational differences, often linked to differences of colour, served to divide the slaves. The major groups were Domestic, Skilled and Agricultural slaves. There was a hierarchy among the slaves; those who were in charge of specific areas were skilled or worked as head domestics, were the elite slaves, at least from the point of view of the slave masters. It was the slave owners who determined the rankings among slaves and who had the power to promote or demote slaves. Moreover status was often related to colour. "The institutionalisation of anti-black racism ensured the presence of powerful structural barriers between blacks, coloureds

Some common words found in the essay are:
Free Coloureds, Sable Queen', Skilled Agricultural, British Empire, West Indies, Caribbean Africa, Paul III, Deserts Planters, Europeans African, Basically Europeans, free coloureds, social structure, slave owners, black slaves, standing free coloureds, whites blacks, white planters, plantation societies, eighteenth century, black race, plantation society determined, slaves mixed race, white black races, so-called savages,
Approximate Word count = 1567
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)