The Property of Another Only on Paper

Born in the Caribbean I have never experienced life outside of this prison called slavery and can only imagine the free way of life that the other slaves from Africa speak of and were ripped from. Free Life. Both words seem interchangeable in that one cannot truly live unless they are free, but my life has taught me that the two do not go hand in hand. The effects of slavery and becoming the property of another are more than physical. Deep wounds are inflicted upon me daily, not all of them visible. I have a husband and two children. My husband was sold away to the highest bidder 3 months ago leaving me with our two children. Even though this is something that happened often on plantations, it didn’t lessen the pain or stabbing in my heart whenever I think of it.

 One would think that with all the mental, physical, and emotional pain that slaves withstand in their daily life that we would grow immune to it but it hurts just the same. It hurt knowing that my children, in reality, are not really mine and could be sold away at any time the master saw fit. If the master felt that they should be punished then I had no say as their mother. It does something to a woman to know that she has no real control over the beings which she bore; creates a sense of helplessness. Watching my children constantly being beaten until the brink of death with my tears being the only way I can respond.  Then I would constantly be chastised and abused in front of my children, like I myself am a child. Being at the beck and call of the slave master’s children while they call me girl or by my first name is something, though degrading, a slave has to get used to and accept.   I am a domestic servant with duties such as taking care of the master’s children, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and anything else my master or mistress felt I needed to do. They were to all be done right in every way or I could risk severe punishment. The field slaves saw us domestic servants as a separate entity though we all are the same. Only if they knew of the horrors some of us women face at night they wouldn’t think us so lucky. How hardened must your heart be that you could see other human beings as objects and could be so hateful and cruel to them?

Being in this constant nightmare had become a way of life for many, but I will always hope one day to be free. For others fear may be a temporary state of mind. For slaves it becomes a way of survival and so in grained in us that it influences many of our actions and thoughts until it possibly consumes us. I am tired of feeling helpless and in fear. Fear that if my master is having a bad day he could whip or kill my children or I at any moment. Fear that I could be separated from my children at any time seeing as that I have already been separated from my husband.  Fear that my master will rape or sexually abuse me, because we live in the same house and he sees me as his property; an object that is there to satisfy and work for him. Fearful that one day I grow too weary to do my work to the standards of my master and could be beaten or made an example out of. Fear of doing anything to offend or anger my master or mistress, then feeling helpless because I have no control of it all. This is why I will keep hope of one day my children and I becoming free from slavery and fear and gaining some type of control in our lives. Until then I will continue to work to keep my heart pure in a world so full of hate. On paper I am the property of my owner, but something no one can ever beat out of me or change is that he can never truly own me.

Inspired by Mary Prince

The Success and Failure of the Spanish Economy and Slave Trade

                Slavery. The concept of a people being treated and viewed as property to be traded and controlled. Slavery was seen as the most efficient way of getting things done and a booster of the economy during the Atlantic Slave trade. The first peoples to work as slaves for the Spanish in Santo Domingo were the Taino natives and Europeans many of whom had committed crimes.  Once Christopher Columbus witnessed the gold and riches of the Caribbean island, the Spanish raced to establish gold mines and needed laborers to work in these mines. Therefore they turned to poor Europeans and the Taino, who were natives of Santo Domingo. At first the time that these people had to work in these mines was temporary, but eventually they became slaves.

                 The Spanish soon realized that the mortality rate of the Tainos was rapidly increasing, therefore they needed to find an alternative thus turning toward the Atlantic Slave Trade and made Santo Domingo the first country in the Americas to have African slaves.   In 1551, 5,000 slaves were sent to Santo Domingo to replace the Taino slaves who were dying at drastic amounts from disease, starvation, and the harsh conditions of working in the gold mines.  The African slaves were seen as more apt to withstand the harsh conditions of slavery and the environment of the island. According to Anti- Slavery.org, “the African slaves played a central role in the construction of the Santo Domingo. The buildings developed off the back of African enslavement included the Americas oldest Cathedral, its first nunnery, first hospital and the Alcazar.” Although Santo Domingo was not a plantation driven country there were still many slaves that worked on sugar plantations. Thus slaves were a vital part of Santo Domingo’s development and economy.

                 Being the first country in the Americas to have slaves one would think that Santo Domingo would have been the most active participant, leading innovator, and great beneficiary from the Atlantic slave trade; however this was not the case. Whether it was because of their idealism or Catholicism, the Spanish codes in the treatment of slaves and the proposed rights of slaves were very different in contrast to the British and French colonies, resulting in a smaller slave population in comparison to the other colonies. Although the Spanish saw the Africans as slaves, buying and selling them they still saw them more as moral beings, as humans rather than just cargo or assets. Therefore slaves in Spanish colonies could go to court against their masters if they were too cruel and they could eventually buy their freedom resulting in a larger freed population than many other European colonies. Therefore slavery did not become as prominent in Santo Domingo as it was in the other colonies. Any benefits Santo Domingo gained from slavery immediately ceased when the slaves in Haiti revolted causing Haitian revolution took place. Even though it had happened in Haiti, with its close proximity to Santo Domingo the ending of slavery swept the entire island of Hispaniola.

                     In conclusion, although Santo Domingo was the first island to have African slaves its correlation with the Atlantic slave trade slowly started to diminish over time. Also, slaves in Santo Domingo had rights which were not granted to slaves in other European colonies. Nonetheless slavery is still an ugly blemish stained on the history of Santo Domingo and included Europeans, Tainos, and Africans alike.

"Slave Routes - Americas and Carabbean." Anti-Slavery Homepage. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. http://old.antislavery.org/breakingthesilence/slave_routes/slave_routes_dominicanrepublic.shtml.

"Dominican Republic History: 1492-1821." Dominican Republic News & Travel Information Service. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://dr1.com/articles/history.shtml>.

Religion in the Dominican Republic

                  Religion proves to have been an important aspect in the lifestyle and culture of the Dominican Republic. Although there are many different groups of people the main religion which unites the people of the island is Roman Catholicism and it became the official religion of the Dominican Republic in 1844 according to Isabel. Due to the fact that the Dominican Republic was colonized by Spain where Roman Catholicism is the dominating religion, many of the Taino, Caribs, and African slaves who lived there were also converted to Catholicism. There were also small populations of people who practiced other religions taught to the by other Europeans such as Judaism, Protestantism, Jehovah Witness, Mormon, Evangelism, and Adventism. In retrospect there were also people who practiced African religions such as Voodoo, which was more Haitian influenced and Gaga, which was more Dominican influenced.

                When many of the explorers, priests, monks, and colonists came to the Dominican Republic they saw it fit to convert the natives of the Dominican Republic through the use of convents. According to Isabel, “Their primary objective was to convert the sons of the caciques (Indian chiefs) to Christianity, thus inculcating western European culture among the Indians” (p.70).  I believe they targeted the sons because they would be considered the future leaders of their tribe and the father was probably already set in his ways.  Whereas the younger sons could be more easily influenced and susceptible to the teachings of Christianity offered to them by the Europeans.  Catholicism was so dominant that the first mass that occurred in the Americas was held in the Dominican Republic and it was intertwined into the lifestyle of the Dominicans. Funerals would consist of nine masses and there were many Catholic celebrations and Carnivals which were greatly participated in by most of the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic. Although Catholicism was the main religion of the Dominican republic there were still some native converts that represented the other religions such as Judaism, Protestantism, Jehovah witness, Mormon, evangelism, Adventism, adding to the unique culturally diverse aspects of the Dominican Republic even in categories such as religion.

                 Although many of the natives and African slaves were converted to Christianity by the Europeans, there were still a good amount that continued to practice their original and some African religions. The central aspect of the belief system of the Taino was the cemi which represented mystical divinities. They believed in keeping the spirits of the dead satisfied and the main religious ceremony was the cohoba where vomiting and inhaling hallucinogenic drugs was the way to communicate with the cemi, according to Isabel. An African based and Haitian associated religion which invoked fear in many was voodoo.  According to Isabel, Voodoo is a religion which consists of myths from African tribes and draws on some aspects of Christianity. Gaga is almost the same as voodoo except its Dominican based and the Spirits are called lua instead of loas. What is unique about gaga is that the people who practiced this faith were also considered Catholic. In fact there were many aspects of Catholicism that they were able to relate back to gaga.

                 This creates many similarities between the people discussed in Rebecca’s Revival and the natives and African slaves of the Dominican republic because they both had many people who were converted to Christianity and other European based religions by the Europeans while still having some who continued to practice their original faiths and some who practiced a mixture of the two or several. Both peoples also had syncretism and used religion as a means to learn to read and write and to give hope inspiring the want for change.

Brown, Isabel Zakrzewski. "Religion." Culture and Customs of the Dominican Republic. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999. 69-77. Print.

Annual Report, International Religious Freedom 1999, Report Submitted to the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate by the Department of State in Accordance with Section 102 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2000