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The University of the West Indies

FOUN 1101
Caribbean Civilisation
Portfolio

Student name: shonice warner

Student ID number: 412001328

Degree Program: Bachelor of Law (llb.)

Faculty: law

Campus: cave hill

Date: 2/03/2018

Title of Portfolio: understanding the Caribbean

Link/web address (where applicable):


I certify that this is my own work and by attaching this cover sheet certify further that there are no
instances of plagiarism contained herein. I submit to any penalty imposed by the Faculty for any
instance of plagiarism found in my work howsoever caused.

Tracki
Signed: (Shonice Warner)

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PORTFOLIO LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.1

The Chattel House

The Chattel House is an architectural structure depicted in the Caribbean. It represents the

regions historical circumstances and inventiveness in slavery. The structure along with its vivid

colours continues to define the Caribbean and represent the civilization of slaves in an era of

survival. The structures convey how after emancipation slaves were still powerless with limited

resources, where most of the land was still owned by the plantations. Moreover, it demonstrates

how in times of slavery they could build homes on plantation lands while working on the same

plantation as a means of survival and providing for their families. However, the plantation

owners reserved the right to evict. As a result, the houses therefore had to be “chattel” which

means “movable possession”. These structures as seen in the picture were built of timber, on

foundations built with coral blocks, and constructed so they could easily be dismantled in

sections, put onto a cart and moved to another spot.


The Drip Stone House

This artefact can be found at Sunbury Plantation House. The dripstone house is a limestone

vessel used to filter water which was introduced to the West Indies by the Spanish. In this time, it

was important water collected from surface springs, ponds and from roofs of houses be filtered.

Therefore, the use of coral limestone dripstones, replicated from the Spanish form, was

introduced into the islands. This was a method to ensure clean water for drinking and prevent the
outbreak of certain diseases. From this we see ethnocentrism, from the perspective that European

legacies may have been seen more superior and an accepted form in civilisation in the Caribbean.

Ichirouganaim – “The Monkey Jar”

The monkey jar has been used for several centuries in the Caribbean. The main used was to store

water and the persevered beverages at a cold temperature in Caribbean culture. The techniques

used to make clay pieces were brought to the Caribbean by the enslaved. This technique was

unique in defining the Caribbean. However, overtime the indigenous Indians adopted the

influences and other techniques of the Europeans. This has established clear evidence of pre-

Columbian habitation in Barbados and a long history of pottery on the island. Moreover, it was

observed the European and the indigenous had a custom of pottery; however, the objects are

demonstrated the Caribbean in form but European in the method of their production. Thus, we

see concepts such as revisionism and ethnocentrism influencing the manufacture of the jar.
PORTFOLIO LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.1

A) Christopher Columbus didn’t discover a new world in 1492. The notion of discovering a

“New World” was one new only to him in the sense that he had never seen anything like

this before and it was not what he expected. In the Caribbean there was a substantial

existence, physical and spiritual, before he became aware of it. In Foucault notion on

power and knowledge, where power is constituted through accepted forms of knowledge,

scientific understanding, and truth, we see that this “discovery” is based on knowledge

which is influenced by our exposure. Moreover, with this exposure comes many

misconceptions about the Caribbean, where such exposure is limited, or little is known.

This forces us to make up our minds in a vacuum due to limited information which taints

our beliefs. Therefore, knowledge becomes useless at this point. Consequently, as far

Columbus’s discovery of the “New World”, the way in which he wanted to identify what

he saw did not satisfy his curiosity, or correct ignorance which brought about his belief

that a “New World” was discovered. Additionally, the notion of ‘discovery’ was seen not

as his initial intent where Columbus reached what he mistakenly thought was the ‘Indies’

but it was the Bahamas in the West Indies. The notion of the discovery portrays an idea of

a successful conquest and slavery through exploitation by fraud. Columbus was an

opportunist who created western capitalism where the Neo- Indians had no idea of the

intention to enslave. Thus, Columbus arrival was an “Exploitation of the New World”
which represents greedy by the Europeans who subjugated Neo-Indians through

colonialism, slavery, Christianity, and imperialism.

B) To some extent we can describe the early inhabitants as primitive since they were not

advanced or industrialized as society today. In trying to retrace the past we have to be

aware of certain levels of subjectivity and also the nature of what is being observed.

Therefore, we can agree that early inhabitants were primitive, and it will be incorrect to

say that the “New World” only experienced civilization following Columbus arrival.

These inhabitants had an organized system of government, women had their roles, there

were standards of beauty and other standards which made them who they were before

Columbus’s arrival. These early inhabitants were no different, just they had different

standards and when we fail to understand certain names and concepts in a society our

knowledge is useless. Thus, Columbus subjected his interpretation to servitudes, which

led him to believe that he discovered a “New World”. Moreover, in bestowing the

encomienda system on the indigenous people, we can see there was a civilization and a

way of living and survival through exploitation which they were doing freely before the

arrival of Columbus.

PORTFOLIO LEARNING ACTIVITY 4.2

“Sexy Employers” conveys a message for women to be wary of the people with whom they

worked, particularly their superiors.

A. In the life of the enslaved woman, we observed the relevance of the lyrics as it shows the

beginning of the exploitation and oppression of women from as early as slavery. Enslaved

women’s sexuality in the 18th century subjected them to a range of circumstances. Women
were sexually exploited under slavery where they were particularly vulnerable to rape

and sexual abuse. Moreover, enslaved women were fulfilling the sexual and familial

needs of men. Some of such women occasionally became “legal wives,” but more

frequently were used as concubines, mistresses, and even prostitutes. 1 In Barbados,

“female domestic slaves” habitually were subjected to “sociosexual manipulation” by

male slaveholders.2 Likewise, several slave chronicles affirm the sexual exploitation that

women faced under slavery, as well as to how frequently women were separated from

their children and families.

B. In the 21st century the lyrics are still more relevant. Female exploitation is still a relevant

issue faced by women in the workforce and day-to-day living in the Caribbean and

internationally, especially in the United States of America. Therefore, the song is a social

instrument to protest class and gender disparity and oppression. The lyrics give a

representation of attitudes to changing gender relations, sexual harassment, and disrespect

towards women in our society. The calypso lyrics impart strategies of resistance of

female subordination, which have been used since the 18h century to become liberated;

and which continue to be an instrument for many women to protect their dignity.

1 Mary Karasch, “Slave Women on the Brazilian Frontier in the Nineteenth Century,” in Gaspar
and Hine (ed.), More Than Chattel,pp. 78-96, here p. 84. See also Richard Graham, “Another
Middle Passage? The Internal Slave Trade in Brazil,” in The Chattel Principle: Internal Slave
Trades in the Americas, ed. Walter Johnson, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004), pp. 291-
324, esp. p. 300
2 Hillary Beckles, “Black Female Slaves and White Households in Barbados, in Gaspar and Hine
(ed.), More Than Chattel, pp. 111-125. p.117
PROFOLIO LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2

Defining the Caribbean is still a challenge, where some definitions can be opportunistic, and

some provide limitations. The geographic definition of the Caribbean is based on a Caribbean

basin bordered by Central America, which can be broadly defined by used of a map. However, in

giving a physical description it excludes some midland territories such as Belize, Guyana, and

Suriname. Consequently, the physical geographical concept in defining the Caribbean is

inherently limited as it does not account for the way in which persons and communities interpret

the Caribbean space. For example, outliers such as Belize, Guyana and Suriname that form an

important part of the Caribbean history, the social and political ties which engage their

involvement well beyond a physical definition of the Caribbean, can be considered not a part of

the Caribbean base on this definition.

It is challenging if we only look at geography, we must explore a definition that incorporates

experiences of how and what people see and make of the Caribbean space. We have some

common historical experiences and structures that help define us. The foundation of first settlers

who eventually suffered from genocide at the hands of European explorers and colonies. The

socio-economic systems of oppression such as slavery and indentureship as part of the project of

colonialism that is firmly installed in plantation society. By this approach we see a link between

Caribbean territories and metropolitan powers in Europe. Our history shows the roles in which

varying systems of colonialism with some commonalities but some significant difference in the

Caribbean have existed and bonded to some extent. However, it has led further division of
language, such as Dutch, Spanish, French, and English. Therefore, we can conclude that Belize,

Suriname, Guyana and Montserrat by similar colonial history and cultural experience can be

considered part of the Caribbean.

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