January 4th Blog by Aleema and Marc

January 4th in Trinidad: 

Today during class, we discussed the content from readings that outlined Trinidad's history from the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century.

M: A quote that stuck out well was, "If those men do not fear you, they will despise you." This quote stood out to me due to the commonality of leaders figuratively choosing the easy way out and making their men fear them instead of forming a relationship based on respect. Specifically, this is seen in the 6 years of Picton’s rule over Trinidad, where he ruled with an iron and dictatorial fist. In those years, there were mass reprisals against people at random based on how Picton himself felt. This was especially interesting given the context that when the British found out, they were horrified and shocked by what took place even though they were the ones telling him to do so.

A: In class today, the question that was the most thought-provoking for me surrounded the rationale behind categorizations of "good and bad negroes." Determining the intentions and impacts of a lot of the mental methods of enslaving people brings up a fundamental dynamic between the psyche of oppressors/colonizers and those that they enslave. Through an abstract distinguishment between the "loyal and well-behaved" slaves vs the "restless and insubordinate" slaves a competitive environment is formed and suggests that there is a socially expected way that one should be acting. It reflects a very disturbing environment for exponential division and comparison on plantations for those who were enslaved and in servitude. As the social, political, and racial makeup of Trinidad continued to change over time, the reading for today emphasized that by the end of the beginning of the 20th century, Trinidad's economy was overwhelmingly agricultural. The sugar and cocoa crops dominated the plantation sector along with the minor industries of coconuts and rice.

 

 

After class, we went on a tour of the Tunapuna market, which is a fairly short walk from Sir Arthur Lewis Hall (our dormitory). Once there we saw a mix of foods that we either were familiar with or had never seen before. It exposed and gave context to the intense agricultural production that Trinidad is privy to and we were able to see many of the crops that dominated the 20th century. It also was interesting to analyze what crops were present that might not have been historically, there were culturally relevant crops like sorrel and pommaraca (different species). The absence of cocoa and a lack of abundance of sugar were interesting to note and may spotlight how agricultural life in Trinidad has evolved over time.