ALST 378 - Systems of Forced Labor in the Caribbean

From the moment Europeans invaded the Caribbean under Columbus in 1492, they regarded the region as a zone of economic exploitation from which wealth could be extracted using forced labor. The Spanish enslaved and rapidly decimated the indigenous peoples before turning to Africa for slave labor. Other European nationalities tried white indentured labor before also turning to enslaved African labor. After slavery was abolished, the European colonizers continued the pattern of exploitation through forced labor by indenturing hundreds of thousands of new immigrant workers from India, Africa, and China. Forced labor remained the engine of the Caribbean plantation economy until the end of the First World War. This course examines how these forced labor systems shaped the growth of the economy and society in the Caribbean, as well as the relations among the various subaltern groups that made up the labor force.

Credits: 1.00
Crosslisted: HIST 378
Corequisite: None
Prerequisites: None
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: None
Area of Inquiry: Social Relations,Inst.& Agents
Liberal Arts CORE: None

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