Thursday, March 24, 2011

Shareef's Empire Posts

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means of getting these slaves, in some cases by raiding villages and kidnapping the people. They would torture them, deprive them of basic necessities such as food and drink, even fresh air on the ship coming to the new land. These people were treated worse than animals, beaten and abused. They had enough and resisted. Even though they resisted the slave trade since it began. The Slaves retaliated as a whole, in some incidents in the thousands. Major slave revolts followed throughout the Caribbean. The successful slave revolt which made Haiti independent in 1804 was an inspiration to other countries such as Barbados, Cuba and Jamaica. The revolts shocked the British government and made them see that the costs and dangers of keeping slavery in the West Indies were too high. Plantation owners were finally ready to accept abolition rather than risk a widespread war. Great Britain suffered and did not want to fight another war after the series of wars they fought at this time as in 1812 against America and the French Revolution in 1815. The French Revolution also brought ideas of liberty and equality, which inspired those seeking an end to slavery. Besides, the industrial revolution in the 18th century, Britain no longer needed slave-based goods. The country was more able to prosper from new systems which required high efficiency, through free trade and free labor. Cotton, rather than sugar, became the main produce of the British economy and English towns. The British the British Empire passed a Bill to abolish slave trade in 1807 and in 1833, slavery was abolished for good. The act, did not free enslaved people, they were to become "apprentices" for 6 years and some were paid small wages as planters. Protests finally forced the government to abolish the apprenticeship system in 1838(Sources:http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/DIASPORA/REBEL.HTMl, http://caribbean-guide.info/past.and.present/history/slave.rebellion)
Posted by Frankenstein102 at 2:52 PM 0 comments
Labels: British Empire, Shareef Khan
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Frankenstein's creature a "colony"
Mary Shelley, portrays Victor Frankenstein s Creation as a sophisticated and intelligent creature. The creature is misjudged because of his appearance. He is seen as a hideous and a strange thing, even Victor, who created him, looked at him and fled. Frankenstein s creature is looked down and is seen as a  colony  in some shape or form. He is judged and misunderstood, the only person who appreciates him is a blind man. Hence, because he cannot see what this creature really looks like. The creature can be also be seen as a  rebellion colony , he wants to prove his point and show Victor that he is more than what he appears to be.
(Source:http://past.oxfordjournals.org/content/85/1/99.extract)
Posted by Frankenstein102 at 2:19 PM 0 comments
Labels: British Empire, Shareef Khan
British Empire in the West Indies.
The British West Indies were colonies of the Kingdom of the Great Britain. This affected me as an individual because my family descended from this area from the countries Trinidad and Guyana. The West Indies, also known as the Caribbean is a tropical area of over one million sq. feet of 27 territories. Britian took advantage of the region's sugar industry, owning five of the ten most profitable sugar islands. Slaves and indentured servents worked on the sugar, cotton and rice fields and plantations. Some were given the opportunity to work in the factories, but were still deprived of their rights. From the 17th century until the 19th century, almost twelve million Africans were brought to the New World against their will to perform back-breaking labor under terrible conditions. The Africans were sold in many ways. Some were sold to traders by other Africans, others were forced aboard ships to be taken across the Atlantic on a voyage that was called "the middle passage . Africans were chained and packed into quarters unfit for movement or proper breathing. The only hope of escape rested in suicide by jumping overboard. They had the right to punish slaves in any way with any weapon, Slaves were preferable choices over indentured servants. Slaves had no right to food or shelter like indentured servants. When slavery ended in the British Empire in 1833, plantation owners turned to indentured servitude for inexpensive labor. These servants arrived from across the globe; the majority came from India. Slaves and Indentured Servants were tortured on these plantations. Britain influenced this region with the religion of Christanity; Sports, cricket, rugby and soccer; food, tea, bread and cheese; and the English language.(Source:http://www.caribbeanislands.us,http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/gothic/imperial.html)
Posted by Frankenstein102 at 11:35 AM 0 comments
Labels: British Empire, Shareef Khan

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