A Narrative of Events Since August 1834

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The history of the Caribbean has changed our world and how we see it today, we can see how each country and island provides a great deal of information that connects them to a greater whole. Places like Jamaica have experienced a great deal of change since the colonial times, the people that now reside on the island now have freedoms that others did not; if we take a look back during the early 1800s, people still worked under the weight of slavery. Soon that would change under the new apprenticeship period. The people that lived under the apprenticeship were mistreated more during this time period, than they were under slavery and they were only free to certain extents. After reading A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS,SINCE THE FIRST OF AUGUST, 1834, by James Williams, who was an apprenticed laborer in Jamaica, we can see that during this time period it was a tough and a hard fought life. People like James Williams were beaten and whipped day after day proving that the new apprenticeship was a depressing and harsh time period in Jamaica.

Through the reading by James Williams, we get a firm understanding of what is going on during this time period in Jamaica and what people are going through under the new apprenticeship. James discusses how he is eighteen years old and how he is mistreated during this time, “Apprentices get a great deal more punishment now than they did when they was slaves; the master take spite” (page 1) . Since these people are now free they have to endure the physical barriers of society and also the economic hardship. People like James Williams have no education and don’t understand why they are being beaten from time to time. His master, who

previously was a slave owner, most likely resents the idea of apprentices...

... middle of paper ...

...ually stood for. James was just one example of what people were going through, the idea that he was doing nothing to deserve these whippings is most likely true and others like him had to endure great sacrifice during this time period.

Works Cited

1) Hall, D. G. The Apprenticeship Period in Jamaica, 1834-1838. --. Mona, Jamaica: Institute of Education of the University of West Indies, 1953. Print.

2) Morgan, Kenneth . "Labour Relations during and after Apprenticeship: Amity Hall, Jamaica, 1834–1840." Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave Studies 33: 457-478. http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2100/doi/abs/10.1080/0144039X.2011.606629#.U2zZ0vldXkN (accessed May 9, 2014).

3) Hall, D. G. "The Apprenticeship Period In Jamaica, 1834-1838." Caribbean Quarterly 3: 142-166. http://proxy.buffalostate.edu:2096/stable/40652579 (accessed May 9, 2014).

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