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When debating to what degree racism fuelled the start and expansion of colonial plantations, one must recognise first and foremost that racial prejudice plays a large role in maintaining the hierarchy of the plantations. A question that often arises in this debate is whether racism was around before slavery, or if it occurred as a result. As expressed by Eric Williams, “Slavery was not born of racism: rather racism was a consequence of slavery”. This endorses the idea that although race contributed significantly to plantation colonialism, the initial basis for them was to increase manual labour to match demands overseas regardless of ethnicity, although this changed over time. During the 16th century as the slave trade evolved, so did the mindset of slave owners who were soon consumed by the idea that Africans were somehow subhuman and uncivilised and therefore planting the seed of racism that is still heavily ingrained in today’s society. This essay will, for the most part, argue that race and racial prejudice were essential to plantation colonialism.
In opposition to the statement that race and racial prejudice were fundamental to plantation colonialism, one could say that the core inclination to buy slaves from Africa stems from an economic perspective rather than one of race. Before the use of African slaves, many labourers were indentured white people and Amerindians. However, due to lack of sanitation, frequent abuse and overworking of the native Americans, many died due to these circumstances leading to an increase in demand for manual workers. As a result of the lack of free European migrants wanting to travel across the Atlantic and the number of indentured servants never arriving in sufficient numbers to satisfy the labour needs for expanding plantations, the fear of not meeting demands for the goods originating from the plantations increased, as well as capping the profitable growth. This quickly led to the capitalising of enslaved Africans. Another point that could indicate the economic factor is how cheap African slaves were, “ an indentured labourer had to be freed after five years, a slave belonged to his master for the rest of his life any children they produced automatically belonged to the master” this shows that to a white plantation owner, a black man was first and foremost an instrument of work, a beast of labour acquired at a high price which, through his regular work was to bring them enormous profit. A slave represented a secure, profitable and economical investment, in the sense that the master did not have any obligations towards them. They did not have to dress them, feed them or even house them properly although the law obliged them too and it was in their best interest to keep the slaves alive for as long as possible.
Although the primary aim of these plantations may have been economic, Europeans had entered the Caribbean with predisposed racial views of Africans and the African society. The sheer increasing number of slaves which owners had to manage, became a source of insecurity in fear of rebellions. This is where racism starts to become fundamental to plantation colonialism. “Europeans were not prepared to enslave each other but were prepared to buy Africans …’ (Eltis, 2007) this shows the lack of comradeship between them is also a component which permitted slavery. During the 17th century, the British had heavily set racial views on enslaved Africans, seeing them as bellow the white and needing their mercy to become civilized. Here we can understand that the colonisers had a strong sense of belonging to a collective society which was lacking in within the Africans. The black enslavers did not see themselves or their victims as Africans (Eltis, 2007), confirming that there was not an extreme sense of belonging or companionship making it easier from Africans to sell other Africans without any feeling of betrayal. In ‘The Interesting Narrative’, this narrative is emphasised as the “blacks who brought me on board went off, and left me abandoned in despair” (Equiano,- showcasing that the black enslavers were a key component of the triangular trade as they allowed for the purchase of fellow Africans to accommodate the white colonialists. This difference of treatment of the races within each other provides evidence and is crucial to understand that race played a huge role in plantation colonialism as the trade depended largely on the cooperation of Africans.
The mentality that the colonisers came with became views that were heavily embedded in the financial and economical structure in which the colonial plantations were built upon, meaning that they reflected the Europeans state of mind. The racism used to dehumanize enslaved Africans was born out of self-interest and removing empathy towards them. Ensuring the colonisers had asserted themselves as superior to the black race was essential in keeping the slave trade running, a good example of this is with Barbados. Barbados was the first society which was solely supported by enslaved Africans with no alternative society, the entirety of the island was slave-based. The extent at which the racism is very clear here, the whites had claimed such power of the slaves that even with the mass imbalanced ratio between slave masters and slaves on the island, they still managed to have full control over them. The 1661 Barbados slave code gave an insight into how the slave owners thought of the enslaved Africans. It described them as “heathenish and brutish and [as] dangerous kinds of people” it also showed how they “transformed people from human beings into things” to justify their actions (Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners, 2015). By removing the identity and value of a race and suppressing them under extreme violence created a system that was reigned by terror. The “routine sexual exploitation [to the women] and violence in which the slave owners asserted their dominance” (Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners, 2015), by enforcing this constant physical and mental abuse weakened the Africans and exhibits the extent which race and racial prejudice played a huge role in colonial plantations.
In the French colonies the royal edict published in 1685, ‘Code Noir’ was the soul of the colonial laws which regulated the lives of the slaves in these colonies. Far from protecting slaves, it was for a long time a source of inspiration for planters in the mistreatment of Africans, violence was used as an economic stimulus. During the 19th century in France, racist views had reached an all-time high due to scientists dividing humanity into groups where black people were classed as being cunning, indolent, negligent, governed by his whim or by the will of his masters. Making it easier to maintain the position of authoritative figures and the slaves to be obedient, the hierarchy of the plantations were solid and fully based on race.
To understand the fundamentals of plantation colonialism fully, one must take into consideration the economic and racial factors as well as the principal philosophy of the colonisers. Having access to cheap labour that allows the Europeans to flourish economically and gain riches and status back home was a priority for colonial empires such as the British and the French. The key structure of plantation colonialism is the philosophy and beliefs of the Europeans. At the core of these colonial sites, anyone who looked and had different customs to those they were used to were seen as a barbaric and in need of being ‘civilised’, they equivalated non-whites to the likes of barbaric as seen with the slave trade and the colonisation of Native American land. To conclude it is fair to say that race and racial prejudice were fundamental to plantation colonialism as without the full control of the enslaved, which was achieved through the means of torture and degradation, and the Africans within themselves not having a strong sense of identity, plantations in the Americas and surrounding would not have been able to become what they were.
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