From Occupation to Independence

With this volume Richard Hart provides a “beginner’s guide” to the history of the peoples of the English-speaking West Indies. Spanning five centuries, Hart’s concise history focuses on the impact and legacy of the slave trade and its intrinsic contribution to contemporary West Indian politics and culture. Hart assesses the role of blacks themselves in achieving the abolition of slavery, and in so doing seeks a balance between the common perceptions of “greedy” African chiefs selling their kith and kin for beads and trinkets, the “heroism” of early anti-slavery campaigners such as William Wiberforce, and the role played by the Pan-African movement. Hart examines the motivation and courage of those who resisted and rebelled and assesses the contributions of the various movements which waged fierce guerrilla warfare against the colonists on many Caribbean islands until national independence was achieved. This volume seeks to go beyond existing histories of the Caribbean to explore how the impact of slavery has been reflected in West Indian popular culture in the 20th century.

Author Biography

Richard Hart has been a leading Caribbean scholar, trade unionist and political activist for over six decades. He has written widely on politics, history and law and is the author of Slaves Who Abolished Slavery (1980-85) and Rise and Organise (1989).