Beyond Barbados: A Cultural Hearth, Part 5

The success of Barbados, Carolina, America, the New World for that matter is coterminous with slavery. The labor, the technology, the ingenuity, and the culture that supported this global economy is attributable to the enslavement of African people. Within this society is also the undeniable progeny of the slaves and the slave masters. In 1833, slavery was abolished in all British territories, over 30 years prior the United States. The Consolidated Slave Law, which granted freedom to the Barbadian labor force was enacted after a series of violent slave uprisings throughout the Caribbean.The bloodiest of these revolts takes place in Barbados in 1816. The newly freed slaves go to work in other areas of the island; even some movement from rural to more urban areas. It is after the Barbadian slaves are freed where homes known as "Chattel Houses" got their origin.