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    Unit 7:: Foun 1101: Caribbean Civilisation

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    Celine Singh
    The document discusses how Spanish colonizers introduced Catholicism to the Caribbean and used religion and education to convert indigenous peoples and establish social control. During slavery, most Christian denominations excluded enslaved Africans but a few provided some religious education. Post-emancipation, government schools opened but focused on maintaining the labor force. Religious and social norms privileged males and Christianity over other faiths. Religion and education were historically used to impose European social norms but indigenous groups resisted and maintained their own beliefs.

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    Unit 7:: Foun 1101: Caribbean Civilisation

    Uploaded by

    Celine Singh
    36 views36 pages
    The document discusses how Spanish colonizers introduced Catholicism to the Caribbean and used religion and education to convert indigenous peoples and establish social control. During slavery, most Christian denominations excluded enslaved Africans but a few provided some religious education. Post-emancipation, government schools opened but focused on maintaining the labor force. Religious and social norms privileged males and Christianity over other faiths. Religion and education were historically used to impose European social norms but indigenous groups resisted and maintained their own beliefs.

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    Caribbean Civi

    Original Title

    Plenary 8

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    The document discusses how Spanish colonizers introduced Catholicism to the Caribbean and used religion and education to convert indigenous peoples and establish social control. During slavery, most Christian denominations excluded enslaved Africans but a few provided some religious education. Post-emancipation, government schools opened but focused on maintaining the labor force. Religious and social norms privileged males and Christianity over other faiths. Religion and education were historically used to impose European social norms but indigenous groups resisted and maintained their own beliefs.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    36 views36 pages

    Unit 7:: Foun 1101: Caribbean Civilisation

    Uploaded by

    Celine Singh
    The document discusses how Spanish colonizers introduced Catholicism to the Caribbean and used religion and education to convert indigenous peoples and establish social control. During slavery, most Christian denominations excluded enslaved Africans but a few provided some religious education. Post-emancipation, government schools opened but focused on maintaining the labor force. Religious and social norms privileged males and Christianity over other faiths. Religion and education were historically used to impose European social norms but indigenous groups resisted and maintained their own beliefs.

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    FOUN 1101: CARIBBEAN CIVILISATION

    UNIT 7:

    Dr. Debbie McCollin


    The University of the West Indies
    St. Augustine
     evaluate the relationship between religion and
    education

     describe their role in the establishment and


    preservation of a ‘euro-centred’ status quo in the
    Caribbean.

     identify the religiously based historical linkages


    that influenced the development of social
    norms, attitudes and customs in the Caribbean
     Who would you consider to
    be a “respectable” person?
    SESSION 1:
     Spanish colonisers- Roman Catholicism
     Many different Catholic groups
     Minister to the needs of the population
     Convert the native people
     Salvation of souls = a better colonial society
     Missions set up- indigenous
    invited to live on missions

     Churches built in each village

    Education supported
    conversion:
     Schools rooms built- children
    taught reading writing and the
    doctrines of the church
     What do you think planters
    thought about their labourers
    learning to read and write?
     Negative attitudes towards clergy

    Believed that
     Spreading the faith
     Bible teachings
     Literacy
    would encourage a spirit of rebellion in
    enslaved
     Though some opposed
     Many seduced by the opportunities in the
    Caribbean
    Focus became
     procurement of wealth
     extraction of labour from the indigenous

    Little tolerance for the established beliefs of


    others
    With The Interlopers came
    Protestant Groups:
     Anglicans (Church of England)
     Presbyterians (Church of Scotland)

     trend of exploitation remained


     excluded the enslaved West Africans from their
    congregations
     believed that they lacked intelligence,
    civilisation and morals
     The Dutch Reformed and Lutheran Churches

     The Moravians and Methodists - c. 1732


     owned enslaved people and plantations
     But also provided enslaved with Christian
    education
     anti-enslavement
     but not a large presence in the Caribbean
     founded by George Liele-
    former enslaved man from
    Virginia, US

     established a church in Jamaica

     popular with enslaved

     unpopular with planters and


    administrations
     Religion was a tool of socialising the lower
    classes to accept the inequalities of society
     ‘The benefits of the afterlife were important not the present
    suffering’

     means of controlling people


     forcing them to conform to a European
    concept of civilisation
     education became a part of the structure
    Copying and accepting European cultural
    norms

     Led to upward mobility


     Maintained the status quo

     Marriage: believed to provide validity and


    respectability
     European dress- separated you from the
    ‘savages’
    Religion reflected both conformity and resistance
    Africans formed their own faiths
     African Methodist Church
     Native Baptist Church

     Shouter Baptist of Trinidad


     Shakers of St. Vincent
     Expelled from established churches
     Persecuted – 1912 Shakerism Ordinance
     1917 Shouter Baptist Ordinance
     Islam – emerged through African enslaved
    and later Indian immigrants

     Hinduism- Indian immigrants

     Beliefs outlawed, groups regularly persecuted


     Eg. Rastafarian movement 1930s
     In opposition to colonial status quo
     Kingston, Jamaica
     Doctrines-freedom from oppression and
    black pride

     Also severely persecuted


     Established churches- patriarchal
     Women relegated to supporting roles

     (West African) Caribbean Churches


     women had a defined leadership
    roles
     females encouraged to lead
    worship, in charge of healing and
    many rituals Cuban Santeria
    woman
    SESSION 2
     Did you have religious education
    as part of your schooling?
     Sunday School -earliest introduced level of
    education in the Caribbean

    Pre-emancipation education
     controlled by the established churches
     mainly children of planters and officials
     eventually opened to people of mixed heritage
     government not very interested

     Enslaved- labouring more important and demanded


    most of their time
     Government run Primary schools established
     1840s British Caribbean
     1860s French Caribbean
     1870s Dutch Caribbean

     Teaching freed people


    how to be ‘civilised’
    Peter Rest School, Danish West Indies,
    Churches supported these goals c. early 20th century
     Educational programmes (even those run by
    churches) were focused on

     programming the minds of the colonized

     maintaining agricultural labourers,


    domestics, and clerical assistants
     Generally more neglected

     Canadian Presbyterian Church in


    Trinidad

     Focused on Hindu and Muslim


    children and set up schools

     Focus on boys rather than girls-


    engrained gender stereotypes
     1947- Indian independence from Britain = heightened
    sense of pride in the Indian community.
     the organisation of schools by groups
    Eg. Hindu- Sanatan Dharm Maha Sabha (SDMS)
    Muslim- Anjuman Sunatul Jamaat Association (ASJA)
    in British Guiana, Trinidad, Cayenne, Martinique and
    Suriname.
     provided both secular and religious instruction
     a rallying point for the preservation and propagation of
    their religion, languages and cultures in the Caribbean.
     education was a socialising tool
     until 1950s privileged males over
    females
     privileged the wealthy (those who
    could afford schooling in terms of
    books and the time away from
    work over those who could not)
     favoured Judeo Christianity over
    all other indigenous and cultural
    forms of worship.
    Post emancipation goals:
     Freedmen sought to re-assert their
    personhood status

     track down and re-unite family and friends

     Rebuild family life


     Women considered life bringers and tradition carriers
    (should be protected)

     Post emancipation: a shift away from the plantation


    and a refocus on the ‘private’ sphere

     Focus on child care and domestic activities

     Becoming housewife = upward mobility for the family


     Respectability- movement away from plantation life
    (ruthless labour regime and sexual predation)
    Education?
    Religion?

    Are they still used as a means of social control


    and conformity?
    Has there been a gender shift?
    Are women more dominant ? In education? In
    religion?
     Is being a housewife still a sign of
    respectability for women?

     Has our means of upward mobility changed?


     Are we more tolerant/ accepting of different
    religions and way of life?
     Has our definition of who is respectable and
    who is not changed?

     Are we still guided by the established rules?


     Concept of ‘respectability’ tied to colonial
    history

     Religion and Education have been used as


    socializing agents in the colonizing process
    and have significantly shaped Caribbean
    family life

     They continue to impact our societal norms

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