Afro-Grenadians

Last updated
Black Grenadians
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Total population
101,309
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Grenada.svg  Grenada
Languages
Mainly Grenadian Creole English, standard English, French and Grenadian Creole French
Religion
Christianity, Afro-American religions, traditional African religions, Islam

Afro-Grenadians or Black Grenadians are Grenadian people of largely African descent. This term is not generally recognised by Grenadians or indeed Caribbeans. They usually refer to themselves simply as Black or possibly Black Caribbean. The term was first coined by an African Americans history professor, John Henrik Clarke (1915–1998), in his piece entitled A Note on Racism in History. [1] The term may also refer to a Grenadian of African ancestry. Social interpretations of race are mutable rather than deterministic and neither physical appearance nor ancestry are used straightforwardly to determine whether a person is considered a Black Grenadian. According to the 2012 Census, 82% of Grenada's population is Black, 13% is mixed European and black and 2% is of Indian origin. (Europeans are less than 1% of the population.) [2]

Contents

History

On 17 March 1649, a French expedition of 203 men from Martinique, led by Jacques Dyel du Parquet who had been the Governor of Martinique on behalf of the Compagnie des Iles de l'Amerique (Company of the Isles of America) since 1637, landed at St. Georges Harbour and constructed a fortified settlement, which they named Fort Annunciation. [3] By 1700, Grenada had a population of 257 French (whites) and 53 coloureds with 525 enslaved Africans to work on 3 sugar estates and 52 indigo plantations. [4]

More than half a century later, when Grenada was captured by the British during the Seven Years' War (1762) and formally ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris, the English began to import their own enslaved Africans for use on their cotton, sugar and tobacco plantations. [5] It is believed that most of the slaves who were imported to Grenada embarked from Nigeria (specifically Igbo and Yoruba, [6] more than 37,000, 34% of the enslaved people of the island) [7] and Ghana [8] [9] (Fante people, [10] more than 18,000, 19% of the enslaved people of the island). [7] To a lesser extent, enslaved people were also imported from Senegambia (more than 5,000, 4.9% of the slaves of the island), [7] Guinea, [11] Sierra Leone (more than 12,000, 11% of the slaves of the island), Windward Coast (more than 14,000, 13% of the enslaved people of the island), Bight of Benin (more than 5,800, 5,4% of the slaves of the island), [7] Congo (specifically Kongos) and Angola. [6] The slaves of Central Africa numbered more than 12,000 people, 11% of the enslaved of Grenada. [7] Many of the enslaved people were also Mandinka. The first British census of Grenada, in 1700, recorded 525 slaves and 53 freed from slavery living on the island. Julien Fédon, a mulatto plantation owner of the Belvedere estate in the St. John Parish, led a violent rebellion against British rule on the night of 2 March 1795. Clearly influenced by the ideas emerging from the French Revolution, especially the Convention's abolition of slavery in 1794, Fédon and his troops took control of all of Grenada (except the parish of St. George's, the seat of government), who afterwards freed the slaves who participated in the rebellion. The struggle of the enslaved for their rights continued for a year and a half (between March 1795 and June 1796), until the British regained control of the island. The British, as a punishment for disobedience and rebellion, executed the alleged leaders of the rebellion, however, Fédon was never captured. Slavery in Grenada was finally abolished by British law in 1834, [12] and all enslaved people were freed by 1 August 1838. [13]

Grenada Carnival GrenadaCarnival1965FeatheredHeaddresses.jpg
Grenada Carnival

Religious groups

Most black Grenadians are Christian, with the largest groups being Roman Catholics and Anglicans. There is also a Muslim minority of black Grenadians.[ citation needed ]

Genetics

This section is an excerpt from Genetic history of the African diaspora § Grenada.[ edit ]
Autosomal DNA

In addition to being found to have 6.8% (±4.6%) Native American and 12.1% (±11.2%) European ancestry, Afro-Grenadians, who were sampled in 2013, were found to be 81.1% (±11.3%) West African. [14]

Medical DNA

Risk allele variants G1 and G2 are associated with chronic kidney disease, which are common among populations of Sub-Saharan African ancestry; the G2 variant occurs at a 3%-8% rate among populations of western Central African ancestry and origin. [15]

Some infectious diseases are protected against due to African ancestry. [15] Hereditary blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia and thalassemia, produce an effect on the development of hemoglobin, which, consequently, prevents the reproduction of malaria parasites within the erythrocyte. [15] Populations with West African ancestry, including among the African diaspora brought via the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, tend to have occurrences of sickle cell anemia and thalassemia. [15]

Notable black Grenadians

Related Research Articles

The history of Grenada in the Caribbean, part of the Lesser Antilles group of islands, covers a period from the earliest human settlements to the establishment of the contemporary nationstate of Grenada. First settled by indigenous peoples, Grenada by the time of European contact was inhabited by the Caribs. French colonists killed most of the Caribs on the island and established plantations on the island, eventually importing African slaves to work on the sugar plantations.

Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians are people from Trinidad and Tobago who are of Sub-Saharan African descent, mostly from West Africa. Social interpretations of race in Trinidad and Tobago are often used to dictate who is of West African descent. Mulatto-Creole, Dougla, Blasian, Zambo, Maroon, Pardo, Quadroon, Octoroon or Hexadecaroon (Quintroon) were all racial terms used to measure the amount of West African ancestry someone possessed in Trinidad and Tobago and throughout North American, Latin American and Caribbean history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antillean Creole</span> French-based creole of the Antilles

Antillean Creole is a French-based creole that is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles. Its grammar and vocabulary include elements of French, Carib, English, and African languages.

Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the trans-Atlantic slave trade between the 15th and 19th centuries to work primarily on various sugar plantations and in domestic households. Other names for the ethnic group include Black Caribbean, Afro or Black West Indian or Afro or Black Antillean. The term Afro-Caribbean was not coined by Caribbean people themselves but was first used by European Americans in the late 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in the British and French Caribbean</span> Slavery in British and French possessions in the Caribbean

Slavery in the British and French Caribbean refers to slavery in the parts of the Caribbean dominated by France or the British Empire.

Afro-Dominicans are Dominicans of predominant or full Black African ancestry. They are a minority in the country representing 7.8% of the Dominican Republic's population according to a census bureau survey in 2022. About 4.0% of the people surveyed claim an Afro-Caribbean immigrant background, while only 0.2% acknowledged Haitian descent. Currently there are many black illegal immigrants from Haiti, who are not included within the Afro-Dominican demographics as they are not legal citizens of the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carriacou</span> Island in Grenada

Carriacou is an island of the Grenadine Islands. It is a part of Grenada, and is located in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island Grenada and the north coast of South America. The name is derived from the Carib language Kayryouacou.

For a history of Afro-Caribbean people in the UK, see British African Caribbean community.

Fédon's rebellion was an uprising against British rule in Grenada. Although a significant number of slaves were involved, they fought on both sides. Predominantly led by free mixed-race French-speakers, the stated purpose was to create a black republic as had already occurred in neighbouring Haiti rather than to free slaves, so it is not properly called a slave rebellion, although freedom of the slaves would have been a consequence of its success. Under the leadership of Julien Fédon, owner of a plantation in the mountainous interior of the island, and encouraged by French Revolutionary leaders on Guadeloupe, the rebels seized control of most of the island, but were eventually defeated by a military expedition led by General Ralph Abercromby.

Julien Fédon, also called Julien Fedon, Foedonn, Feydn, and Fidon, was the leader of the Fédon Rebellion, a revolt against British rule led primarily by free mixed-race French-speakers that took place in Grenada between 2 March 1795 and 19 June 1796.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro-Dominicans (Dominica)</span>

Afro-Dominicans are Dominicans of African descent and the majority of the Commonwealth of Dominica's population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro-Vincentians</span>

Afro-Vincentians or Black Vincentians are Vincentians whose ancestry lies within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Afro-Haitians or Black Haitians are Haitians who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. They form the largest racial group in Haiti and together with other Afro-Caribbean groups, the largest racial group in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in Cuba</span> Portion of the Atlantic Slave Trade

Slavery in Cuba was a portion of the larger Atlantic Slave Trade that primarily supported Spanish plantation owners engaged in the sugarcane trade. It was practised on the island of Cuba from the 16th century until it was abolished by Spanish royal decree on October 7, 1886.

Judith Philip was a free, Afro-Grenadian business woman who amassed one of the largest estates in Grenada. By the time Britain emancipated slaves in the West Indies she owned 275 slaves and was compensated 6,603 pounds sterling, one of the largest settlements in the colony.

Marie Rose Cavelan was an Afro-Grenadian planter and revolutionary. A free woman of color, she married Julien Fédon, a French Catholic, like herself of mixed ancestry. Together, she and her husband bought a plantation and engaged as planters and slave owners in the colonial period.

Ninian Home, was a Scottish slave plantation owner and the Governor of Grenada during the Fédon Rebellion, a revolt against British rule led primarily by free mixed-race French-speakers that took place between 2 March 1795, and 19 June 1796. Home was captured and held hostage during the rebellion and was eventually murdered.

Joachim Philip was a Grenadian planter and revolutionary, and a member of the prominent free-coloured (mixed-race) Philip family. He was a leader of Fédon's rebellion; Philip held the rank of captain in Julien Fédon's forces and delivered Fédon's ultimatum to the British forces in St. George's. He survived the end of the rebellion but was captured in Petit Martinique eight years later and executed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genetic history of the African diaspora</span>

The genetic history of the African diaspora is composed of the overall genetic history of the African diaspora, within regions outside of Africa, such as North America, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; this includes the genetic histories of African Americans, Afro-Canadians, Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-Latinos, Afro-Europeans, Afro-Asians, and African Australians.

Afro-Virgin Islanders, African Virgin Islanders, or Black Virgin Islanders, are people of the African diaspora who reside in the United States Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Spanish Virgin Islands, which, overall, constitutes the Virgin Islands.

References

  1. ↑ Freedomways (1974). A Note on Racism in History (14, no. 4 ed.). Freedomways. pp. 347–349.
  2. ↑ "Grenada factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
  3. ↑ Steele, Beverley A. (2003). Grenada. A History of its People . Macmillan. p.  38. ISBN   0-201-52396-5.
  4. ↑ Steele, Beverley A. (2003). Grenada. A History of its People . Macmillan. p.  58. ISBN   0-201-52396-5.
  5. ↑ The Colonial Office List. Harrison. 1867. p. 42.
  6. 1 2 The Fédons of Grenada, 1763-1814
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 African origins of the slaves from British and former British Antilles
  8. ↑ Stories of high status Africans | Personal stories: Enslaved Africans
  9. ↑ Poder local, poder global en América Latina (in Spanish:Local power, global power in Latin America) - Página 128
  10. ↑ Del olvido a la memoria: 4: las voces de los esclavizados, los sonidos de la libertad (in Spanish: From Oblivion to Memory: 4: the voices of the enslaved, the sounds of freedom); 2008.
  11. ↑ Big drum nation. The Experience of the Slave Trade and Slavery: Slave Narratives and the Oral History of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, Final Archived 2015-06-08 at the Wayback Machine . Posted by David Omowale
  12. ↑ Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1835). Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command. H.M. Stationery Office. p.  93.
  13. ↑ General Report of the Emigration Commissioners. H.M. Stationery Office. 1839. p. 169.
  14. ↑ Torres, Jada Benn; et al. (25 Jan 2012). "Y chromosome lineages in men of west African descent". PLOS ONE. 7 (1): e29687. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...729687T. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029687 . OCLC   7919015239. PMC   3266241 . PMID   22295064. S2CID   6850246.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Tříska, Petr (2016). "Genetic Legacy Of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade In Present Populations: Anthropological And Clinical Context" (PDF). University of Porto. pp. 47, 49–50, 52. S2CID   132835585.
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