Caribbean History English

In Colonizing Paradise, historian Jefferson Dillman charts the broad spectrum of sentiments that British citizens and travelers held regarding their colonial possessions in the West Indies. Because British sentiments in the Caribbean located danger and evil not just in indigenous populations but in Spanish Catholics as well, Dillman’s work begins with the arrival of Spanish explorers and conquistadors. Colonizing Paradise spans the arrival of English ships and continues through the early nineteenth century and the colonial era.

The Haitian Revolution has played a big role in the history of abolishing slavery. Its significant influence on the Civil War in the United States in the 1860s has probably been underestimated by many. The English and French already had conflicts elsewhere, and the Napoleonic Wars greatly contributed to these. Aside from that, the nation of Haiti was still in its early stages, with plantations populated by African slaves the settlers had captured and brought into servitude. Abuse and exploitation were common in many people’s lives, but the Haitian Revolution brought many changes.