While the role of Caribbean immigrants in the "New Negro" movement in the United States is now well established, the concurrent militancy of black Caribbean workers in Panama is much less understood. The present article examines the rise and fall of Afro-Antillano militancy in both the U.S.-controlled Canal Zone and the Republic of Panama from 1914-1921. The presence of black people in the Panamanian isthmus went back centuries; West Indian migrants were especially discriminated against because they were English-speaking and Protestant. The Canal Zone authorities instituted Jim Crow style segregation (under the "Gold" and "Silver" system) to divide the work force, leaving black Caribbean workers paid less, discriminated against, and oppressed. In the face of this, these workers were not so passive or pro-British as they are often depicted. Instead, there was an outpouring of labor militancy in this period, including two massive strikes. However, the defeat of these strikes undercut the development of a united-working-class movement in Panama, caused many black Caribbean migrants to leave Panama, and made many of those remaining wary of labor radicalism. The Universal Negro Improvement Association of Marcus Garvey-the most prominent black Caribbean organization in Panama at the time-had originally sympathized with the labor militancy, but in the wake of working-class defeats, became increasingly anti-labor.
The intimate relationships between white men and women of color in antebellum New Orleans, commonly known by the term plaçage, are a large part of the romanticized lore of the city and its history. This article exposes the common understanding of plaçage as myth. First, it reveals the source of the myth in a collection of accounts by travelers to the city in the decades leading up to the Civil War. Next, it uses a database of information on hundreds of white male-colored female relationships during the period to provide a more accurate account of the people in and nature of these relationships. Finally, it explains the purpose served by the myth by identifying three traditions that shaped its development.
Analyzes the socioeconomic history of the slave system of Minas Gerais in Brazil from 1776 to 1821. Transition from slave-based economy to agricultural and cattle economy; Economic dependence on slave labor; Slave importation; Contributing factors to decline of slave practices.
While the role of Caribbean immigrants in the “New Negro” movement in the United States is now well established, the concurrent militancy of black Caribbean workers in Panama is much less understood. Examines the rise and fall of Afro-Antillano militancy in both the U.S.-controlled Canal Zone and the Republic of Panama from 1914–1921.
