Students

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Learning Objectives

  1. What geographic regions make up the Caribbean?
  2. What valid sources of information did historians use to piece together life before European exploration?
  3. Who were the early inhabitants of the Caribbean islands?
  4. What social, linguistic and geographic features created a common culture between Caribbean nations?
  5. What were the social, economical and political levels of civilization of the Caribbean before the arrival of Columbus?
  6. Before the dawn of European exploration, how was the European culture similar and different from the Caribbean culture?
  7. What was the level of technological advancement of pre-Columbian Caribbean society?
  8. What was the impact of Columbus’ initial view of the Caribbean?
  9. What made the Caribbean islands valuable in the eyes of Columbus?
  10. What was the benefit of indigenous assistance to Columbus and his mission?
  1. What conclusions can be drawn about pre-Columbian exploration of the Caribbean?
  2. What insight into European exploration can be gleaned from Columbus’ initial reaction to the indigenous people of the Caribbean?
  3. What were Columbus’ motives for exploration? How were they connected to the motives of the European monarchs?
  4. What immediate impact did Columbus’ voyages have on the Caribbean?
  5. Was indigenous resistance to Spanish exploration justified?
  6. How did Columbus’ four voyages affect his fall from celebrity to obscurity?
  7. What role did Columbus’ voyages play in establishing global ties to the Caribbean?
  8. What relationship exists between the destruction of the native people and the beginnings of slavery?
  9. How were Spanish attempts to justify Caribbean domination contrary to their stated purposes?
  10. How different was Las Casas’ role in the Caribbean to that of other Spanish explorers?
  11. Was Spanish domination of the Arawaks inevitable?
  12. What similarities and differences exist between Arawak and Carib resistance?
  13. Did the Columbian Exchange have a positive or negative effect on the Caribbean and European countries?
  14. How important was Caribbean exploration in securing Spain’s world power?
  1. How was Spain able to create and effectively administer an empire in the Caribbean?
  2. How was Spain’s dominance of the "New World" challenged by Northern European countries?
  3. Despite Spanish resistance, where in the "New World" did Northern European countries successfully exert control?
  4. What societal and economic impact did Northern European settlements have on the Caribbean?
  5. How did Northern European colonization in the Caribbean impact Jews?
  6. What factors led to the destruction of the Carib population?
  1. How did the forced migration of Africans into the Caribbean begin?
  2. What role did Spain play in propelling the African slave trade?
  3. Describe the conditions of the Middle Passage and initial sale of slaves.
  4. How did sugar change the social makeup of the Caribbean forever?
  5. Which countries benefitted from the Caribbean part of the slave trade?
  6. How was the life of the enslaved similar throughout most Caribbean countries?
  7. How brutal were the punishments of the enslaved Africans by masters who were trying to keep them subordinate?
  8. How did slave owners use sexual exploitation to keep female slaves in a constant state of fear?
  1. Discuss the importance of the social hierarchy of slaves on a plantation.
  2. How did gardens and provision grounds provide relative independence and an identity separate from the slave owner’s?
  3. How did slavery impact family life?
  4. Were plantation owners successful in trying to eradicate African culture from the lives of their slaves?
  5. How was life for urban slaves similar or different to that of plantation slaves?
  6. In what sense were free people of color actually free?
  1. Prior to emancipation, how successful were slaves in rebelling?
  2. How well were the Maroons able to retaliate against Spanish control of the Caribbean?
  3. What affect did marronage have on the Northern European ability to maintain control of the Caribbean?
  4. How did French and British politics in the Caribbean impact marronage in Dominica?
  5. How is Caribbean marronage exemplified in the Carib-British battle for the island of St. Vincent?
  1. In the face of Maroon resistance, how well did the Dutch extend control of Suriname?
  2. How did Jamaican Maroons defend their land against British attack?
  3. What were the causes and effects of Maroon ability to defeat European troops in Suriname and Jamaica?
  1. Despite their short-term failure to achieve independence, of what importance were the many slave rebellions and uprisings of the Caribbean?
  2. How were Haitians able to achieve an independence never before or after replicated by enslaved people throughout the world?
  1. What impact did foreign missionaries have on the buildup to emancipation?
  2. Before full emancipation, what were the steps European nations took to gradually release control of their enslaved?
  3. To what extent did economic arguments against slavery influence European leaders to end the practice of slavery?
  4. How free were newly emancipated slaves in the Caribbean?
  1. How effectively did white planter society keep emancipated slaves tied to the land they had always worked?
  2. How did white planter society make it difficult for newly emancipated slaves to achieve economic independence?
  3. What effect did institutionalized and legal repression have on the Afro-Caribbean community?
  4. How important was education in the lives of post-apprenticeship Afro-Caribbeans?
  5. How did educated, free blacks use their education to fight against injustice?
  6. How were Afro-Caribbeans sometimes able to seek refuge elsewhere?
  7. What struggles faced Haiti after the success of their Revolution?
  1. How well did Chinese indentured immigrants serve to replace the emancipated slave labor group for white planters?
  2. What effect did emancipation have on intra-Caribbean migration?
  3. Why did Africans continue to arrive in the Caribbean despite emancipation?
  4. How closely tied to the Caribbean were African Americans from the United States?
  5. How did the introduction of Indian immigration to the Caribbean forever change race relations?
  6. How successful was the attempt to overwhelm the black and indigenous populations with white European immigrants?
  7. How did Portuguese immigrants fare in the Caribbean?
  8. How did the islands of the Caribbean fit into the pre-World War II European strife?
  9. What other immigrant groups relocated to the Caribbean?
  10. Why did Syrian-Lebanese immigration have a negative impact on the Afro-Caribbean community?
  11. How similar was nineteenth- and twentieth-century immigration to that of African immigration centuries earlier?
  1. How did Africa and the Caribbean remain tied throughout the early twentieth century?
  1. How did Afro-Caribbeans impact the politics, economy, and culture of the United States?
  2. To what extent did the United States replace earlier colonizing powers for control of the Caribbean?
  1. Were working-class troubles made worse by natural disasters?
  2. What conditions led to early working-class uprisings?
  3. How free were Afro-Cubans after shedding Spanish control?
  4. In what way did World War I impact the lives of Afro-Caribbeans?
  5. Discuss the importance of Audrey Jeffers' work?
  6. What importance did Marcus Garvey play in the racial consciousness of Afro-Caribbeans?
  7. What factors led to working-class uprisings in Trinidad?
  8. How successful were the early Afro-Caribbean political parties?
  9. What aspects of Afro-Caribbean life were impacted by the rise of a middle class?
  10. How did whites create and maintain widespread segregation in Caribbean sports?
  11. What factors contributed to the rise of the Rastafarian Movement?
  12. How similar were the labor struggles of the early 20th century to those in the 1930s?
  13. How similar was the experience of Afro-Caribbeans in WWI and WWII?
  1. After World War II, how did the British West Indies become more democratic?
  2. How did British Guiana represent a threat to the United States?
  3. What effect did the West Indies Federation have on the collective identity of the Caribbean?
  4. How was the Black Power Movement, popularized in the United States by Marcus Garvey, reflected in the Caribbean?
  5. How successful was the Grenada Revolution in creating a lasting peace?
  6. What was the significance of Walter Rodney’s death?
  7. How were the actions of left-wing groups similar throughout the Caribbean?
  8. What were the causes and effects of the Cuban Revolution on the world stage?
  9. What role does the United States play in the Puerto Rican struggle for freedom?
  10. How does the struggle for nationalism continue to play out in the French Antilles?
  11. What role did the United States play in the Haitian struggle for independence?
  12. How has the Dominican Republic fared during the upheaval of the twentieth century?
  13. What role have drugs played in the ability to create stable Caribbean states?
  14. What are the causes and effects of post-WWII Caribbean emigration?

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