“To what extent can it be argued that genocide and revolution are central themes in Caribbean History?”

There is no doubt that both genocide and revolution have been part of Caribbean History. They have indeed help to shape the Caribbean as we know it; a diversified and rich cultural hub. Genocide has to do with the wiping out of an entire race of people while revolution deals with a complete and drastic change. Upon studying history or more specifically Caribbean history we would note that both elements were present in its makeup. This is a fact. We must now then go on to examine how central a part both genocide and revolution played.
Caribbean history as we know it began with the migration of the aboriginals/ pre-ceramic …show more content…

This revolt was led by a coachman by the name of Toussaint Louverture, the revolt started quietly as a strike which later broke out in violence when slaves hacked to death a refiners apprentice and set the cane fields on fire. Within weeks majority of the plantations were destroyed. By 1798 the British, French and Spanish soldiers were defeated and in 1800 Toussaint crowned himself governor of Haiti. This revolution brought about the dawn of a new era in the Caribbean one in which blacks had the chance to no longer be inferior to make their own decisions and govern their own people. Haiti was the first black state in the Caribbean. This caused all discrimination laws against coloureds to be removed and black leaders were able to take charge of their country. This was the start of political independence in the Caribbean. The next revolution of major importance would be that of the Cuban Revolution. The fight for economic independence in Cuba took place in two parts. the struggle against Spain for political independence (1868-1878 and 1895-1898) and secondly in the twentieth century against the United States of America for economic independence. This revolution was described by Campbell (2010) to be the fierceness and pride of Cuban Nationalism. This revolution brought about total economic and political change in Cuba which was controlled first by Spain and then America. Fidel Castro (the major instigator of the Cuban Revolution) and his comrades