Category Archives: Slavery and Slave Life in Barbados

2009   (J. S. Handler and S. Bergman), Vernacular Houses and Domestic Material Culture on Barbados Sugar Plantations, 1650-1838.  Jl of Caribbean History 43: 1-36. This paper describes the houses and household furnishings of the enslaved people on Barbadian sugar … Continue reading →

2006   Diseases and Medical Disabilities of Enslaved Barbadians, From the Seventeenth Century to around 1838, Part I.  Jl. of Caribbean History 40: 1-38. 2006  Diseases and Medical Disabilities of Enslaved Barbadians, From the Seventeenth Century to around 1838, Part II.  … Continue reading →

2002    Plantation Slave Settlements in Barbados, 1650s to 1834. In A. Thompson, ed., In the Shadow of the Plantation: Caribbean History and Legacy (Ian Randle publisher, Kingston, Jamaica),  pp. 121-158. This paper describes the antecedents of many rural settlements in … Continue reading →

2000   The Barbados Slave Insurrection of 1816: Can it be properly called “Bussa’s Rebellion”? The Advocate and The Nation, March and April. A heated exchange in two Barbados newspapers concerning the only slave revolt in the island’s history. Handler’s position, … Continue reading →

1997    Escaping Slavery in a Caribbean Plantation Society: Marronage in Barbados, 1650s-1830s. Nieuwe West-Indische Gids–New West Indian Guide 71:183-225. Slave flight or marronage, although not always with the intent or hope of permanently escaping the slave system, was a characteristic … Continue reading →

1996    (J. S. Handler and J.  Jacoby), Slave Names and Naming in Barbados, 1650-1830. William and Mary Quarterly 53: 685-728 This article draws on a sample of Barbados slave names in order to examine the principles and significance of naming … Continue reading →

1993    (J. S. Handler  and J. Jacoby), Slave Medicine and Plant Use in Barbados. Jl. of the Barbados Mus. and Hist. Soc. 41: 74-98. The early healing practices of Barbadian slaves had their roots in traditional West African medicine which … Continue reading →

1986    (J. S. Handler and R. S. Corruccini), Weaning among West Indian Slaves: Historical and Bioanthropological Evidence from Barbados. William and Mary Quarterly 43: 111-17. This article demonstrates how documentary and physical evidence can be brought to bear in shedding … Continue reading →

1984    (J. S. Handler and J. Pohlmann), Slave Manumissions and Freedmen in Seventeenth-Century Barbados. William and Mary Quarterly 41: 390-408. This article focuses on the manumission process and the characteristics of manumitted slaves from 1650 to 1700. The discussion treats … Continue reading →

1984    Freedmen and Slaves in the Barbados Militia. Jl. of Caribbean History 19: 1-25. In this paper I focus on a little treated subject in Caribbean history, the position of non-whites, particularly the recruitment and arming of slaves, a practice … Continue reading →