Caribbean vs American Literature

Although they may seem to have a range of differences, people from each societal setup have been able to grow their cultural, economic as well as political understanding (Catton 5). There is a range of factors that can be analyzed to understand the similarities as well as differences between the American and Caribbean society over time. This section attempts to highlight how such factors have influenced the livelihood of the people living in the region. Some of the main factors are as follows; Religion The Caribbean Society In the Caribbean culture, religion is one of the very most important elements that connect with the African culture. There are various elements of African traditional religion which survived in the Caribbean that still exist today, and those are the Shango, the Haitian Vodou, and the Dominican “La ventiuna division” religion.

But instead, Henry cites as being responsible for a resurgence in the Shango religion in Trinidad in which it was the ideological changes in society which the socio-political climate of the early seventies in which a wave of Black power militancy swept through the Caribbean. The Shango group has been the changes taking place in the social composition of the membership. During the earlier times, Shango was a religion of the oppressed which was a religion confined to the poor black working class. The East Indians has always been considering an African or Black organization. The Roman Catholic Church has changed its view of the Shango religion. However, if the sponsor of the event is a spiritual medium (Servidor de mysterious, called de mysterious), the event includes the additional dimension of spirit possession by Afro- Dominican deities (Higman 45).

The American Society During the colonial times, the Native American community’s overall cultural and religious believes were interrupted as a result of the introduction of Christianity by the European rulers. As a result, more and more people were able to embrace the use of Christianity as an integral part of their life. The migration people to the united states since colonial times has led to the introduction of new religious beliefs among the people making it easier for each to exercise their respective religious rights (Catton 54). Slavery The Caribbean Society The Caribbean holds an in-depth history of colonialism and slavery since the 15th century. This paper will provide descriptions to show various ways in which the Caribbean’s fought their way to freedom from slavery.

The Caribbean slavery was seen as an inhumane action that violated the human rights and social values. Slavery was an action that subjected the slaves into poor, harsh and terrible conditions without any form of reward. Moreover, violent harsh and heavy punishments were administered to the slaves if they failed to tolerate the harsh working conditions. Due to the suffering, the enslaved Caribbean’s started resisting through emotional and awful actions. One other key factor was the ravaged economy of the Confederates. Because they separated from the Union and established their government, it was difficult for them ever to develop a well-organized economic structure to fund the war. Instead, the Confederates decided to print money rather than issue bonds and raise taxes as the Union did.

The “March to the Sea” proved to the Southerners that the Confederate military did not have the power to protect its people in a case of war, thus giving the Northerners the victory in the Civil War (Higman 34). According to Shelby Foote, the civil war have great influence to the affairs directly affecting the United States than any other conflict in general. It also showed that they learned how to heal and move past the internal destruction that once plagued the nation. Though there were struggles, the culture created from the dust of the Civil War and the Reconstruction propelled them forward. Foote meant that when Americans understand from where they come, what they have done, and of what they are capable they will know who they are as a nation and additionally where they are going.

Household Roles The Caribbean society Unlike in America where women had already begun to venture out in more productive roles in the society, women in the Caribbean community were restricted into carrying out tasks that entail taking care of household chores. This, therefore, enabled the men to find means of earning a living by working in firms owned by rich white men. Freedom The Caribbean Society Even though slaves technically became free, laws were put in place as a glass ceiling to keep ex-slaves from success. This, therefore, means that they could only vote if they were male and owned a certain amount of property in addition to paying ridiculous amounts of taxes. Even worse, black women did not have an opportunity to vote even under these unreasonable conditions.

Protests against unfair wages were common, and rebellions in Jamaica and Cuba significantly influenced post-emancipation society (Engerman 34). Economy The American Society After slavery was abolished in the Caribbean, planters did not know how to obtain their labor. Ideas of degeneration that perpetuated inequality also stemmed from this period. It was said that certain climates are ideal to have the “best” civilization, and the tropical Caribbean was categorized as dangerous because of its reputation for mass wipeouts of entire native civilizations. Emancipation resulted in planters finding every possible way to inhibit these “unequal” populations from having a life comparable to that of a white person (Engerman 66). Public Assistance The American government has over the years been able to enact different polices advocating for the establishment of a society where each person is given an equal opportunity.

As a result of such measures, more and more people were given an equal opportunity here they can carry out their respective activities to ensure that they meet their respective economic needs. ” The “Free Negro Code” caused blacks to lose their rights like, the right to vote and were required to obtain a license to carry a gun” (Beckles 76). The racism that resulted from slavery caused African-Americans to deny the fact that they were African-American, “stating that their parents were from Portugal” (Lovejoy 78), “considered anything but white” (Higman 98). Slavery has been a part of societies all over the world for a long time, and racism was only more recently introduced because of the lack of willingness from white, indentured servants, and limited Indian population due to war and disease.