Aagus maanin come again 
Aagus maanin jubilee
Queen Victoria set we free
Jubilee jubilee
Queen Victoria jubilee . . .
Traditional (Jamaica)
The Caribbean region is observing the anniversary of emancipation. The ignoble institution of African slavery was dismantled on Aagus maanin (August morning) – August 1, 1838. This transition in social and political development in the region is important across the globe, and the marking of its anniversary has international impact.
Within the Caribbean, however, it is infinitely interesting to investigate the African influence in the societies – the cultural heritage of three sets of African immigrants; those who were brought over by force, those who were rescued from illegal slave ships after the abolition of the slave trade (in 1807), and those who came voluntarily as indentured workers after emancipation. The history of these arrivals alone has very interesting chapters, and so do the kinds of societies – the cultural evolutions that followed their settlement in the different territories.
Some territories have powerful retentions of African culture and traditions which were kept alive because of the history. The story in Haiti, for example, has to do with its early liberation from European colonisation by 1803 when it claimed independence from France after the Haitian Revolution. Another significant factor there was religion, particularly the hybrid evolutions arising from African spiritual traditions and Roman Catholicism. Today, among the most intriguing institutions is vodun – the voodoo culture, as well as the spiritual traditions that enrich dance theatre, as well as the visual arts.
The story in Trinidad and Tobago is equally interesting; the history of the Roman Catholic influence also pervades, as in Haiti. Mixed with a very strong Yoruba religion it has produced such traditions as the Orisha, while the Yoruba survival is powerful as in Shango. Related to that are other faiths such as Shango-Baptist, where the mix of African worship is with other spiritualist Christian religions. There are many powerful narratives, including the story of the Spiritual Baptists or Shouters – a very strong and officially recognised movement in Trinidad. The government granted them a national holiday following a colonial history of prohibition by law in 1917 and the rescinding of that ban in 1951.
The African presence is deep rooted in the history as it is in institutions which are among the fabric of Trinidadian society today. Emancipation played a major role in some of these. A good example returns us to one of the most intriguing stories – to the Roman Catholic influence, colonialism, and African folk traditions. This particular story begins with the Royal Cedula otherwise known as the Cedula of Population in the late 18th Century.
In 1783, Trinidad was a Spanish colony, largely neglected by Spain and underdeveloped. But then the Spanish Governor Jose Maria Chacon issued the Royal Cedula of 1783 in the name of the King of Spain. Under this edict, settlers from all around the Caribbean were invited to migrate and settle in Trinidad. There were very attractive conditions of settlement designed as inducement.
But first of all, in order to benefit from the conditions, settlers had to be members of the Roman Catholic faith. Then, “each white person of either sex” was to be granted a portion of land upon immigration, and, interestingly, the Cedula of Population stipulated that these persons were granted additional portions of land amounting to “half the above quantity for every negro or mulatto slave that such white person or persons shall import with them”.
It got more interesting. “The free negroes and mulattoes who shall come to settle in the said island . . . shall have half the quantity of land granted to the whites”, if they brought slaves with them “being their own property”, they were to be granted additional land amounting to “one half of the quantity granted to the slaves of the whites”.
The outcome of this was the creation of the Trinidad Carnival, the largest and most colourful cultural traditional festival in the Caribbean. The edict attracted settlers predominantly from French territories who contributed to the considerable increase of the population of Trinidad and the generation of cultural life on the island. There was, of course, a sizeable population of enslaved Africans, in addition to those who were free men. They brought with them French culture, but powerful Patois (French Creole) traditions that developed and evolved into many art forms and performance traditions. Among the whites there were primarily the “Negres Jardins” – a carnival masque, and among the Blacks, the Canboulay (from the French “Cannes Brulees”) followed by several other forms that evolved over the years, including the calypso, and many masquerades.
The Trinidad Carnival developed. But the celebrations were segregated. Several other factors contributed to the growth of the festival to the way it is known today. Emancipation was one important factor. After the abolition of slavery, the freed blacks joined the street parades and invaded the white revelries, much to the disapprobation of the planter class. This led to major conflicts – official disapproval and Black working-class resistance until carnival became a battleground. The “jamette carnival” developed in which the proletariat and the lumpen elements from the ghettoes of Port of Spain flaunted their independence in open defiance of officialdom and of the police. It all came to a peak in the Canboulay Riots of 1881.
Along the way, however, carnival was enriched by countless artistic traditions and creations which were satires and dramatic imitations of many of the ills and characteristics of Trinidadian society. These included several that rose to grandeur and faded so that they are no longer seen. The range of these include the Dame Lorraine, the Baby Doll, the Indians, Pierrot, Pierrot Grenade, Midnight Robber, Sailor Bands, stick fighting and countless different brands of devils.
The legacy of emancipation and the African presence is thus indelibly stamped upon carnival, despite the many new inventions, the creolization, the hybrid forms, and the disappearance of several of the traditions. These are just some examples of these developments out of the aftermath of emancipations. It is a story of post-colonialism, of resistance to slavery, resistance to a long history of official suppression and class conflict that developed over the several decades after 1838.
