Abstract Recently parallels have been drawn between Bitcoin and Yapese stone money. This article focuses on Fitzpatrick and McKeon's (2019) exploration of similarities and differences. The analogy between Bitcoin and Yapese stone money is based on proposed commonalities that are inaccurate, ill-defined, and/or trivial. However, this does not signal a need to refine the comparison, but rather a need to reconsider the rationale for attempting it in the first place. Recent attempts to redefine Yapese stone money using terminology from the field of cryptocurrency reproduces a longer textual history in which writers from the Global North have misrepresented Yap for pedagogic or polemic convenience. Examples include works by William Furness III, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, and influential macroeconomics textbooks, such as N. Gregory Mankiw's Macroeconomics. This history features frequent colonialist tropes of Yap as well as the erasure of histories of colonial violence and power. More caution should be exercised in the study and pedagogic use of Yapese economic cultures, and greater effort should be made to center Yapese voices, acknowledge colonial contexts, and reflect positionality and uncertainty.
Distributed by Third World Newsreel, 545 Eighth Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018; 212-947-9277Produced by Tracy AssingDirected by Tracy Assing2010, DVD, color, 40 min. “Our ancestors were written out of history. Finding out what our story is continues to be a work in progress. It is true that a few more books have been written, but Caribbean history remains largely under researched. In some ways the damage has already been done, because most people believe there are no true Caribs, because an only true Carib is a dead Carib.” Tracy Assing, The Amerindians. The Amerindians is a documentary that details the history and the current day concerns of one of the few remaining indigenous communities in the Caribbean. Tracy Assing, the director and narrator of the film, is a member of the Santa Rosa Carib Community located in Arima, Trinidad. Ms. Assing learned in school that there were 2 tribes in the Caribbean: the Arawaks and the Caribs. The Arawaks were peace loving farmers and the Caribs, warlike cannibals. Both groups were eventually decimated by the Spanish. Assing understood she was Carib, but the Caribs were annihilated; these revelations made her begin to ask her family who were they and lead her on a journey to discover the truth about her identity. Assing knew what the history books alleged, but wanted to speak to respected educators to find out if research discovered any new information. She found Dr. Basil Reid (Lecturer in Archaeology) and Dr. Bridget Brereton (Professor of History) both of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Dr. Reid thinks there needs to be a way to redefine history. History in the Caribbean starts with the beginning of the arrival of Columbus. However the Amerindians were there long before Columbus’ arrival, with a history of their own. Dr. Reid also states that researches use the terms Arawak and Carib as a function of convenience, but these terms don’t mean much in relations to Caribbean archaeology since it is not possible to go back in time and ask these individuals how they referred to themselves. Dr. Brereton further explains that the inhabitants present at the time of European contact were divided into several ethnic communities, but they or their ancestors came from the northern area of South America and spoke a language from the Arawakan Language Group. Traditionally, historians had written Amerindians out of the national history. They have followed the narrative that the pure-blooded Amerindians disappeared, and that evidence was accepted as proof that Amerindians as Amerindians had no part to play in the modern history of Trinidad or Tobago. In reality, by the end of the 15th century there were as many as 40,000 Indians living on the island. Based on early writings of French, Spanish, Dutch and English explorers it is known that some of their tribal names were Taino, Guarani, Yaio and Warao. However, in the late 1780’s the last Spanish governor Jose Maria Chacon gathered together the remaining Christianized Amerindian people and relocated them to Arima. Since then, Arima has been seen as the main center of Amerindian settlement and civilization for the remaining indigenous population in Trinidad. Only converted Indians were allowed onto the mission in Arima because priests and bishops felt that segregation was the only way in which the Christianized Indios would not be tempted by the pagan practices of the uninitiated. The residents of the mission were first referred to as Indios and within time then Carib. Later migration of Indios were integrated onto the mission where they mixed with the converted Indios (their descendants are now the current population of Arima). In 1974, the Santa Rosa Carib Community was formed. Its main mandate was the up keep of the Santa Rosa Festival. The President/Chief of the organization Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez realized there was more at stake and invited descendants of other indigenous groups from Guyana, Suriname and St. Vincent for a community exchange. Thus began the Amerindian Day of Recognition, celebrated on October 14th of every year. Not everybody is satisfied with the Amerindian Day of Recognition. Cristo Adonis (Santa Rosa Carib Community’s Medicine Man) views the celebration as a show. He thinks the additional land requested by the Carib Community should be given to them so there could be a better celebration, not only for song and dance but in a more educational way with young people being more involved and along these lines the different parties that come to Trinidad for the for the Amerindian Day of Recognition can stay for longer than a few days and participate in workshops. The Santa Rosa Festival, which celebrates the Feast of Santa Rosa de Lima (the first canonized Roman Catholic Saint from the Americas) still takes place each year during the last weekend of August and has become a uniting and dividing factor among the members of this society. Assing admits that she stopped taking part in Festival when she was 8 years old because she felt the legend of Santa Rosa had more in common with the fantasy stories written by Edith Blyton that she was reading at the time. Also, by then she had developed an awareness that being indigenous had less to do with being a good Catholic and more to do with the sense of belonging to the land. Cristo Adonis is in agreement with Assing. Adonis respects the elders that take part in the Festival and would not want it to end but his opinion is the myth is a made-up story. Meanwhile, Parish Priest Monsignor Christian Pereira confirms that the validity of the story may be questionable, but understanding the meaning of the myth is more important than whether it was true or false. There are also other issues of contention within the Santa Rosa Carib Community. Assing and her cousins grew up hunting, fishing, harvesting fruit, herbs and flowers and learning how to plant corn and cassava. Now her cousins’ children will not fish in the river due to the pollution and houses take up spaces where gardens would have been made. When the Spanish arrived they found bones within dwellings and it was assumed this was confirmation of cannibalism, but what was going on was a form of ancestral worship. When individuals died, the bones of the deceased remained with their relatives. The bones were used to communicate with those who had passed on by making offerings to them and using them in smoke ceremonies; it was like the member of the family was still alive. Today when someone dies, they go to the Catholic Church where there is a mass, procession and funeral and the deceased is put into the ground. No indigenous aspect to the funeral rite remains. Assing sees this as a loss of connection with her ancestors, a loss of tradition and a loss of an important avenue of communication. During the “Consultation” on: Indigenous People Rediscovering and Preserving a Way of Life (held December 13, 2009 at the Arima Town Hall) Assing retold a story where she had a frank discussion with the President of the Santa Rosa Carib Community Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez (who declined to be interviewed for the documentary). She asked him what he wanted his legacy to be and later put forth a proposal to have the community center become an operational research center. She describes as a child how she visited the community center where she saw artifacts, woven baskets and mats, and photographs. Now as an adult she walks into the community center and sees the same things, even though many researchers have come to interview members of the community and as a consequence there is video. Equally, there are books and papers being written, therefore the question remains how can and why don’t the youth of the Carib Community have access to this information. Assing felt this is something that needs to be addressed because there is more to the Santa Rosa Carib Community than the Catholic festival. Between these two entities the core of the main dispute within the Carib Community is once again revealed: Assing feels that the Carib Community is more than and has more to offer than the Santa Rosa Festival, while Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez feels due to the Santa Rosa Festival the remnants of the indigenous population in Arima has survived. Nonetheless, during the 2010 Amerindian Day of Recognition celebration, the Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism, Winston Peters gave assurances that he would ensure indigenous people would receive land they deserved and through the Amerindian Project Communities in collaboration with the Santa Rosa Carib Community, the government is working on several proposals for long-term development of the indigenous community. The pacing of the documentary is slow and it does not pick up until after the 15 minute mark. The first half of the film is basically dedicated to giving background information about the Santa Rosa Festival. While, I understand the background information was necessary to show that the concentration on the Festival is taking away from the further exploration and preservation of the Carib culture, too much time was taken up on the Festival. Also at times the film seemed disjointed. The film would have flowed better if it started with the history of indigenous peoples in the Caribbean, followed by the community issues and ending with the information about the Festival. The movie does show some interesting artifacts and illustrations and when it focuses on the land and nature, the colors and surroundings are vibrant, and the cinematography is crisp and clear. Even though the film has its problems, the second half of the movie does make up for the first half and as Tracy Assing states, there is not a lot of research being done on Caribbean history much less history of indigenous cultures in the Caribbean. Hence, I would still recommend The Amerindians.
In the fateful year before peace came at Appomattox—as slaves pursued their exodus from bondage and the Civil War dragged on—a counterpoint arose between two antislavery decrees under debate in the United States Congress. That counterpoint illuminates conceptions of universal human rights forged at an epic moment in the downfall of New World slavery. One decree became the Thirteenth Amendment; all but forgotten is the other, a congressional act to “encourage Enlistments” in the Union Army. The amendment provided for abolishing slavery everywhere in the United States and its territories. The enlistment measure freed soldiers' wives and children owned by masters in the loyal border states exempt from the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. As destroying slavery became inseparable from vanquishing the South, bondsmen refused to go to war unless, in exchange, they won their families' freedom as well as their own. “It is a burning shame to this country,” affirmed congressional abolitionists, “to hold the wives and the children in slavery of men who are periling their lives before the rebel legions.” A month before the war's end, on the very day of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural, March 4, 1865, the measure took effect. As the Thirteenth Amendment awaited ratification and as the president spoke of malice toward none, upwards of 50,000 slave wives and children went free.1 In a world in flux, where constitutional change flowed from the tides of war, the abolition of slavery fused with freedom endowed by marriage, thereby tethering a new birth of human rights to enduring domestic bonds. That counterpoint casts new light on the making of abolition—a problem of enduring historical and constitutional significance. It reveals not simply how Congress asserted its sovereignty to nullify chattel relations and secure human rights, but also what counted as slavery and freedom as the advance of the Union Army overthrew old ways of life. Simply put, it manifests what abolition was meant to overturn and to create. For both the Thirteenth Amendment and the enlistment measure were acts of abolition. Both split asunder the relation of master and slave, destroying constitutionally protected property in human beings without compensating owners. Both turned chattel into free persons. Arising together amid the crisis of the Civil War, they belonged to a tradition of declaring rights and invalidating unjust forms of sovereignty that had emerged throughout the Atlantic world in the Age of Revolution, a tradition that wedded emancipation to marriage bonds among ex-slaves—from Haiti to Jamaica to the American South to Brazil.2 Their juxtaposition, however, has never been systematically studied; indeed, the enlistment measure barely appears in landmark scholarship on abolition or constitutional transformation.3 Overshadowed by the antislavery amendment, the wartime of freedom has the for a from the of to the of 1865, Congress the decrees month as never before that the Atlantic the rights of The abolition amendment was a and of the enlistment measure was an act of abolition—a on slave marriage bonds. it an of congressional the domestic of the slave loyal masters of the wives and children of bondsmen turned Union the for the emancipation on slave not in a to the of the the measure what slavery the of chattel to and a In the amendment and the measure the of abolishing slavery as a domestic by property in human for in the of the slavery and marriage to together as relations of domestic the master of a to the and of both and in and the in the of the the of all the of chattel bondage to In Thirteenth Amendment not what abolition but what freedom as to as slavery. the counterpoint between the abolition decrees is the of an amendment in in It to light a the of in for abolition but their from Thirteenth Amendment the of the antislavery by the of human rights by chattel slavery. under the abolition amendment, slavery has to a of and the of slavery in abolition never in Thirteenth Amendment It is as and the of Congress had never universal emancipation by of In the of the Thirteenth Amendment illuminates a of the American human rights of rights in the of Congress to in of the and as slavery by the a of landmark and of and the Thirteenth Amendment has never been a of rights the of to the in under the Congress in the slave but never to the of slavery or the domestic slave has to hold is at Amendment of and it is the that the Congress has in from and to of and rights, as the not to or are not as human rights but from exchange, by congressional constitutional from that the of the emerged not with slave emancipation but from it the of antislavery to where the Thirteenth Amendment as a of universal human The of that rights to abolition and to the counterpoint between the Thirteenth Amendment and the enlistment In that counterpoint a of the of slavery and freedom at the moment of abolition and the of and sovereignty to that on both the of the of slavery abolition and a rights tradition with the of the of the two abolition decrees reveals that the of the Thirteenth Amendment in the slave where the master both and to new into the Thirteenth its and its to its The is to as to advance antislavery and of human rights at the or the second is a what the but what meant by on the as they the to slavery and affirmed freedom as to The is what the of slavery had to with the Thirteenth and what the Thirteenth Amendment had to with antislavery of human the of the of the of the chattel relations by the a all the the freedom that a owned by a loyal master to in a of As the abolition amendment and enlistment measure in president It is to to go to on the are and what to for this or as as and The Congress as the debate abolition of human beings with freedom and the to slavery as a constitutional amendment or by a act as the of chattel slavery and the of Congress to that the enlistment measure abolition by For both decrees Lincoln's that slave property to masters loyal to the Union by the Civil debate on the amendment, as in the of Congress the of slave wives and it is to this of slavery and a at the of A year as Union a “It is for the and that of with and abolishing the slavery by the and and the two abolition decrees and in the in amendment to the the enlistment measure from on and the a year they were both of In Congress the the enlistment measure into the war dragged on and the states with the The counterpoint between was to all in Congress. it is a measure to “It is a very and It simply for the and the of the with its It of constitutional with all that the slave property of loyal the of the the freed soldiers' owned by rebel the Emancipation rebel and the of the as a for for the The was to the amendment and the measure in two to end, As the is to slavery it for a constitutional amendment but how it to that both of to it to its by the of the of the men the measure as to but not that it is for the of to the United the are that the amendment not by the and are to all and in to to this in advance of the Thirteenth Amendment or as a the at slave wives and children owned by masters loyal to the property by the the bonds of marriage between the enlistment measure slavery. the amendment was universal in its by all in Congress that the amendment and meant to free slave wives and it was all the that the on the amendment, on came to on its for but all The the of the Thirteenth but to light the of constitutional abolition and the rights at of two for the amendment before the were the by the and from the of slavery as a for the been the United or to their Congress to this by were the by who on of the of are before the that hold as a and the Congress to all and to this into everywhere in the United was the amendment had in was for the of the enlistment in the on the of the to the 1865, and of A in the constitutional of slavery was that the amendment spoke amendment spoke persons. The amendment the everywhere and slavery in the amendment a of universal human rights, all as the not it provided a for for a moment to to the rights of and in the of Both of the abolition amendment universal the the of the by that of freedom to as of human rights is in of a as was of and Congress that as as a new and into it to in the is at won by emancipation of the has been to the As by amendment the before the that was a the was to all as by free or by before the by a of to the of it was was the the as the American not from the not with historical of who had in the amendment, that to but not to all to or and go to the old by For the of chattel slavery. the Thirteenth Amendment not universal the freedom of all not For a in the of arose the that the abolition amendment been the of a that of all as free and before the also of in the Civil and the in the of the the rights arose to to the was or the relation between men and is to the or before the in a the of all men before the a to a a as free as a A to and as free as before the the was meant to the amendment, not in the who is slavery not to in its a of the who that very day had amendment to a in the by that the marriage from the of relations as in and and been for a abolition. a freedom went as the the amendment, not the and the of a universal of human a before it was to the of the in that had to marriage with bondage in from of constitutional abolition by human rights that the on the of slavery was but It was the enlistment measure that to the of the freedom by the debate on the Thirteenth both to the Union Army and to at the slave Congress on the and masters in the loyal states in slave and children and their the from slave property as it never the as for Congress to the For that an antislavery of property in human beings and as the for the new of in congressional abolition turned on of war, marriage, and the the for Union Congress the of the enlistment it constitutional abolition as a war to the of human bondage to the property rights by the the measure both the Emancipation and the it rebel or loyal masters for the of their it property rights in as well as in human and to the measure to the to its It was a debate at as as that the Thirteenth and it went on indeed, the for the had been in it a of from to of but were to at it the in of or of in Union and freedom to as well as and in a that spoke in universal of into making war for the United States and simply that and children were as of or marriage was or was not or by the Congress the for their the of slave marriage, the of and the of of the counterpoint between the measure and the in March The of the congressional and the constitutional at as the debate into the was not human rights the and the the of Congress to war a slaves in loyal on slave marriage bonds at the turned Union and not how and to in and and to bondage that the and it that by the constitutional to of the slave master and to human a and rights by the and of Congress It has been and that the is the Congress has the to the and the is in that spoke of war, and congressional spoke of and constitutional both on and was Congress the to loyal masters of slave to what of the on Congress the to a that Congress has the to the that it has to the That was the to also a tradition to of a at war for In for the of arose the of as the Civil War was for the not for the the tradition had never the to slave and In making constitutional with the of of Union and with an to on of congressional abolition. of both and of from of the rights of with spoke war and The in its that secure the of the and in its and spoke of and to its to an but also in and the of to the emancipation to as as to the and the this from the of the and to an in freedom on slave marriage, the of Congress on both and It was an that the of the with for the Thirteenth was in the for a at this moment is master of the of slavery everywhere in the United without constitutional It it all of to this of congressional the between slave and the between master and slave, the of the abolition an was with of the for Amendment property rights were the antislavery of and property and its for without to the wartime of the constitutional that amendment has been the enlistment measure as slavery as as and as as all the that in the Congress to the to rights of were bondsmen to for the border states had of to the were slave wives and children of as they not into the war for the the measure as well as the of in the a is the of the is to slave of their it is to the it is to it is to the and to slave It was and In the to loyal masters as with a of property rights and with a to the of chattel slavery. to the of and in for slave wives and a of emancipation by the of the had been by abolition in the of and slave the measure to at as well as slave property by all an in in or making or by or by of for the the of the to this they are and for to their spoke of abolitionists, also spoke of toward slaves protected by masters the of As slavery affirmed its a of abolition with a of that freedom was to a of and the Union for slave wives and children free by Congress. the relation between the and children and their not without As spoke of to a and of both the that a and the that the is Congress to the and the the is the to a in the of in the the antislavery of the enlistment measure in abolition before the day of the Thirteenth but the was that the measure as As act to the of its as in a and the rights constitutional and As in this the of loyal masters to slave wives and children to the of the of war, and the bonds of slave marriage as for Congress to abolition. In the of the enlistment amid the of the South and the Congress turned to the and the of slavery and It was not that simply as a to the of the Thirteenth Amendment in of human rights free it was the very of the of the debate abolition. by as well as by the of Union Army Congress to for the Thirteenth Amendment or with the enlistment measure or the the of abolition the slave but also of and a of slave antislavery Congress came to the of slavery. under the enlistment freedom in bonds of marriage that the bonds of as as under the as were a of as a slave as a freed was to rights simply by of the antislavery on the enlistment as the men in Congress. it the of the of the it as and as and that the was slavery by antislavery The as that had the on the both antislavery and was the of the slave to both a loyal master and a the In was the of a turned as slaves had marriage rights by was the Union for in light of the counterpoint between the abolition free a measure with constitutional of for the not and but also men of and men the the debate became a on the of slavery. the of the war and the the of rights, and the of property in to from slave wives and the on their was a slave That was the to and to For the measure on the that the bonds of slave marriage were as to the bonds of chattel slavery. is the of a the antislavery of as the in as was March to the that men a the and the and the As of this and it very to who has a or how wives to the of the slave was for it not the between and but also the of of as well as the of the slave as into the of that was marriage relation in between chattel had rights of on in for slave to as has a the for the of the is to in or where has a and to the of the the enlistment measure simply took slave marriage for border however, who to in a was a in the of slaves were and but chattel to are to a in has a in and that the to with to is not marriage was a of Congress “to as marriage that is not marriage, the of a of slave all freedom by the and to it by the the are at very in a that but an is to the to abolitionists, the the of the not how slave marriage bonds free a from the bonds of slavery. As the of the measure was its of freedom not the of a slave is the of a the war freed the of and but not as a that the relation of and is not with and this relation is of as a measure of who the of the that the measure for the to with new of slave marriage, or a year of the measure that slaves or or enlistment day counted as of marriage, with children to freedom the marriage had the of the Thirteenth is this to the in is a who was not a of a The was freedom by slave marriage bonds that the of both and The was that and it was and or the of a slave this who the Thirteenth affirmed that slave marriage and as and a to the of the slave who the slave to and the to to human not property to not to their marriage the of the slave as was the of how the slave was and under the were not in the a slave without how loyal a the who had the abolition amendment but congressional abolition had to by the the slave of a loyal and for the of the slave and the with a new in March that loyal masters to by and came to debate the with Congress on the of a slave as the of of this chattel in the or or a or a the and they it to the war's the in slave not it very to for the master that by the In a slave at this in the of also a slave very on the slave as on a antislavery were in the loyal slave and for a of freedom the Union the the slave for of simply it for the Union to into the to slaves the is a antislavery men of as of in or at is to are a in the of the was that to the slave however, Congress that the of a slave was For it the of property in human for abolitionists, who it to the both property in and the in they antislavery to not this to the of of to the are in the of the United States in the that to for property for it is that the that slaves are property and by the Congress of the United that the a by a was from the enlistment an act that a slave counted as property under the for a Congress from a loyal master and to a what was the in and The was that had That the not for the Thirteenth all the of the enlistment the of slave marriage by the of with abolition the Congress the counterpoint between the measure and the It was a between antislavery and that had emerged with in the and in wartime with the of Congress free the slave or for an abolition in as was to its March to the in Congress to their the the enlistment measure a to the act the of this by and by and that the the to to the of the and the of the that on the of the and the in the new the amendment had been in both of were and the was to act at all on the enlistment that amendment slavery is throughout the United a this measure the the or for of a slave from the to the and of That free the slave the amendment slavery Congress for a was not simply by but also by the who that the enlistment measure was but in the amendment in they to the and as to who A year with the amendment in the had that this constitutional amendment and this not the to not to free slave in the were to the of to free human where to the hold by of a to freedom to for the counterpoint between the measure and the amendment old between abolition and to the It to to a of the antislavery to the Civil War as an a between and human As Congress abolition or for the amendment that a and the antislavery in the of both and The the of a constitutional amendment the of the to the of the who for their for in the of the not that the men who the the of the by the as it is change it in a constitutional had the on the Thirteenth the of the was for congressional abolition. It was the of the slave that this by the The of abolition by on at the loyal In the of a slave and and refused that not to for the Thirteenth of the of Congress. as never in the a to of before all to a had in in the of was all to a was all to was and the who had been a Union that had of and as the the slave freedom to of their loyal masters were the wives and children of making of their and and it as for their into Army. this by with a year that Congress was the slave was all of to from and on the came that was of the for slave were on a in the border were in in with and all of that the soldiers' wives and are and by wives were or to were from slave wives to at As by was by a master to of was and and and of to and as the loyal the to to their by slave wives and but to for For a the of slaves and and in the congressional debate abolition. was the from of the country,” a a to in how is not to and children to a that were to the enlistment measure that their was by the of the The crisis was by the of a and slave who was a from a and this was and It a from to the the but the emancipation of for the of to the an provided at from the the of the slave for congressional from the border states to the Congress on the of slavery. to free the slave that slaves between loyal masters and and were freedom on marriage with the of antislavery in their that the the a on the as well as to for the Thirteenth Amendment that a what of men to act and and slave wives and the amendment, an from the to a slave to and however, they the of by to and wives and children or a the For a antislavery throughout the Atlantic world had been with of in Congress. and slave all the of the of and marriage all the the the of a the of to and as of of the Atlantic slave to the of antislavery as crisis into In the the and that as a free in the that debate on had of slavery is that it the marriage the of the debate on the Thirteenth it was for to in by of that the of the is the of and who in the of The of the not simply slave emancipation but also of freedom as an The of the universal of human as the of chattel relations of and to is it is to the of the American at its in the of the to the of from the of its from the or of the slave the of freedom as for its the American the for and and this that but on a The and the a That is was an by the slave bondsmen to their had all slaves wives from and before In the of are in and the of a who simply to a slave it to the relation of master and in the of the that it a of slavery. to the old with in with all of and and the from an of the American for and of The enlistment measure to the of also its For the American not the of Congress to slavery its slave states in to the that the and the sovereignty of to on the of the slavery that under the has to with of the slave into the loyal border the enlistment measure that antislavery the Thirteenth the measure a of in the measure the of For in freedom on marriage it congressional to antislavery that the very bonds property in and a free of an The by abolition was has a to the antislavery the slave is not the but the to with the from property into a abolition also of slave marriage bonds and the of the slave As the an antislavery that a slave to slave who but never to the of as the the rights, chattel slavery became the for A free was chattel a that is the slave turned the slave from loyal master to a Union antislavery as well as the of marriage as a to freedom but of slavery. The of the was the sovereignty that the slave the of of as The the among free or the sovereignty as the of In it was the that to in the loyal slave in the bonds of slavery marriage the the slave freedom but the to an freedom to a of the relation between the Union and the had the of slavery in the and affirmed marriage the enlistment measure slave marriage the very of American abolition. spoke of to the slave but to and of to the for the to as a but to the as a for for the a of go to a and to to the of that the moment is turned and children to Simply the of from the of the the that the debate the Thirteenth at slavery marriage, by of their as property relations of the thereby slaves and wives into For the marriage bonds as the very of abolition. the enlistment spoke of the rights of but without rights to slave of antislavery men that of slave wives beings and was the of Congress to and the of Union to the toward their wives and children that men as as and where is the who in the Army of the United States and and children to the the and of a and of In the the antislavery belonged to who the enlistment measure in the it belonged to the who the abolition of in slave for the as by not the slave freedom was simply of under the to the and of to that a of and is to men who are all for and for the of this For a Congress the slave what was and to how and to for the Thirteenth the of to never For all the of and the of not to a of rights of the to a of but as a not master of in 1865, as the enlistment measure Congress. the Thirteenth Amendment had been by the states in the and slavery had been by
V. S. Naipaul's bookA Way in the World (1994) is perhaps most strikingly about obsession—about historical figures obsessed by an idea: dreams of new worlds, the fulfillment of large schemes, and the universal failure of such visions. In his long chapter “In the Gulf of Desolation: An Unwritten Story,” Naipaul imagines the wasted year that the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco Miranda spent on the island of Trinidad in 1806, marooned after an abortive insurrection across the gulf on the mainland. Nine years before Miranda's arrival in Port of Spain, Trinidad was part of the Spanish empire, but now it is British. The island is dominated by plantations: “no place for a metropolitan man like Miranda,” writes Naipaul.1 And yet his work turns on the often hidden or forgotten exchanges between metropolitan spaces of empire and subjugated spaces of colonization. At Port of Spain, Miranda is met by General Thomas Hislop, the British governor. “Hislop is a man of jangled nerves,” Naipaul tells readers. And for good reason. The brutal repression of incipient slave revolt—“the hangings and the mutilations”—has raised legal questions back in London. Much of the chapter centers on imagined conversations between Miranda and Hislop. Hislop is deeply troubled by uncertainties, by the shaky foundations of Britain's Trinidad regime and his responsibility for actions, inhumane and possibly illegal, taken to maintain order. Most particularly, he is anxious about the investigation of General Thomas Picton, the island's first British governor, and by Picton's conviction in the court of King's Bench. “Strange,” Hislop observes, “that all the bigger charges of hanging and theft should have been thrown out, and this case of petty theft should have brought Picton down. Signing the order that the very respectable magistrate brought him for the torture of the young mulatto girl.”2 In fact, this glancing reference to an anonymous “young mulatto girl” marks a return, a reworking of themes and characters that Naipaul introduced twenty-five years earlier in The Loss of El Dorado: A History (1969). As he notes, his earlier book “is made up of two forgotten stories,” two moments when his native Trinidad “was touched by ‘history’” or was brought within European historical consciousness.3 The first story marks the final chapter in the search for El Dorado with Sir Walter Raleigh's return to Trinidad in 1617; the second is that of Louisa Calderon, the young mulatto girl whose torture brought Governor Picton to trial and whose case became a cause célèbre. Calderon now appears at the fringes of British history, given a walk-on part in histories of Trinidad.4 Picton is generally remembered not as a colonial governor but for his role in the Peninsular Campaign and as the highest-ranking officer killed at the Battle of Waterloo; his portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, and his heroic death is commemorated by a statue erected in St. Paul's Cathedral.5 In his Nobel Prize lecture for 2001, Naipaul describes growing up without a sense of his own family's historical past: “All children, I suppose, come into the world like that, not knowing who they are. But for the French child, say, that knowledge is waiting. That knowledge will be all around them … In Trinidad, bright boy though I was, I was surrounded by areas of darkness.” Those “areas of darkness … became my subjects,” writes Naipaul, and that darkness sent him “to the documents in the British Museum and elsewhere, to get the true feel of the history of the colony.”6 The “postcolonial” moment has been one of recovery, as well as one for redrawing boundaries and identities. The blurring of cultural and spatial boundaries has led historians, as well as novelists and other writers, to rethink our own work, sending us back to the archives to get “the true feel,” or at least a new sense, of history. As Antoinette Burton explains, “the imperial turn” “is not a turn toward empire so as a return to the between and and the and the of the on to the case of Picton and the cause of Calderon, with new historical questions and of us who work on British have Picton's case legal that an of In my own A Way in the World and it to a to the to the trial the and the the But as historians, our or the documents after the of the and with other and to the story deeply on And Britain's historical is of the of that history, the by Picton's trial In or British about empire, it is on the of empire as a in empire in on the of colonial to the between a of and the of colonial As cause but one in the long and history of colonial one of The and us of the of empire and of the of exchanges between and this the of British in the and metropolitan about the of that by Picton's trial for Louisa Calderon colonial for a the of as observes, metropolitan was on of colonial the of often the between and and the of on was to The Picton's most the of cultural of and that the and of of to be the of and to and The of was The dominated British an of all British in this that the was an and of and not the the of British and French they the most A of in in all the British and of and a was by and the French of with of of and as the Trinidad was of a The island's and the of very with who French the of of and the island to a Spanish Trinidad became an and the slave to was a large of of who The British Trinidad in but after the of was it to the British Trinidad and it the of with the Spanish British in the and French Trinidad a for the of In the of the General Picton in of Trinidad with a he was governor in and to the of Picton and his within the of a thrown into by and the of the the the of or legal to in a by British his of Picton was by a with long that the of the in the of the him or of Picton this to it in of his was the he was brought to after the of on 1806, Picton's case before and a in the court of King's Bench. Picton was for a the to be Calderon, a in The case first before King's two years in but been sent on to Port of for the case has a the trial was a of a one in a legal The case the as it of death brought a to for or the In Picton been taken into in order to charges before the case was the charges of and was brought to King's for other that Picton was of and of the and of the by Picton around the that Calderon was Most at least for the was the that he without a young of and a of the case in on to when Picton was all charges and his of Picton's case was, in fact, part of a the of British colonial in the A colonial the In the of Picton as governor of Trinidad and him with a by with Picton as second and as and Picton of colonial and Picton was a of his own in and to a In this he was of with British for for and the who was to in to the as an of of imperial responsibility been at an earlier moment of imperial he as a the as an of and a of Picton was a who his at was a of the his at he as to the British in at he and as a of the of and he on in and in The between Picton and and a with a of in that documents at into The of the and to the imperial us to King's the of the the court was to have been a of the to after The trial was for Picton was brought to court on the the trial as the for him to the of the case to As in the the case Picton was of the most to our and has for a of Picton was he was the of the case was by the role of a for his who led the The was brought and by the the the case raised questions about Spanish or British the British of And Spanish was the legal and the case questions about of and the of colonial was the case by his that Picton, in his role as of our and governor of one of our colonial and to his … has the to he was been by the of the of that after the British Spanish to be but to the to his Picton's of British introduced the of Louisa At the of or been by “to with him as his to the court that such to us in this … yet in that the of is it is for them to at the of at that they or into a of with Calderon “was in an with one to him to of a of and Calderon taken into to in the and at the of the or Picton the the torture was first brought to the of and two or who to the on a of and a British governor for the first torture into a British as a for and and as a of a this Calderon in at the was The of torture was The was by one to a other was to and was by of a a the of on The for to by to this was that but was of a that the torture not be for an Calderon but was up but not to the was The the torture was for Louisa Calderon on the The of Governor Picton for the on Louisa Calderon was a British but that it be a the to the torture on Calderon by the the should be “that it be by the most by it be and be as a to such the of British and history. on the of the of was Picton's that it was to have the of the of this new a conviction of the they of the they the and of British to that of to of a to to the of Picton's to the now around was the In a the that was and was that of a and that was in with a on in the of the was and two one for Spanish and one for “the the of the was to in or to with that was to the years in this and the of was that not who taken “the was to his the at who the and who the and two to an of by in the so was by the to the with to and the in … in with the and his the of the that it was an to that he his have him to “the of the of the at the to of this before the it to be with the of the the that that should be made by the Calderon the court that on the was to to in and and a was in in a between for without a to be before arrival and his of the inhumane At the of the marks of torture in the of or on two Port of Spain, or and to British the to the of of torture and the of the by that the case was not and but of the to Picton and the at In Picton's the the between and the was a whose been “the of by and the a and in a to that of Louisa was as as a in the of and in a of with in a with the court that to the and of this have met on the … a a to a of this … the is to and the is by an The not in Picton introduced the to to the to and two years to the to torture he that Picton to the order after all other been As it was that Spanish was to be British Picton's case on that Spanish and that in this he without the between and well that two of be the of our and that of the the that a who for years on the island of St. to and was taken into on charges brought by a who in court and with his and his and that his been by the as for his a was him to be for his that of the been not and the of his that a of death been a man for his a and man who this But when the to the in St. that a slave who a was to the death the an is the of Spain, but the of an and was in that a to his at At was the Spanish as it was to be in a British court was to Spanish legal the island as a of that it a for of and other Picton was “no a man of he been with order colonial As for the of torture to the of inhumane and of this The of on Calderon was as in of and the this of is for the of the of the is it who and in the and for the of was for of of Spanish the was a The was to the of Spanish to torture in the to the that Picton's torture been in A for the was was to a of as it became that he about Spanish he his to Spanish without the of a The was by who was in A in who the Spanish he that he of that The case to a the Spanish torture in the that the that Picton with As in his Picton should have not be a but was an and governor of a British who should have or him in this his for the to as to who by the of the British have and will the in the of has the of his his to for his before a court of The a of but this was the of the for a new A case that with torture in that first in King's in when it was sent on to Port of and that to King's in 1806, was two years in a it torture to be legal in Trinidad at the of the island to and Picton not to have been by Calderon of the of the as on British But the case to come to as legal on the the of In the court the the case was Picton was on the the him this of cause was Louisa At one Picton's case and the his regime in Trinidad of within a a for colonial at other the case the of a between metropolitan and colonial of between of and cause with of British own this of was legal was to be the of a British The case raised British was in to other European as well as to of the world for colonial such with Picton's torture of it about in the of a British governor the Spanish brought torture to of the of Picton's was that the and Trinidad, Trinidad to In order to of Picton's the of torture and to the death that and have in for the In was or about was a to British of to Picton's actions, the of the of Britain's own and the St. of the man with his and as a colonial British slave generally of or The trial of the of of British in the Louisa was not a but was a of to been into In to this Picton and his by of Calderon as an of Picton that a been made to the of the in of a of the and most who with a or introduced into the of “to his and him of his between two was around the of a of to the of colonial In the role of or of became a of of the of the In the in Trinidad and the of a of torture to the British of the of colonial the of or was to a for As a into own in the but as a of a long one to colonial to of as with the of of and the of the was the in Louisa to the the of the imagined of and was perhaps to the As has the of torture is In at trial and the of trial the to the of the of Louisa and when the of the torture of torture and by to the the was given the was As Louisa to the The of and to Picton's In fact, of the to the was the most of the it is to the about the of given that and British legal The that own the was in the that was by a that the in was and in a for the that in have been by the of the in and of King's Bench. Picton to in to in the and in the as “the Governor of the case to the the by the of the and the The most of the the that in The this a of in of that it not be the and the of this the this trial is to be of Picton's that he his own to the British into in order to the by the in of the of Louisa that and the and of the part of the the and and has been to such and by the of the and the of torture the been in in and in all at to and in the the and with the the on his was so so so so of all to and that he have to and taken a lecture him to to the of his and of and us to the In the of Picton and his a be about as well as for cause was of of to the to this was was with the of with the by the of by the as and As the “was not so a and as an of themes and be taken and in or The of as the of the and the first of the a for the by the of and that be to the and of The of as on on new of and a of Louisa and story in and between and often with between the and the the it was a or story was by of to and trial to the of the was the was not to be and in when the was to a of it with a of the most the As to and Louisa appears in in of the torture appears The Picton Picton the of the the of the is a of very about years of and was in The was it to the of on the first of The the is as the of a is in the of this man … was of a the of a and As the governor of a Spanish island by Spanish Picton into the of the so in The was an a of was The of Port of Spain, with and on a of darkness and to a place by an in Trinidad and the of Picton's to the first him to the of Picton's within a of he to the about “the of that In a of and was on first a of was taken the so that on and in order to to was so young at the that not the is but by years was for without trial on Picton's with of work to The colonial was by Louisa Calderon other figures in a of with slave of and the of by was and for like the for of was the and the part of the charges brought Picton to of was by the of the to with the of on large “the of was before the and as a was and … the into the it the when the in the of the and a it to of it was on the a was one of the or so who on Picton's the the of to be the least of Picton's so on the brutal of a colonial regime of to a of metropolitan the of the and the was to the of the of the … The as the of repression in slave by of out, with As of and of “to a “the to into the of such not be but to metropolitan as well as colonial At the of the in a of to the in this with the And as the of and with the in “the of The was In the case of Louisa Calderon, was a with and case on a with the of colonial As have European on be without reference to a As a mulatto Louisa was a of for mulatto a of and they often in European as by and to work, and to the of British the of not the of European but “the of and for and slave and of about boundaries of the in the of on for European and Calderon an imagined between and was a of but was an of for to be taken into as his In metropolitan of Picton's trial with of torture in order to The of one of the by is of as it Calderon with in the to to in the the torture and the around the of the the is and a of of revolutionary The on of the to the perhaps on of of a for of a the of an that became part of the In the of is the as they be by But the slave is is a of on a a to the Louisa torture of Thomas Picton … Governor of the of Trinidad for Louisa Calderon by of The of the torture of a of a the of by of The The of story was that it brought the of the colonial to the between and in of and by the of colonial in such they an the on the of own into a by it at a the by the for to the and to the with to be about as it was him that cause touched on that of as a man of and on the fringes of metropolitan in the of such as he his own he at a young to the of the before at the slave he to have arrival at Port of in with A he Picton him of as a in not long for to get into at Port of Spain, cause with British for Picton him and the book in Trinidad, his return to was the most of Picton's As a of Picton's he the of a The the book as an given that the of the French of of and the the a for for as the of imperial and the a of for a such as that the by the to the and In a of other on the he the first was to a his he for in the for a in … this of his in all … the of all he is at into the of the of not Picton was of Picton brought and to Picton up with a mulatto his he to and “to Picton the for the and the this to all the in the to the of … Those who or on his became the of his of to of of and the British of the British Thomas the of on the island “is by the or of a of the has to Picton across an it was not for a colonial to a of as his or to such a was was in the in about the of and of the of as was a the of the of his was a to back the on to to the court of was an of The of figures to was a man on the he was a after his own he been to Picton's with Calderon as a of he was at Picton's trial to he have as a or at least as a British the of The of of the trial Louisa Calderon as of the of or in the of of colonial British British to the the in the of the the the slave the of The of Governor Picton General The and The is not As was in a British who not in to be as In the of the of questions with in the colonial slave in and for in in the British raised the of for in and questions about the legal and to such in Trinidad, part of the to British and an colonial about the of of and to be with revolutionary who colonial And about the an of to and to slave and other British troubled by in the as and the of in of the of as and by a of come within the of a in cultural history toward he As with work in this one the of historical it is not by of this but that and cultural As the story of torture the colonial the trial and it up cultural in of and The was to as well as to The story not in of but and it and on colonial and Calderon the of of as the case Picton the of colonial of and brought to be metropolitan The the metropolitan to colonial and the historical in a between it us to it to the as a an as of a of across made and the Britain's imperial and and about of the of imperial and the of colonial The of empire as a the of by to as the the of colonial to of to the of of the on and the as a of In fact, in the and brought before by in an to a of and to Picton's But the the place at they of and to the governor to the the of colonial in the of one the of colonial an of and the of imperial In Trinidad, Picton's as a to General Hislop, his whose regime Britain's to the a or to British legal and to The characters Picton's was in when the governor to the at of good Picton for the Peninsular Campaign on the of Miranda's the Calderon case At the Picton was an to a in part of the of the in that for the case Picton, in his to in a that the of his in the Picton a of As for Picton's him the of the of the between and and he became deeply in the most as for the of who was of before his death in A and a to the of And about Louisa is like to about at the in a Trinidad, in a my when I was that, with with his a the and about with them in they as the who was the of Picton's that the was introduced by to in be to that his young has a of by an to all his In before King's at Picton's new The St. to be and in knowledge of with and a in the that be a to return to be the as the in the of the of the in Port of as given in to an this be the of the to by A in History of Trinidad, in that Louisa Calderon of in on to Louisa As a colonial was the of became an of metropolitan and as well as in and a young of and as an within the boundaries to a of Most the world of cultural a of and perhaps Naipaul has that he one a to the the other the world that one In Louisa the of the our to or to story to a sense of that has to turn the historical to the in an to the of