Reader's Note: This story is a complete fiction with a historical basis. The author has used historical accounts of slave women in the Caribbean to give a fictional account to help describe the life of an slave woman of African descent in the Caribbean. This article is designed to read as a brief memoir of a slave woman.
My name is Rebecca Jones. I was given this name by my first owner, Captain Stephen Beecher. He is the one that taught me to speak, read, and write English. I can also speak Dutch but cannot read or write it. I was born at the Asiento slave depot in Curacao in July of 1648. My mother gave birth to me after being brought from the slave recuperation camp at Chincho Grandi. She was from the coast of Ghana and had just made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean. I spent the first 10 years of my life at the slave depot of Asiento. I mainly was taken care of by the older women at the slave depot as my mother had been sold shortly after my birth. The man who bought her was Spainard who was a ship owner that lived in the St. Augustine settlement to the far north. I have never seen my mother. This was told to me by the women who cared for me when I became older. They called me Layla.
As I said, my first owner was a British Captain named Stephen Beecher. He was in command of a merchant vessel in the British Navy. He bought me when I was nearly 11 years of age and used me as a servant in his cabin and in his travels. He was an unmarried man of middle age and treated me very well when I was young. He changed my name to Rebecca Beecher and had me Christened even though I never fully understood nor believed the faith I was given. He taught me to read, write, and speak English. I could already speak Dutch. This was helpful as I ran many errands for him when we were in various British, Dutch, and Spanish ports.
As I grew into a young woman his actions towards me changed. He would not allow me to leave his cabin on long voyages and would not allow me leave from the ship while we were in port unless I was with him. He began to behave in certain ways with me that I did not understand at the time. As a young girl I did not understand the sins I was committing during my time with Captain Beecher. All I knew was that it made him happy and he treated me well when I did as he commanded. At the age of 16, I became pregnant. When I found out, the ship had just docked in Southampton, England. I did not tell my master. We stayed in England for months and soon my condition showed. When my master found out, he beat me mercilessly. I was very frightened as he had never beaten me before. He beat me to the point of death yelling that I was to ruin him. He left me in the care of other slaves that his family owned in Southampton. They nursed me back to health but I lost my child. Soon after that Captain Beecher came to gather me and we soon set back on a voyage to the Caribbean. Captain Beecher soon began to use me as he had before but informed me that he was going to sell me in Willemstad back in on my home island of Curacao. I was very frightened and begged my master to tell my why I had displeased him so to sell me. He said he wanted to buy a new cabin girl because I had became too old.
In Willemstad, Captain Beecher sold me to my present owner, Willem Jurrjens. I have never seen the Captain since. Mr. Jurrjens was a remaining cattle rancher in the interior of Curacao. Being able to speak Dutch, I got along well after he bought me. He was good to me and allowed me to do various jobs. At first he used me to take care of the cattle and maintain their stalls. I helped take the cattle to market in Willemstad. I milked the few dairy cows we had. I enjoyed this work, as it wasn't as hard as other slave work, but did not enjoy the company of my overseer. His name was Jacob and he beat us against the will of my master. It did not take long after my master to see a scar on my back from one of Jacob's beatings that he was dismissed. Mr. Jurrjens had told me when he bought me that he wanted to use me as a breeder slave as I was one of physical and mental superiority and I had been born in the Caribbean. However, I never could become pregnant no matter which male slave he put me with. He would not allow me to marry, as he said that it did not matter as I could not bear children. Thinking that he was going to sell me I became very scared after I could not get pregnant. Instead, Mr. Jurrjens allowed to me to become a house slave, caring for his children and later his grandchildren. I did other domestic chores other than child rearing as I was used to clean, cook, and care for the master's wife's needs. I was well treated and thankful for it, too. I had heard of other house slaves that were abused even worse by their owners than the field slaves. I was thankful for my position and did the best I could. I remain in this position to this day. I hope I can stay here my whole life, but fear my fate as Mr. Jurrjens is becoming old.
Sources:
Barbara Bush. Slave Women in Caribbean Society, 1650-1838. Kingston : Heinemann Caribbean ; Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c1990.
Mary Prince. The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative. Dover Publications, Inc. 2004.
Paul K. Sutton, Europe and the Caribbean. London : Macmillan Caribbean, 1991
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