Customer Reviews

To Shoot Hard Labour: The Life and Times of Samuel Smith, an Antiguan Workingman, 1877-1982

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Accounts such as this one should be part of the history curriculum starting in Grade 5. Other accounts of similar genre that may be out there somewhere should then be included in all subsequent years.

Essential.

What a rich read, nicely written with well assisted footnotes. I was made aware of the book by a family friend. No disappointment here as the authors were able to capture the lifestyle and despair of Nega people. These people (true forefathers of Antigua) were the main subjects while Papa Smith (Samuel Smith) gave his experience for his people to write down. I have a better understanding of very early Antigua. Why so many after slavery still had children without fathers' involvement? The way things were, men had no say and this book takes one through the day-to-day life of Nega people. Surnames they used were of the estate owners. Homes were whatever they could put together and used whereby the wattle and daub became plentiful. Villages were created out of desperation as Nega people left the plantations. Liberta and Freemans were the first two villages after abolition of slavery. Medical care was conducted by women only and their wealth of remedies/cures were unmatched by any others on the island. Lots of wickedness perpetrated by plantation owners, governors, and the church. Yes, the church was not of help to the Nega people in those early days. The old Nega people did not adopt the church easily since they did not build Anglican church(Big Church), Methodist church and Moravian (Spring Garden) for them. Rather, they were built for the estate owners and other bakkra (white people). It was only in recent history that the church began doing something for the people because they was an uprising and the estate owners needed more control. Religion was the answer, so the religious type started to visit the people in their villages and recruited them to become members of their churches. Some preachers and church types were estate owners and those who weren't were of the same mindset.

The accuracy of the words used were gently warming and proudly written. I shed some tears at the end, rest peacefully Nega people. For your words are still spoken today and your genes are spread far and wide throughout The United State, England, Scotland, Canada, Europe, India, and East Asia. Live on.

Interpreting and looking at events solely from memory can have viewpoints of underlining biases, inaccuracies and influenced by the collectors of information. Nonetheless, the experience of one man is more helpful than not having any experience recalled.