Topic > Hierarchy and Work: A Study of the 17th Century Caribbean

The actual daily lives of servants and slaves and the differences in how they were treated also draws some important inferences. Generally this was how an African slave was viewed compared to an Irish servant. The common belief was that it was easier for a slave to work in the fields, that he was used to toiling under the scorching sun. Although, probably, European serfs can be seen as more favored by the planters. They received the bodies of animals on the rare occasion that the workers received the meat while the slaves received the head and innards, the servants received extra clothes to change during the day as their European bodies were not used to physical labor under the sun. These differences distinguish European servants in a way that makes them seem better or more worthy than slaves. It may have created an environment that caused the slaves to resent the servants, and although author Jenny Shaw believes that they bonded despite these differences, it can also be inferred differently. It created an environment that could be used to better advance English interests. In the Caribbean, other European powers are colonizing and this leads to conflicts and turf wars. By dividing people who might have a common interest or enemy, the servants and slaves from the English, it helps to weaken or prevent