ABSTRACT
For many people the image of daily life and social structure in the Caribbean during colonial times is dominated by the suffering of African and Afro-Caribbean people under slavery. These negative reminders of the past often provide the framework for thinking about the experiences of individuals during that time. Unfairly or not, it is easy to dismiss the acts of the colonial officers by equating them with a system fraught with oppression and abuse. Furthermore, when colonial governments exited the region after independence in the twentieth century, a vacuum of leadership and skills was created that slowed the economic and social progress of the region in the modern global economy. These harsh realities are one facet of the legacy that European governments left in the islands.
