40
TheIslamicateContext
1.
Systematicacquisition.
ItwasofficialBritish
policy
toac-
quire
slavesinsubstantialnumbersfrom
Africaand
transport
themtotheCaribbean.
Theslaveswere
sought
fromthemost
warlikenationsandhadtomeetcertainstandards(suchas
being
acertain
height).
The
Regiments
includedamixtureofmany
ethnic
groups.
72
- Professional employment.
The black soldier "wore the
same uniform and
enjoyed
the same
pay,
allowances, and
privileges
ashiswhitecomrade-in-arms."
7
- Isolation..Theslaves
rarely
deserted,having
nowhere to
go.
To
minimizecontactwith
others,
thesoldierswere
expected
to be celibate; when this
requirement
failed,
prostitutes
and
wiveswereallowed.Theauthoritiesmade
particular
efforts
to
keep
slavesoldiersandordinaryslaves
apart.
TM
4.
Competence
and
loyalty.
Timeand
again,
theBritishWest
India
Regiments
undertookdifficulttasksandexecutedthem
withdistinction.
They
were"reliableandefficientcorps"which,
withone
majorexception
(a
revolt
on
Dominicain
1802),proved
loyal
anddevoted.They
had
amajor
rolein
maintaining
the
plantocracy
andslave
system
oftheWestIndies,
fighting
even
against
Africanslavesand
runaways.
;5
Despite
these
important
similaritieswith
military
slaves, the
WestIndia
Regiment
soldierswerenotpart
ofa
military
slave
systemcomparable
totheIslamicateones,asthe
following
dif-
ferencesshow.
1.
Emergency
nature.TheWestIndia
Regiments
existedonly
because
tropical
diseaseskilledoffBritishsoldiers
intheCarib-
beanandthe
army
hadtofindsome
troops
whocould
replace
them.
They
werea
"desperate
measure,"nota
preferredsys-
tem.
;6
IfEuropeanscouldhavesurvived there,
slaveswould
neverhave
fought
insuchan
organized
fashion;
evenunder
72.Ibid.,pp.53,117,117-18.
73.
Ibid.,p.
65.
74.Ibid.,
pp.
109,
124-27.
75.Ibid.,
pp.
89-91,107
(quote),
76-77,141.
76.Ibid.,
pp.
2-4,7,11,17,95,97-105,108;18,20.