Trauma and Resilience in American Plantation Societies

Resilience has been defined by the American Psychological Association as "the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility to external and internal demands." (Kirmayer et al, 2007). This public talk will share insights from research on the history of childhood in plantation societies in the eighteenth century. Children and young adults in plantation societies in the Caribbean routinely experienced and witnessed traumatizing levels of violence as they were employed in industrial working conditions. Less well-documented by historians are the strategies developed in slave societies to respond to these adverse conditions. How did enslaved children navigate the traumatizing social and physical environment of the plantation, and what outcomes emerged after slavery was abolished? Finally, what lessons can we take away from this very challenging chapter in modern history?