Africa's Sons Under Arms: Race, Military Bodies and the British West India Regiment in the Atlantic world, 1795-1914

This ambitious collaborative research project uses the British West India Regiment (WIR) as a case study to explore the evolving nature of racial thought in the Atlantic world from late 18th to early 20th centuries. The WIR was formed in 1795 from remnants of the Carolina Corps of black soldiers recruited by the British during the southern campaign (1778-82). Defeat in the Revolutionary War led the evacuation of c.5000 enslaved and formerly enslaved people, including black troops. The WIR became vital for the defence of the British Caribbean colonies and also served in West Africa. The military history of the regiment has been studied and we do not propose to re-examine this.

The soldiers of the WIR were objects of scrutiny by doctors, slaveholders, travellers, photographers and others, who depicted and interpreted their bodies in complex, often contradictory ways. The project's components will utilize these viewpoints while not forgetting the agency of the soldiers themselves who were able to shape racialised ideas through their behaviour, dress, abilities and actions (in battle, on parade and while playing sport). These interactions took place against a backdrop of debates about racial capacity and the civilising mission, and the end of slavery in the British Caribbean.

The militarisation of the black subject is comparatively under-studied, yet is crucial to our perception of the plastic nature of race as a concept. Whites who feared armed black men were willing, when circumstances dictated, to place them under arms. This project aims to explore such ambivalence, explain how whites 'rediscovered' the black body in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and how evolving white understanding of the black body from passive slave to armed combatant was crucial to changing ideas about race in the Victorian period.

The overall scope of the project is ambitious but manageable. The time-frame of 1795-1914 encompasses the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812; the abolition of the British slave trade and slavery; British involvement in West Africa; the Crimean and US Civil Wars; and the later 'Scramble for Africa'. This period saw the WIR involved in intra-imperial conflicts in the Caribbean, suppressing slave revolts (Barbados, 1816) and post-slavery rebellions (Jamaica, 1865), as well as fighting colonial wars in Africa. The project's broader historical context is provided by the Haitian Revolution; public debates about slavery and race in Britain and the USA; the growing importance of science to the medical profession; and emerging ideals of Victorian heroic masculinity. Deliberately, the project does not encompass the First World War. Instead, at a time when the 'Commonwealth' (sic) contribution to that War is being assessed, it is timely to consider the extensive and more varied history of black soldiers in the British Army. The geographical scope of the project is focused on the Atlantic world, including the Caribbean, West Africa and Britain, but also the USA and French Empire.

Under the umbrella of a long and wide history of the WIR, this project comprises three distinct but interconnected components. Two major components examine 1) the production of medical discourse about the WIR soldiers by army surgeons and physicians, and its influence on proslavery writers in the US South (Lockley) and 2) the changing image of the WIR soldier in Britain as a barometer of popular ideas and anxieties about race, masculinity, warfare and empire (Lambert). Associated with each is a PhD project: one considers white responses to the arming of men of African-descent, while the other focuses on photographic imagery of the WIR and its relation to the contemporary discourses, including tourism. A third, more focused component considers the place of the WIR within the life of Caribbean societies, particularly focusing on soldiers' participation in popular sport and the garrison as a public space (Hatfield).

By creating and disseminating knowledge about a little-known but important aspect of British imperial, Caribbean and military history, ASUA will be of great public interest. The project is timely, coinciding with the centenary of the Great War and anniversaries in the Commonwealth, notably the 150th anniversary of the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the bicentenary of Barbados' 1816 slave revolt, two occasions that will facilitate opportunities for impact activities. The centenary will bring greater attention to the 'Commonwealth' (or imperial) contribution to the war and broader role of warfare in British history, while the latter anniversaries highlight the longer role of the WIR.

Impact will be directed at 2 main audiences:

1) school children (Key Stage 3+), where the history curriculum includes material on the slave trade, abolition of slavery, Britain's 19th-century global impact and empire. We will work with the community-led organisation, The National Black Boys Can Association, as well as Warwick's African & Caribbean Student Society to ensure that the topic will be appealing to male and Black British students, who relatively under-perform at school. Schools engagement with the project and its findings will be promoted by Warwick's Outreach Team and the BL's Learning Team.

2) The wider public, especially Black and Minority Ethnic communities in the Midlands and London. We intend to deliver public talks to coincide with 2014-18 and promoted through online news services such as 'Minority Perspective' and organisations such as the Windrush Trust. Warwick's Centre for Caribbean Studies (CCS), which has extensive links to non-academic publics and individuals, will also play a key role.

During years 1-3, initial engagement will take place via a Warwick-hosted web-site featuring images, a blog and podcasts, and a dedicated Twitter account. In addition, we will liaise with the Arts Communications Officer to secure publications in BBC History and The Historian, as well as Hodder's history review for schools. Discussions have also begun with Colin Grant, a producer at the BBC, who has written on race, slavery and freedom, and a radio programme is one possibility. Much of the impact activity will begin in the final 3 months through two interrelated media:

1) Physical exhibition: An exhibition entitled 'Africa's Sons Under Arms: Black Soldiers in the British Army Before the First World War' will launch in October 2017 to coincide with Black History Month and the CCS-hosted Walter Rodney Lecture. It will be hosted by Warwick's Modern Record Centre. A series of accompanying events for the public will be organised, such as talks by the project researchers and workshops for schools as part of broader widening participation activities at the university.

2) Online Learning Resource: An OLR will be created with the BL's Learning Team, led by Hatfield. It will consist of a fully-searchable and annotated repository of texts and images which can be used in the classroom and for student research projects, as well as sample lesson plans. Digital storytelling techniques will also be employed to create engaging, interactive paths to guide users through these materials and link to other sources. These will be organised around themes such as 'Would you join the West Indian Regiment?' and 'Where did the idea of "race" come from?' The investigators will run 4 late-afternoon workshops aimed at teachers from the Midlands and London in autumn 2017. These will demonstrate the OLR and its use in the classroom, as well as showcasing the wider physical and electronic resources available at each site. 4 follow-up visits to will be offered to specific schools.

Data on impact will be collected throughout the project via questionnaires at the teacher and student events, Google Analytics and online feedback for web materials, social media counts, and a visitors' book for the exhibition.