Another means of control was the creation of a class system among the enslaved. Enslaved Africans who worked in the fields were considered the lowest group, even though some of them had special skills. Then there were the factory workers who worked in the sugar-boiling process. Higher up were the artisan people, such as blacksmiths, carpenters and masons, who were often hired out by the planters.
Then there were divisions based on color. In the early days, it was relatively easy for a pure African to rise to the level of a driver. But the mixing of races occurred through the birth of children as a result of unions between white men and Black women (mulatto), white men and mulatto women and mulatto men and Black women.
Some of the enslaved people of succeeding generations thus had lighter complexions, and the white planters discriminated in favor of them. These enslaved men and women with white fathers or white relatives were placed in positions above those who worked in the fields. This was the beginning of color discrimination in the Guyanese society.
