The Early English Caribbean, 1570–1700 Vol 2


Book Description

This four-volume collection brings together rare pamphlets from the formative years of the English involvement in the Caribbean. Texts presented in the volumes cover the first impressions of the region, imperial rivalries between European traders and settlers and the experience of day-to-day life in the colonies. Volume 2: Fitting into the Empire This volume documents the political situation in the Caribbean within the context of imperial rivalries. The Spanish tried to repulse all other newcomers, and by the 1660s territorial disputes between the English, the French and the Dutch were commonplace. Eventually, English, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish territories were established, ushering in a new era of small colonial outposts. Trading networks were built up, with sugar becoming the main export and the source of both wealth and controversy. Documents attest to the strong feelings provoked by the high duty on sugar as well as giving an insight into the day-to-day problems of managing plantations. New territories required new systems of governance. Issues surrounding these were reported and discussed in various publications aimed at an English readership. Printed compilations of colonial laws also gave readers back in England the chance to gain insights into the whole legal framework needed to meet the needs of Caribbean settlements.




The History of the Island of Antigua


Book Description

Hardcover reprint of the original 1894 edition - beautifully bound in brown cloth covers featuring titles stamped in gold, 8vo - 6x9". No adjustments have been made to the original text, giving readers the full antiquarian experience. For quality purposes, all text and images are printed as black and white. This item is printed on demand. Book Information: Oliver, Vere Langford. The History Of The Island Of Antigua, One Of The Leeward Caribbees In The West Indies, From The First Settlement In 1635 To The Present Time, Volume 2. Indiana: Repressed Publishing LLC, 2012. Original Publishing: Oliver, Vere Langford. The History Of The Island Of Antigua, One Of The Leeward Caribbees In The West Indies, From The First Settlement In 1635 To The Present Time, Volume 2. London, Mitchell And Hughes, 1894.




Plantations of Antigua: the Sweet Success of Sugar (Volume 2)


Book Description

Sugar. It sits there, dormant, nestled in a small bowl or serving-size packet, waiting to be spooned into a cup of coffee or tea, spread across some cereal, or dropped into a recipe for cake, pie, or other scrumptious treat in the making. It is so readily available, so easy to use, and so irresistibly tasty. But few people stop to realize the enormous economic, social, political, even military upheaval this simple-looking, widely popular food enhancer has caused in many parts of the world. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, even into the nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth, sugar cane was a preeminent crop upon which economies succeeded or failed, societies grew, and money flowed like . . . well, sugar! A region particularly impacted by sugar was the volcanic islands of the Caribbean—virgin soil enriched by crushed coral and limestone and blessed by unlimited sunshine. The result was soil so rich for planting that the necklace of island colonies and small nation-states became a massive source of the world’s supply of sugar. Antigua’s 108 square miles, an island of undulating hills and indented coastline, fell into this category.




Historical Archaeologies of the Caribbean


Book Description

New perspectives on Caribbean historical archaeology that go beyond the colonial plantation Historical Archaeologies of the Caribbean: Contextualizing Sites through Colonialism, Capitalism, and Globalism addresses issues in Caribbean history and historical archaeology such as freedom, frontiers, urbanism, postemancipation life, trade, plantation life, and new heritage. This collection moves beyond plantation archaeology by expanding the knowledge of the diverse Caribbean experiences from the late seventeenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries. The essays in this volume are grounded in strong research programs and data analysis that incorporate humanistic narratives in their discussions of Amerindian, freedmen, plantation, institutional, military, and urban sites. Sites include a sample of the many different types found across the Caribbean from a variety of colonial contexts that are seldom reported in archaeological research, yet constitute components essential to understanding the full range and depth of Caribbean history. Contributors examine urban contexts in Nevis and St. John and explore the economic connections between Europeans and enslaved Africans in urban and plantation settings in St. Eustatius. The volume contains a pioneering study of frontier exchange with Amerindians in Dominica and a synthesis of ceramic exchange networks among enslaved Africans in the Leeward Islands. Chapters on military forts in Nevis and St. Kitts call attention to this often-neglected aspect of the Caribbean colonial landscape. Contributors also directly address culture heritage issues relating to community participation and interpretation. On St. Kitts, the legacy of forced confinement of lepers ties into debates of current public health policy. Plantation site studies from Antigua and Martinique are especially relevant because they detail comparisons of French and British patterns of African enslavement and provide insights into how each addressed the social and economic changes that occurred with emancipation. Contributors Todd M. Ahlman / Douglas V. Armstrong / Samantha Rebovich Bardoe / Paul Farnsworth / Jeffrey R. Ferguson / R. Grant Gilmore III / Diana González-Tennant / Edward González-Tennant / Barbara J. Heath / Carter L. Hudgins Kenneth G. Kelly / Eric Klingelhofer / Roger H. Leech / Stephan Lenik / Gerald F. Schroedl / Diane Wallman / Christian Williamson




Troubling Freedom


Book Description

In 1834 Antigua became the only British colony in the Caribbean to move directly from slavery to full emancipation. Immediate freedom, however, did not live up to its promise, as it did not guarantee any level of stability or autonomy, and the implementation of new forms of coercion and control made it, in many ways, indistinguishable from slavery. In Troubling Freedom Natasha Lightfoot tells the story of how Antigua's newly freed black working people struggled to realize freedom in their everyday lives, prior to and in the decades following emancipation. She presents freedpeople's efforts to form an efficient workforce, acquire property, secure housing, worship, and build independent communities in response to elite prescriptions for acceptable behavior and oppression. Despite its continued efforts, Antigua's black population failed to convince whites that its members were worthy of full economic and political inclusion. By highlighting the diverse ways freedpeople defined and created freedom through quotidian acts of survival and occasional uprisings, Lightfoot complicates conceptions of freedom and the general narrative that landlessness was the primary constraint for newly emancipated slaves in the Caribbean.




Henry Redhead Yorke, Colonial Radical


Book Description

This is a political, cultural and intellectual biography of the neglected but important figure, Henry Redhead Yorke. A West Indian of African/British descent, born into a slave society but educated in Georgian England, he developed a complex identity to which politics was key. The most revolutionary radical in Britain between 1793-5, Yorke then recanted his radicalism and died a loyalist gentleman. This book raises important issues about the impact of "outsider" politics in England and the complexities of politicization and identity construction in the Atlantic World. It restores a forgotten black writer to his due place in history.




Conservation of Caribbean Island Herpetofaunas Volume 2: Regional Accounts of the West Indies


Book Description

Most of the islands of the Caribbean have long histories of herpetological exploration and discovery, and even longer histories of human-mediated environmental degradation. Collectively, they constitute a major biodiversity hotspot – a region rich in endemic species that are threatened with extinction. This two-volume series documents the existing status of herpetofaunas (including sea turtles) of the Caribbean, and highlights conservation needs and efforts. Previous contributions to West Indian herpetology have focused on taxonomy, ecology and evolution, particularly of lizards. This series provides a unique and timely review of the status and conservation of all groups of amphibians and reptiles in the region. This volume provides regional accounts of the islands of the West Indies biogeographic region: Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; The Bahamas; Barbados; The British Virgin Islands; The Cayman Islands; The Commonwealth of Dominica; The Dominican Republic; The Dutch Windward Islands of St. Eustatius, Saba and St. Maarten; The French West Indies; Grenada; The Grenadines; Jamaica; Martinique; Puerto Rico; St. Vincent; The Turks and Caicos Islands; The United States Virgin Islands. Each account discusses the conservation problems of the herpetofauna and their solutions, in a region made up of islands of diverse ecology and political systems. The book will be useful to biologists and conservationists working in or visiting the Caribbean, and internationally as a summary of the current situation in the region.




Revisiting The Polite and Commercial People


Book Description

For some time before his death in July 2015, former colleagues and students of Paul Langford had discussed the possibility of organising a festschrift to celebrate his remarkable contribution to eighteenth-century history. It was planned for 2019 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the appearance of his seminal A Polite and Commercial People, the opening volume in the New Oxford History of England series, Paul's best-known and most influential publication. He was delighted to hear of these plans and the tragic news of his death only made the contributors more determined to see the project through to completion. The importance of A Polite and Commercial People within its own time is unquestionable. Not only did it provide a powerful new vision of eighteenth-century Britain, but it also played a vital part in reviving interest in, and expanding ways of thinking about, Georgian history. As the thirteen contributors to this volume amply testify, any review of the field from the 1980s onwards cannot ignore the profound effect Paul's research had on the social and political publications in his field. This collection of essays combines reflection on the impact of Paul's work with further engagement with the central questions he posed. In particular, it serves to re-connect various recent avenues of Georgian studies, bringing together diverse themes present in Paul's scholarship, but which are often studied independently of each other. As such, it aims to provide a fitting tribute to Paul's work and impact, and a wider reassessment of the current direction of eighteenth-century studies.