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Letters and Correspondence: there are letters relating to affairs of plantation life, which may provide insight
into the attitudes and belief systems of slave owners, how they treated their slaves, and other everyday interactions
with slaves and master (BMHS archives). At the same time some letters revealed the intransigence of settlement life for the early pioneer
settlement in the region and the political intrigue endemic to such settlements (Jamaica National Library). Rare
items of correspondence relate to the changes in fortune of enslaved families.
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Estate Plans and land allotments: as well as highlighting the spatial layout of plantations, these can be used by
the archaeologists to locate buildings of interest on a landscape which no longer retains their presence above ground,
as well as assist in the location of slave housing, and burial grounds with their accompanying artifacts providing
a direct diasporic linkage. The map collection of the Barbados Museum contains a sizeable collection of estate plans,
which show drawings of plantations and how they were allocated. These can provide information on estate ownership,
relationship between master and enslaved, allocation of lands and size of estates. A similar exercise can be conducted
at the Jamaica National Library.
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Accounts Ledgers: accounts or plantation ledgers can give some background to the nature of the plantation enterprise,
which of course was at the centre of the slave system. They are detailed accounts books, showing income and expenditure
for the plantation, and in some cases included schedules of slaves. These schedules listed the slaves on the respective
plantation and gave particulars of name, sex, colour (whether black or coloured), employment, age, country of origin, and
cause of increase or decrease (deaths and births). Furthermore, the slave schedule may also point to the demography of
slave populations, in terms of whether they were predominantly Creole or African, how enslaved persons of different sex and
age were utilised for effective labour on the plantation, and of the presence of a mulatto population on the plantation
and their treatment.
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Deeds and Wills: One acquires a more profound understanding -- from perusing these particular document types --
of the slave owners' attitude towards the condition and welfare of their bondsmen and how they viewed them as literally part
and parcel of the plantation system. We see evidence of transfers or loans between slave owner and family or friend / associate.
Similarly, there is mention of sales of human chattel as constituting part of a mortgage agreement for a plantation or estate.
Although rare in occurrence, data of this nature may provide evidence concerning the location, identification and naming of some
some Caribbean families. |
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Bills of Sale: Bills of Sale recorded in the inventory highlight the reality of the movement of enslaved
people and in some cases the dislocation of kinship groups in the plantation setting. The several bills listed in the
Inventory show the way in which slaves were bought as items in an auction, and receipts issued. |
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Government Records: Gives insight into decisions made and why, particularly with respect to the treatment
and control of slaves as commodities or property of the wealthy. |
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Licences: Sometimes an individual island might have developed a particular domestic method of restricting or
regulating the movement of its enslaved population. Evidence of such methods are apparent when one examines the granting
of licenses to travel to neighbouring Demarara by Lord Combermere in 1818. The terms of these licenses can be interpreted
as an attempt by the Barbados ruling classes to restrain and control their labour force via the use of travel restrictions.
This original document may also be of further significance since Lord Combermere was the island's Governor at the time and
was well-known for his support of education in Barbados. |
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Church Records: The content of these documents underscores the control of the church and its influence (whether pro
or anti-abolitionist) in the slave society. |
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Manumission Records: These records attest to the resistance put up by the enslaved section of the population and
their efforts in general to free themselves and their families from bondage. Documents such as these are well represented in the
archive collections of Jamaica and Dominica. |
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Military Records: The few remaining records of this type describe the actions taken during times of revolt and
speak to the reactionary nature of the enslaver vis-a-vis the enslaved. |
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Conveyances: These records documenting transfers and mortgages on plantations are significant because enslaved
people were invariably affected by such transactions since they too were considered to be property. Real estate transfers meant
resulted in dislocation among enslaved family members as planters bought and sold them as chattel. These documents also bear
witness to the consolidation and / or dissolution of plantation lands at the death or bankruptcy of the owner. |
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Legislative Records: Minutes of the St. John Vestry, from 1649 - 1699. These bear evidence of
names closely associated with the system of sugar and slavery. Vestry members were, for the most part, the most
prominent sugar estate owners, using their office as Vestry officials to further their influence and ability to
manipulate societal institutions to their own advantage. Such manipulation produced the political system commonly
known as the plantocracy. It was this oligarchic ruling elite of white plantation owners who would exercise almost
complete dominance in the affairs of West Indian islands right up until the early 20th century. The Vestry
minutes supports the claim that planters and other slave owners enjoyed a strangehold on political and legal
institutions in the West Indian colonies. |
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Estate Inventories: Such documents allow researchers to compile a demographic and occupation profile of a slave society. |
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Ships' Records: When available, these provide invaluable insights into the maritime affairs and indicate
the type of materials being produced and censured in slave societies. Some entries may provide important data concerning
the live cargoes shipped by European merchants from West Africa to the Caribbean. |
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Census Records: Illustrates the number, occupation and gender stratification of the society. |
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Slave Registers: This document category evidence the patterns of ownership on a plantation and the demographic
profile of the plantation labour force. |
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Publications: The publications in the survey collection are historical publications and also include primary
material written during the time of slavery. They constitute an interesting collections of perspectives and opinions on
slavery, facilitating a better appreciation of what West Indian slave society life was like. Some of the items include
contemporary writings describing the West Indies during the slavery period, published debates in the British Parliament, sp
speeches from both pro- and anti- slavery lobbyists, official reports, essays on issues related to the slave trade and
slavery, articles by prominent leaders of the anti-slavery movement (most notably William Wilberforce) and contemporary
histories of the West Indies. |
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Other: Interesting information might be found that further explains the dichotomous relationship between
master and enslaved. There are a number of wills listed in the inventory, wherein reference is made to the bequeathing of
land and slaves to certain favoured slaves or apprenticed labourers. In one case, a planter bequeaths some property to one
of his female apprenticed labourers, and a codicil stating that, should she die, the property should be passed on to her
son. This peculiar example may suggest the existence of relationships between planter and slave which are not always
highlighted openly.
Compensation certificates, of which the survey to date has located only one at the Barbados Museum, is tangible evidence of
the benefit of Emancipation for the planters in the British colonies. In 1834, the former owners of slaves were granted
compensation from Parliament totalling £20,000,000. Planters were required to make compensation claims to the Office of
Commissioners of Compensation in London, stating the number of slaves they previously owned so as to determine the amount
they were entitled to receive. One such claim is indeed in the Inventory, made by Edward Lake Hinds, of Mallards Plantation
in St. Andrew. The system of compensation was seen as a win for the planter interest over the Abolitionists in England, for they
were to argue forcibly for the grant of £20,000,000 from Parliament. |
