Petley, Christer (2003) Boundaries of rule, ties of dependency : Jamaican planters, local society and the metropole, 1800-1834. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the planter class in Jamaica in the period before the end of
slavery in 1834 and considers the relations of the planters with local free society
and the metropole. In spite of the large body of scholarly work on Jamaica during
the slavery period, we lack a modern study of the planters. Based on archival
research conducted in Britain and Jamaica, this research tackles the related issues
of how locally resident planters sustained slavery in Jamaica and sought to control
local society, how they related to other local groups and to the metropole, and how
they identified themselves as British slaveholders in an age in which slavery was
coming under increasing criticism in Britain. The study looks at the composition of
the planter class and at the relations between the planter elite, non-elite white men,
free non-whites and enslaved people. It also examines the way that the planters and
their allies responded to criticisms directed against them and their local practices.

The main conclusions of the thesis are that, to maintain the creole
institution of slavery, the planters depended heavily on the support of other white
men, who enjoyed a range of privileges and opportunities. This assuaged class
tensions within white society and led to a distinctively local social order based on
ideas of racial difference. However, in the period before emancipation, the rising
population of free coloureds and free blacks, along with the increased influence of
non-conformist missionaries, meant that the planters struggled to sustain local
support across free society. Furthermore, their cultural and practical reliance on the
metropole weakened their position as anti-slavery came to dominate British public
opinion. Therefore, shifting circumstances in both Jamaica and Britain helped to
make the planters' continued defence of slavery impractical and contributed to the
emancipation of enslaved people in the 1830s.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	E History America > E11 America (General) J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JL Political institutions (America except United States)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Jamaica -- Civilization, Jamaica -- Social conditions, Slavery -- Jamaica, Jamaica -- History, Slaveholders -- Jamaica, Plantation owners -- Jamaica
Official Date:	2003
Dates:	Date Event 2003 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Heuman, Gad J. ; Lockley, Timothy James, 1971-
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC) ; University of Warwick
Extent:	x, 333 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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