Colonial Caribbean colonial office files from The National Archives, UK : 1624-1870 - National Archives (Marlborough, Wiltshire Adam Matthew Digital, 2021)
Coverage: 1624-1870
Colonial Caribbean covers the history of the various territories under British colonial governance from 1624 to 1870. The resource includes administrative documentation, trade and shipping records, minutes of council meetings, as well as details of plantation life, colonial settlement, imperial rivalries across the region, and the growing concern of absentee landlords. Featuring 17 series of volumes from The National Archives, this second module covers the crucial period following the abolition of slavery in 1833 and charts the implementation and collapse of the apprenticeship system and the role played by colonial governments in the transition between slavery and emancipation. The contents of this module include reports from Special Magistrates offering insight into the lived experience of apprentices, correspondence from planters and colonial elites demonstrating their attempts to maintain the existing power structures, and reports on schools or prisons which were introduced to encourage capitalist values in the newly emancipated population. Module 3 of Colonial Caribbean covers the period 1850-1870 and charts the economic decline in the region as a result of the turbulent end to the apprenticeship scheme and the introduction of indentured labour. This period also witnessed a series of fierce uprisings, most notably the Morant Bay Rebellion amongst emancipated Jamaicans in 1865. This module features volumes from 21 CO series held at The National Archives, UK. The contents include government enquiries into the treatment of immigrants, the management of epidemics and diseases such as yellow fever and cholera, reports and testimonies of uprisings and resistance movements such as the Morant Bay Rebellion, petitions from formerly enslaved Africans, and plans for newly established hospitals, asylums and jails.
Keywords: Datenbank