Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Trevor Burnard has done as much as if not more than any other historian to privilege the British Caribbean in this new history, demonstrating the enormous significance of these colonies in the histories of Great Britain and North America. For decades he has placed Jamaica at the centre of this narrative, and in some ways this book is the culmination of his efforts to persuade British and American historians of the significance of this one island . . . This is a masterful piece of work, and it should be read by all who are interested in Britain and its empire in the age of revolutions." *
Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History *
"
Jamaica in the Age of Revolution enhances our understanding of a colony and region-Jamaica and the Caribbean-that remains vastly understudied despite its central place in the British Atlantic empire. Trevor Burnard's book demonstrates the value of looking at the American Revolution and other key events or legal cases of the era, such as the
Somerset decision and the
Zong trial, from the perspective of Jamaica." * Brooke Newman, Virginia Commonwealth University *
"Trevor Burnard is always original, independent, and intellectually honest in his interpretations. The essays in this book reflect both the depths of his knowledge and the judgments of a mature historian." * Andrew O'Shaughnessy, University of Virginia *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Chapter 1. Planter Politics and the Fear of Slave Revolt
Chapter 2. Edward Long's Vision of Jamaica and the Virtues of a Planned Society
Chapter 3. A Brutal System: Managing Enslaved People in Jamaica
Chapter 4. Tacky's Revolt and Its Legacies
Chapter 5. The Ambiguous Place of Free People in Jamaica
Chapter 6. The Somerset Decision and the Birth of Proslavery Arguments in the British West Indies
Chapter 7. The Zong, Jamaican Commerce, and the American Revolution
Chapter 8. Loyalism and Rebellion in Plantation Societies
Chapter 9. Slavery and Industrialization: The "New History of Capitalism" and Williams Redux
Epilogue: Jamaica and the State in the Age of the American Revolution, 1760-88
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
