Caribbean

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A Picturesque Tour of the Island of Jamaica

James Hakewill, A picturesque tour of the island of Jamaica, from drawings made in the years 1820 and 1821(London, 1825). The Yale Center for British Art also holds a number of original watercolors by Hakewill, which depict life in the British Caribbean prior to emancipation.

Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Nineteenth Century

A View on the Island of Antigua

In 1771 Thomas Hearne began working for Sir Ralph Payne, the recently appointed Governor-General of the Leeward Islands, a group of sugar colonies consisting of Antigua, Nevis, St. Christopher’s (now St. Kitts), and Montserrat. Hearne spent three and a half years making working drawings and, after his return to England in 1775, produced twenty large and highly finished watercolors for Payne, of which only eight are now known.

Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Eighteenth Century, Slavery

Sketches of Character

Published in Jamaica in 1837-38 by the Jewish Jamaican-born artist Isaac Mendes Belisario, Sketches of Character, In Illustration of the Habits, Occupation, and Costume of the Negro Population in the Island of Jamaica provides the first detailed visual representation of Jonkonnu (or John Canoe), the celebrated Afro-Jamaican masquerade performed by the enslaved during the Christmas and New Year holidays. These illustrations formed the centerpiece of an exhibition organized by the Yale Center for British Art: Art & Emancipation In Jamaica: Isaac Mendes Belisario and His Worlds.

Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Emancipation, Nineteenth Century

Ten Views in the Island of Antigua

William Clark, Ten views in the island of Antigua: In which are represented the process of sugar making, and the employment of the Negroes, in the field, boiling-house and distillery (London, 1823). A rare view of the large-scale industrial and agricultural plantations of Antigua.

 
Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Nineteenth Century, Slavery

West India Scenery

Richard Bridgens, West India scenery with illustrations of Negro character, the process of making sugar, &c. from sketches taken during a voyage to, and residence of seven years in, the island of Trinidad (London, 1836). Twenty-seven plates with accompanying text.

Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Nineteenth Century, Slavery

West Indian Scenery

Joseph Bartholomew Kidd, West Indian Scenery: Illustrations of Jamaica in a Series of Views Comprising the Principal Towns, Public Buildings, Estates and Most Picturesque Scenery of the Island (London & Kingston, 1840). An extremely rare collection of 50 colored plates, produced during the transition from apprenticeship to full emancipation.

Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Nineteenth Century

West Indian Women of Color

Painted by the London-based Italian artist Agostino Brunias, circa 1780. The Yale Center for British Art holds numerous oil paintings and engravings by Brunias, all of which document life in the colonial West Indies, especially on the Island of Dominica in the Lesser Antilles.

Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Eighteenth Century

128 Wall Street | Archives Home | Hours

Aaron Columbus Burr Papers

The papers consist of correspondence and business papers of Aaron Columbus Burr, merchant of New York City and adopted son of Aaron Burr. The papers relate to an attempt by Burr and James Grant to establish a colony for freed American slaves in Honduras. There is also material relating to the American Honduras Company, a firm formed by Burr and Grant for the cutting and exporting of mahogany.

Tags: Caribbean, Emancipation, Manuscripts, Nineteenth Century, United States

Caribbean Collection

The collection contains plantation records and a manuscript volume, “Obras completas de Juan Francisco Manzano esclavo de la Isla de Cuba.” The volume includes Manzano’s autobiography, letters, poetry and the drama, Zafira. Also included is a list of people who contributed money to purchase Manzano’s freedom.

Tags: Caribbean, Manuscripts, Nineteenth Century, Slavery

Holwell Walshe Papers

The papers consist of correspondence and official government and military directives to and from Holwell Walshe, which document his career in the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments, particularly his years as commander of Sherbro Island, Sierra Leone. Walshe took possession of Sherbro in September 1862 and successfully defended the island and revitalized its economy. He remained as Civil Commandant until 1871, when he was transferred to Singapore as a police magistrate.

Tags: Africa, Caribbean, Great Britain, Manuscripts, Nineteenth Century, Slave Trade

121 Wall Street | Library Home | Hours

Boswell Collection

The papers primarily document the administration of the debt-burdened estate of Auchinleck after the death of Sir Alexander Boswell in 1822. The collection also includes the letters by Charles Douglas, a planter in Jamaica, concerning many aspects of his life and career, such as his ownership of slaves and opinions about slavery, immigrant life in Jamaica, and the impact of the Napoleonic Wars on the Caribbean.

Tags: Caribbean, Manuscripts, Slavery

Documents Relating to Slavery and Indentured Servitude in Cuba, 1859-1886

Documents relating to the registration, sale and manumission of slaves in Cuba, and contracts outlining the terms of service of African and Chinese indentured servants working in Cuba, for the Compañía Asiatica de la Habana and for other companies and individuals. The documents include a death certificate, identification passes, and authorizations to transfer slaves.

Tags: Caribbean, Nineteenth Century, Slavery

George F. Usher Papers

The papers contain four letter books and other official papers sent, received, and kept by George F. Usher, Haitian consul in New York under President Fabre Nicolas Geffrard; the correspondence primarily details Usher’s diplomatic and commercial work in New York City on behalf of the Republic of Haiti during the years 1859-1867, which included, in 1862, the United States’s official recognition of the Haitian government.

Tags: Caribbean, Emancipation, Manuscripts, Nineteenth Century

Haitian Documents, 1794-1889

Thirteen printed and manuscript documents and fragments of documents, dating from 1794 to 1889, and signed by Haitian presidents and other government officials including Charles Hérard, Jean-Baptiste Riché, Jean Pierre Boyer, François Denis Légitime, Alexandre Pétion, Fabre Geffrard, Faustin Soulouque, Philippe Guerrier, Louis Étienne Salomon, and I. Dufrene.

Tags: Caribbean, Eighteenth Century, Emancipation, Manuscripts, Nineteenth Century

L'immigration dans les Colonies Françaises

Report, manuscript in an unidentified hand, signed by Collas, Paris, 1858 December 8, advocating recruitment of agricultural laborers for French Caribbean colonies from Africa, India, and China. The report discusses the history of French and English colonies in the Caribbean, 1827-1858; conflict between France and England after abolition of the Atlantic slave trade; labor in the colonies after the French abolition of slavery in 1848; and colonial policy of Napoléon III.

Tags: Caribbean, Emancipation, Manuscripts, Nineteenth Century

Letterbook, 1779-1782

Holograph manuscript containing copies of letters sent by William Codrington to his agents in Antigua and Barbuda from 1779 to 1782 concerning the management of his estates and accounts, the employment of servants and slaves, the sugar trade, and the effects of war on contact with the West Indies.

Tags: Caribbean, Manuscripts, Slavery

Leveson-Gower Diary, 1832-1833

Holograph diary addressed to “Meg,” narrating Leveson-Gower’s experiences as a Grenadier Guard, including a voyage to the West Indies and his impressions of slavery there. Illustrated with several drawings and watercolors of ships and scenery.

Tags: Caribbean, Manuscripts, Nineteenth Century, Slavery

Observations on the Present State of the Island of Jamaica

Manuscript of a detailed description of the geography, population, economy, government, and social organization of Jamaica by John Dalling, who was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the colony in 1767. Topics include agriculture, the sugar trade and the mechanics of a typical sugar plantation, slavery and slave customs, and relations between the races.

Tags: Caribbean, Eighteenth Century, Manuscripts, Slavery

Return of Slaves in the Parish of Manchester, Jamaica, 1817-1832

Printed forms, completed in manuscript, containing the triennial registration information for the slaves of Edward Owen of Jamaica as required by the Jamaica Registration Act of 1816 and the British Slave Registration Act of 1819. The 1817 form contains information for each slave including name, age, color, and origin (African or Creole) and often lists the mothers of Jamaica-born slaves. The returns for 1820 and after provide information on slaves acquired since the previous return, and also indicate whether they were obtained by birth, purchase, or inheritance.

Tags: Caribbean, Nineteenth Century, Slavery

409 Prospect Street | Library Home | Hours

Papers of the Christian Faith Society

The Society originated in a bequest by Robert Boyle in 1691 for advancing religion amongst infidels. In 1794, the charity was reconstituted as “The Society for the Conversion and Religious Instruction and Education of the Negro Slaves in the British West-India Islands,” and in 1836, after the abolition of slavery, as “The Society for Advancing the Christian Faith in the British West-India Islands, and elsewhere, in the Dioceses of Jamaica, and of the Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, and in the Mauritius.” The papers document the Society’s activities from the 17th through the 20th centuries.

Tags: Caribbean, Great Britain, Microfilm, Religion

120 High Street | Reading Room Home | Hours

Plantation Life in the Caribbean

Part one centers on Jamaica, c1765-1848. It includes the Taylor and Vanneck-Arcedekne Papers from Cambridge University Library and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. Highlights include the correspondence and papers of West Indian agents, correspondence and accounts of London agents concerning Jamaica, and materials covering the Maroon and French wars, slave revolts, the treatment of colonists by the British government, births, deaths, marriages, inheritances, debts and family quarrels. A detailed guide is available online.

Tags: Caribbean, Eighteenth Century, Microfilm, Nineteenth Century, Slavery

Slavery Tracts & Pamphlets from the West India Committee Collection now at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Slavery tracts and pamphlets from the West India Committee Collection, now housed at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Consists of 28 microfilm reels, including a list of titles and an index

Tags: Caribbean, Eighteenth Century, Microfilm, Nineteenth Century, Slavery

The Papers of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, 1696-1707

The papers include records relating to trade, industry, plantations, agriculture, ranching, immigration and settlement, the anti-slavery movement, politics, religion, and military affairs of Scotland and England. Personal papers, diaries, state documents, printed material, and the records of industrial and commercial concerns are also included in the papers. Additional information is availableonline.

Tags: Africa, Atlantic World, Caribbean, Eighteenth Century, Great Britain, Microfilm, Seventeenth Century

154 Main Street | Library Home | Hours

Slavery Prints and Cartoons

The Walpole Library is home to numerous eighteenth-century cartoons and prints pertaining to slavery and the slave trade. Of particular interest are a series of images depicting the lives of enslaved blacks and slaveholders in the Caribbean as well as cartoons illustrating the politics of slavery and freedom in Europe.

Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Eighteenth Century, Great Britain, Slavery

Thomas Thistlewood Papers

The papers consist of diaries, weather journals, commonplace books, reading notes and other material documenting the life, work, and intellectual interests of the Jamaican planter and slaveowner Thomas Thistlewood. Thistlewood’s 37 diaries, in Series I, contain daily entries dating between 1750 and 1786. Topics include Thistlewood’s work as an overseer, and later owner, of slaves, including his methods of assigning work, alloting provisions, and discipline; his personal and sexual relationships with several, including his lengthy relationship with Phibbah; and slave rebellions and rumors of rebellions, including Tacky’s Revolt (1760).

Tags: Caribbean, Drawings and Images, Eighteenth Century, Manuscripts, Nineteenth Century, Slavery