STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND NATURAL HAZARDS A STUDY ON THE LEGACY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM’S IMPERIAL PRACTICES AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES OF THEIR ISLAND POSSESIONS by Hans M. Louis-Charles A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Disaster Science and Management Summer 2016 © 2016 Hans M. Louis-Charles All Rights Reserved ProQuest Number: 10191961 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ProQuest 10191961 Published by ProQuest LLC ( 2016 ). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND NATURAL HAZARDS A STUDY ON THE LEGACY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM’S IMPERIAL PRACTICES AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES OF THEIR ISLAND POSSESSIONS by Hans M. Louis-Charles Approved: __________________________________________________________ Leland Ware, J.D. Interim Director of the School of Public Policy and Administration Approved: __________________________________________________________ George H. Watson. Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ Ann L. Ardis, Ph.D. Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Benigno Aguirre, Ph.D. Professor in charge of dissertation I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Mark Miller, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Rosalyn Howard, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Sue McNeil, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee ACKNOWLEDGMENTS All glory to God. A special thanks to my family for their infinite love and support. I also acknowledge the great assistance I received at the Trinidad and Tobago National Archives and The West Indiana & Special Collection at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus; the Barbados National Archives and the Law Library at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus; the Bermuda National Archives and the Bermuda National Library. Thank you to my committee chair Dr. Aguirre and my committee members Dr. Howard, Dr. Miller and Dr. McNeil. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... xiv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ xvi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 2 MISSING LINKS IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND THE NEED FOR STUDY ...................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Disaster Management in History ............................................................... 5 2.2 International and Comparative Studies ................................................... 11 2.3 Focus on the Caribbean ........................................................................... 13 3 COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS AND COLONIAL TYPOLOGY ........ 21 3.1 The Commonwealth of Nations ............................................................... 21 3.2 Colonial Experience and Typology ......................................................... 24 4 LATE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTALITY: THE INTER-WAR PERIOD AND THE “CONDUCT OF CONDUCT” ...................................................... 30 4.1 Technologies of Power and Biopolitics of Late Colonial Period ............ 31 4.1.1 Governmentality in Colonial Studies .......................................... 35 4.2 Controlling Conduct and Colonial Development .................................... 40 4.2.1 The West Indies and Resistance .................................................. 45 4.3 Catastrophes versus Disasters .................................................................. 52 5 MULTIPLE CASE STUDY AND METHODOLOGY ................................... 55 6 CASE STUDY #1: THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ......... 69 6.1 The Disaster Management Agency in Trinidad and Tobago ................... 71 6.2 Historical Context and the Genocide of the Native Carib Population ..... 79 6.2.1 Tobago’s Vacillating European Colonizers ................................. 81 6.2.2 The Reign of the British and Plantation Economics ................... 83 6.2.3 1814 Treaty of Paris and Governing from Barbados ................... 90 v 6.2.4 End of Slavery and the Post-Emancipation Period ...................... 91 6.3 Event #1 Tobago Hurricane of 1847 ....................................................... 95 6.3.1 Destruction of Indigenous Disaster Knowledge and Devastation Ensues ...................................................................... 97 6.3.2 Colonial Bureaucracy and Tobago’s Disaster Recovery ........... 101 6.3.3 Requests for Financial Assistance and Punishment by the “Cat” .......................................................................................... 107 6.3.4 The Governor’s dispatches to the Colonial Office and the Queen ......................................................................................... 113 6.3.5 Distribution of financial assistance and loan forgiveness ......... 117 6.4 In-Case Analysis and Summary of Event #1 ......................................... 120 6.4.1 The Rule of the Sovereign and Tobago’s Disaster Recovery .... 121 6.4.2 Health Response: Plantation Labor Access ............................... 122 6.4.3 Financial Assistance: Loans for Plantation Owners .................. 123 6.4.4 Legislative Process: Delayed Action ......................................... 124 6.4.5 Military Use and Controlling the Population ............................ 126 6.4.6 Population Displacement and Resettlement .............................. 128 6.5 Event #2 Trinidad 1933 Hurricane ........................................................ 129 6.5.1 Brief History of Trinidad, a Plantation Economy, and a Crown Colony ....................................................................................... 129 6.5.2 Trinidad and Tobago’s New Representative Political Structure 136 6.5.3 Late Colonial Governmentality in the Inter-war period ............ 145 6.5.4 Trinidad and Tobago in the 1930s and the Expansion of Government Interests ................................................................. 149 6.5.5 Birth Rates and Health Services ................................................ 150 6.5.6 Housing Sectors and the Plantation Estate ................................ 152 6.5.7 Public Education and Child Labor ............................................ 155 6.5.8 Police and Law Enforcement ..................................................... 157 6.6 1933 Hurricane Event of Trinidad ......................................................... 158 6.6.1 Trinidad and Tobago Colonial Government Response and Recovery Efforts ........................................................................ 163 6.6.2 Project #2 - Loans for clearing debris that became grants ........ 164 6.6.3 Project #3 Hurricane Relief Fund- Central Relief Committee and the Rehousing program ....................................................... 165 6.6.4 Clothing and Food Donations Convergence and Denial ........... 169 6.6.5 Rehousing Program: Build it Back the Same ............................ 170 vi 6.6.6 Project #4 Loans to the Cocoa Estates ...................................... 174 6.6.7 A Legacy of Cocoa Bailouts and Government Collusion ......... 178 6.6.7.1 The Cocoa Planters Association of Trinidad Ltd. in the Legislative Council ............................................... 182 6.7 In-Case Comparitive Analysis of Disaster Events ................................ 183 6.7.1 Health Response ........................................................................ 187 6.7.2 Financial Assistance from the Colonial Government 189 6.7.3 Legislative Policies and Bureaucracy ........................................ 191 6.7.4 Controlling Population Movements