Tobago: 1838 to 1900

THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY IN TOBAGO: 1838 TO 1900 SUSAN ELIZABETH CRAIG-JAMES Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The London School of Economics and Political Science University of London UK 1995 UMI Number: U074368 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. Disscrrlâtiûn Publishing UMI U074368 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 I t F 7177 2 : :7 C -^7 ABSTRACT THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY IN TOBAGO; 1838 TO 1900 This thesis examines the social structure of the Caribbean island of Tobago between 1838, the year of the Emancipation of the slaves, and 1900, the year after Tobago was united to Trinidad to form the Colony of Trinidad and Tobago. One chapter gives the background to this period, by analysing the major social groupings, cleavages and conflicts of the slavery era, particularly of the years just prior to the Emancipation. The study has two main objectives. Firstly, it describes and analyses the changing class/colour configuration of Tobago, and the way in which gender was constitutive of the structuring of access to land, occupations and social mobility. This is done both on the period before the collapse of the sugar economy in the 1880s and on the restructuring of the society after 1884. Secondly, this case study in historical sociology is placed within the framework of the theoretical literature on the sociology of development. It seeks to explain the acute economic crisis which Tobago underwent in the 1880s, which led to the collapse of both its sugar economy and its viability as a separate government. Within the matrix of Tobago's dependence in the global capitalist system, the study shows the critical explanatory factors to be the source and deployment of capital, the social structure of the island, and the outcomes of intra- and inter-class struggles. The analysis is multi-faceted, using a variety of sources to understand the demographic, political, economic and social dimensions of societal structure and change. Since metayage (sharecropping) was the dominant relationship of production after 1848, theories on metayage are examined and related to the Tobago evidence. The Caribbean debate on the 'flight from the estates' after Emancipation is also considered, and new, fruitful lines of analysis are explored. Directions for future research, particularly on Grenada, are given. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thanks go to my supervisor, Prof. Percy Cohen, whose patience and advice are greatly appreciated. I owe a profound debt to my parents, Lionel and Sislyn Craig, who helped in every possible way; and to John La Rose and Sarah White (London), Sidney (deceased) and Kitty Michaelson (Edinburgh), without whose hospitality in the United Kingdom this work could not have been accomplished. My thanks are also due to the librarians at the many libraries and archives in which I worked. I am particularly grateful to Margaret Rouse-Jones and Sookdeo Bhagwandeen at UWI Library, St Augustine, who took great trouble to get material from overseas. Prof. Lloyd Braithwaite, Vanus James, and Brian Alleyne read the chapters and gave comments and encouragement, for which I am deeply grateful. I specially thank Carl Parris and Selwyn Ryan for a semester in which to write. Thanks are due also to my colleagues, students, relatives and friends who encouraged me in this work. Above all, to Almighty God through Jesus Christ, who has been absolutely faithful, I give high praise and the glory due to His majestic name. To my parents Lionel and Sislyn Craig of Tobago, with undying gratitude for their many sacrifices CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................... 3 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................... 11 LIST OF TABLES ......................... 11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................... 18 Chapter I. IN SEARCH OF A M E T H O D ................... 21 1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................ 21 1.2 TOBAGO IN THE CARIBBEAN IN THE WORLD . 23 1.3 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON TOBAGO AND JUSTIFICATION FOR THE STUDY ........ 27 1.4 THE THEORETICAL IMPASSE IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT................. 33 1.4.1 Debates on Dependency and Marxism . 33 1.4.2 Marxist Debates on the Caribbean ... 43 1.4.3 A Way Forward ................... 50 1.5 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM ................... 52 1.5.1 Objectives ....................... 52 1.5.2 Definitions of Key Concepts and Basic Assumptions ................... 52 1.5.3 Working Hypothesis ................... 54 1.6 THE CHALLENGE OF HISTORICAL RECONSTRUCTION ......................... 60 1.6.1 The Research Design ............ 60 1.6.2 General Limitations of the Sources . 64 1.7 CONCLUSION .............................. 66 II. THE FORMATION OF SOCIETY IN TOBAGO; 1763-1838 ............................... 68 11.1 INTRODUCTION ............................ 68 11.2 THE GLOBAL AND CARIBBEAN CONTEXT OF COLONIZATION AND SLAVERY IN TOBAGO . 68 II.2.1 General Features of the Sugar Plantation System ................... 68 CONTENTS continued Chapter Page 11.2.2 Planters, Merchants and the Colonial Power Structure ..................... 71 11.2.3 The Tobago Economy and ItsSocial Implications ....................... 76 11.3 THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF TOBAGO: 1763-1838 81 11.3.1 Demographic Patterns ................. 81 11.3.2 Class, Colour and Gender Relationships ....................... 91 11.4 THE PROVISION GROUNDS AND THE INTERNAL MARKET ..................... 108 11.5 APPRENTICESHIP AND EMANCIPATION; THE DYNAMICS OF SOCIAL CONFLICT ........ 112 11.6 CONCLUSION .............................. 120 III. SMALLHOLDERS AND THE DIVERSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURE IN TOBAGO; 1838-1855 . 123 111.1 THE PROBLEM STATED ..................... 123 111.1.1 Introduction .......................... 123 111.1.2 The Debates in the Literature .... 125 111.2 LAND AND LABOUR IN TOBAGO; 1838-1855 . 136 111.2.1 The Context of the Struggles ... 136 111.2.2 The Movement to Villages and the Acquisition of Freeholds ............. 139 111.2.3 The Relations of Production: 1838-1848 158 111.2.4 The Labourers' Options in a Period of Rapid Change: 1848-1855 163 111.3 THE LAND OUESTION AND THE DOMINANCE OF METAYAGE ............................. 170 111.4 CONCLUSION .............................. 178 IV. AGRARIAN STRUCTURE, SMALLHOLDERS AND THE DIVERSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURE IN TOBAGO: 1856-1888 189 IV. 1 INTRODUCTION ...................... 189 IV.2 SMALLHOLDERS IN TOBAGO: 1856-1875 .... 190 CONTENTS continued Chapter Page IV. 3 LANDOWNERS IN TOBAGO: 1881/82 .......... 195 IV.3.1 A Note on the Assessment Roll, 1881/82 ............................. 195 IV.3.2 Summary Distributions of Properties 199 IV.3.3 Ownership of Homesteads (Persons with One Property Only) ................... 210 IV.3.4 Ownership of More than One Property 216 IV.3.5 Persons with Landed Property Assessed at Exactly £10 ....................... 223 IV.3.6 Landowners with Property Assessed over £10 ............................. 225 IV.3.7 The Windward District and the McCall/Gillespie Estates ............. 232 IV. 4 AGRARIAN STRATIFICATION BASED ON THE ASSESSMENT ROLLS ....................... 238 IV. 5 EXPORTS FROM TOBAGO: 1838-1897 ........ 243 IV.5.1 A Note on the Recorded Exports .... 243 IV.5.2 The Recorded Exports ................. 246 IV.6 CONCLUSION ................................ 252 V. THE RISE AND DEMISE OF THE METAYAGE SYSTEM IN TOBAGO: 1842-1900 . 255 V.l INTRODUCTION ....................... 255 V.2 CONCEPTIONS OF METAYAGE ............. 256 V.3 THE METAYAGE SYSTEM IN OPERATION .... 261 V.3.1 The Major Issues of the 1840s and 1 8 5 0 s ....................... 261 V.3.2 Differentiation and Change: 1860-1890 267 V.3.3 The Tobago Experience in the Light of the Conceptions Reviewed ............. 279 V.4 CRISIS. NEGOTIATION AND STALEMATE IN THE 1 8 8 0 S ............................. 281 V.5 THE INTERVENTION OF SIR JOHN GORRIE . 286 V.5.1 The Immediate Background to the Litigation of 1889-90 286 V.5.2 The Litigation of 1889 and Its A f t e r m a t h ....................... 292 V.5.3 Grinding Canes at the Court House: 1890 300 V.5.4 The 1890 Metairie Commission ......... 304 V.5.5 The Judicial Enquiry ............... 307 CONTENTS continued Chapter Page V.5.6 Judge Gorrie: An Assessment ......... 311 V.6 THE METAYAGE SYSTEM; 1892-1900 ......... 313 V.7 CONCLUSION .............................. 316 VI. DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS AND OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE IN TOBAGO: 1838-1900 319 VI.1 INTRODUCTION ............................ 319 VI.2 MAJOR DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF THE POPULATION ......................... 319 VI.2.1 The Origins and Composition of the P o p u l a t i o n ........................... 319 VI.2.2 Population Density, Growth and Settlement Patterns ................. 324 VI.2.3 Age Structure, Sex Ratios, Migration and Fertility ....................... 344 VI.2.4 Literacy, Religious Affiliations and Conjugal Condition ................... 358 VI.3 OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE OF TOBAGO; 1844-1901 365 VI. 3.1 The 1844 Census ...................... 365 VI.3.2 Limitations of the Data; Method of Classification

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