Commerce in Disguise: War and Trade in the Caribbean Free Port of Gustavia, 1793–1815 Victor
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Victor Wilson Victor Wilson | Commerce in Disguise | 2015 | Commerce Wilson Victor Commerce in Disguise War and Trade in the Caribbean Free Port of Gustavia, 1793–1815 The thesis studies the economic role of the free port of Gustavia on the island of St. Barthélemy, Victor Wilson the Swedish colony in the Caribbean, during the French Revolutionary Wars of 1793–1815. Departing from an unexplored source material, the Commerce in Disguise study shows that Gustavia attained a temporary yet War and Trade in the Caribbean Free Port of Gustavia, 1793–1815 exceptional position during the period of interna- tional conflict, which showed in the sizeable flows of cargo in transit through the Swedish colony as well as the increasing shipping under the Swedish flag in the region. 9 789517 658065 Åbo Akademis förlag | Åbo Akademi University Press ISBN 978-951-765-806-5 Victor Wilson Born 1984. Masters degree in history, Åbo Akademi University, 2010. Åbo Akademis förlag | Åbo Akademi University Press Tavastgatan 13, FI–20500 Åbo, Finland Phone: +358 (0) 2 215 3478 E-mail: [email protected] Sales and distribution: Åbo Akademis bibliotek | Åbo Akademi University Library Domkyrkogatan 2-4, FI–20500 Åbo, Finland Phone: +358 (0) 215 4190 E-mail: [email protected] Cover image: Vue de la ville Gustavia dans l’isle Saint-Barthélemy (ca. 1790–1805) Courtesy of Uppsala University Library. COMMERCE IN DISGUISE Commerce in Disguise War and Trade in the Caribbean Free Port of Gustavia, 1793–1815 Victor Wilson Åbo Akademis förlag | Åbo Akademi University Press Åbo, Finland, 2015 CIP Cataloguing in Publication Wilson, Victor. Commerce in disguise : war and trade in the Caribbean free port of Gustavia, 1793–1815 / Victor Wilson. - Åbo : Åbo Akademi University Press, 2015. Diss.: Åbo Akademi University. ISBN 978-951-765-806-5 ISBN 978-951-765-806-5 ISBN 978-951-765-807-2 (digital) Painosalama Oy Åbo 2015 Table of contents Table of contents i Illustrations, tables, figures and abbreviations iii Acknowledgements vii 1 Introduction 12 1.1 Images of a Prosperous Port Town 12 1.2 Topical Research, Perspectives and Theory 19 1.3 Questions, Prospectus, and Methodology 31 2 The Free Port Institution of Gustavia 40 2.1 A History of Free Trade in the Circum-Caribbean 40 2.2 Swedish Colonialism and the Foundation of Gustavia 56 2.3 Colonial Ambitions and Colonial Realities 100 3 Gustavia in the Atlantic and Regional Slave Trade 144 3.1 Slave Trade Connections 144 3.2 An Assessment of the Gustavia Slave Trade 162 4 Gustavia and the Caribbean Transit Trade, 1793–1809 176 4.1 A Growing Free Trade Outpost, 1793–1801 176 4.2 The Transit Trade after the British occupation of 1801 199 5 An Anglo-American Port of Convenience, 1809–1815 212 5.1 The Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 214 5.2 The War of 1812 223 5.3 Epilogue: The Peace of 1815 and Ambiguous Decline 230 6 Commerce in Disguise – Conclusions 249 Swedish Summary – Sammanfattning 257 Appendices 265 Bibliography 291 Illustrations, tables, figures and abbreviations Tables and Figures Table 2.1 Population structure of St. Barthélemy, 1765–1897 ........................... 86 Table 2.2 Yearly capital accounts of the Swedish West India Company, 1790– 1805, in Swedish rixdollars ................................................................................ 105 Table 3.1 Categories of Slave Trade Organization and Affiliation ................. 166 Table 3.2 Categories of Slaving Voyage Outcomes ......................................... 167 Table 3.3 Slave Ships by Category .................................................................... 169 Table 3.4 Slaves by Category ............................................................................ 169 Figure 3.2 Slaves by Category, Chronology 1785–1839 ..................................... 169 Table 3.5 Slave Ships by Destination ................................................................. 171 Table 3.6 Slaves by Destination ......................................................................... 172 Figure 4.1 St. Barthélemy customs revenues 1791–1825 ................................... 179 Figure 4.2 Issued sea-passes for St. Thomas and St. Barthélemy vessels, 1788– 1807 .....................................................................................................................182 Figure 4.3 Tonnage of shipping entering at the British Caribbean free ports, 1788–95 ................................................................................................................ 185 Figure 4.4 Total registered value of imports from foreign colonies and the United States to the British Caribbean free ports, 1792–95 ........................... 186 Figure 4.5 Values of American exports to Caribbean and South American colonies, 1790–1808........................................................................................... 190 Figure 4.6 Proportions of US exports to Caribbean and South American colonies, 1790–1808............................................................................................ 191 Figure 4.7 Estimated values of US exports to Swedish, Danish and Dutch ports in the Caribbean, 1790–1808 ................................................................... 192 Table 4.1 Gustavia arrivals, Flags of Vessels, 1804–1806 ................................ 202 Table 4.2 Gustavia arrivals, Ports of departure, 1804–1806 ........................... 202 Figure 4.8 Ports of departure of arriving American ships, 1804–06 ............. 204 Figure 5.1 Values of American exports to Caribbean and South American colonies, 1790–1820 ........................................................................................... 218 Figure 5.2 Proportions of American exports to Caribbean colonies, 1790–1820 ............................................................................................................................ 219 Figure 5.3 Arrivals, St. Barthélemy 1811–1813, by nationality ........................... 226 Figure 5.4 Tonnage of arrivals, St. Barthélemy 1811–1813, by nationality........ 227 Maps and Illustrations Figure 1.1 St. Barthélemy ca. 1800 ....................................................................... x Figure 1.2 The Lesser Antilles ............................................................................. 11 Figure 1.3 The Leeward Islands and their polities, ca. 1785 ............................... 35 Figure 2.1 Urban development of Gustavia, 1792–1799 .................................... 88 Figure 3.1 La Maison d'Esclaves ........................................................................... 151 Abbreviations ADM Admiralty (National Archives, London) ANOM Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer (Aix-en-Provence) BT Board of Trade (The National Archives, London) CO Colonial Office (The National Archives, London) DNA Danish National Archives (Rigsarkivet, København) FO Foreign Office (The National Archives, London) FSB Fonds Suédois de Saint Barthélemy NARA National Archives and Records Administration (Washington) PRO Public Record Office (The National Archives, London) SNA Swedish National Archives (Riksarkivet, Stockholm) TNA The National Archives, London, United Kingdom UUL Uppsala University Library (Uppsala universitetsbibliotek) WO War Office (The National Archives, London) Acknowledgements During my work with this thesis, I have accrued a large number of debts. It would not even have seen the light of day had it not been for professor Holger Weiss, who believed in me enough to finally convince myself that I was equal to the task at hand. His energy and enthusiasm has propelled myself as well as other fellow researchers towards the work and craft of the historian. A special mention should also be afforded to Jan-Erik Till for largely the same reasons. Tilli’s inspirational education and encouragement are the sources for my initial interest in history. I cannot recount how many debts I owe to my second supervisor, PhD Fredrik Thomasson. Suffice it to say, this thesis would look much different if it had not been for the different efforts and qualities of Fredrik. Sealed archives would have remained under lock and key, obstinate institutions would have been unyielding, and technical and linguistic barriers would have been insurmountable in the time allotted to complete this text. The work with this thesis would not have been materially possible without the generous grant of the Academy of Finland, which founded the EGL project of which I am part. I have been especially privileged to travel extensively to foreign archives and sites which has been absolutely essential for the results of the study. Additional grants were supplied in the first year of my work by Svenska litteratursällskapet, Ragnar, Ester, Rolf och Margareta Bergboms fond, and Waldemar von Frenckells fond. The early travel grant by Åbo Akademis jubileumsfond 1968 made an initial sojourn in the Swedish National Archives possible, during which I started to acquaint myself with the Swedish history of St. Barthélemy. During that first visit, I met briefly with Per Tingbrand, whose mammoth efforts in uncovering, cataloguing, and recording the extant archival sources have been invaluable for myself as well as other researchers. I am sorry for not having the opportunity of discussing St. Barthélemy at length with you. Suffice it to say, a large part of the primary research done before the completion of this thesis would not have been possible without your efforts. I owe you my most heartfelt gratitude. During my research trips abroad I have benefited from friends and