W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2002 Anguilla and the art of resistance Jane Dillon McKinney College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the African History Commons, American Studies Commons, Latin American History Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation McKinney, Jane Dillon, "Anguilla and the art of resistance" (2002). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623402. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-9n2k-6t30 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reproduced with with permission permission of ofthe the copyright copyright owner. owner. Further Further reproduction reproduction prohibited prohibited without without permission. permission. NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with with permission permission of ofthe the copyright copyright owner. owner. Further Further reproduction reproduction prohibited prohibited without without permission. permission. ANGUILLA AND THE ART OF RESISTANCE A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the American Studies Program The College of William and M an- in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jane Dillon McKinney 2002 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Author i Approved April 2002 Grev Gundaker t : 1 < V i -i. j^L'-■ ~ v . Viruinia B. Kerns Richard S. Lo\vr\L A Brad L. Weiss / / Jii Y John Fj/Szwed University Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..............................................................................................................iv LIST OF FIGURES ...........................................................................................................................v LIST OF M APS .................................................................................................................................vi ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION: "THE REBELLIOUS DWELL IN A PARCHED LAND".................. 2 CHAPTER I. "MARE AMERICASVM"........................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER II. "SALT. OUR ONLY STAPLE".........................................................................115 CH APTER III. "CHARLOTTE. THE COMPLAINING SLAVE” ......................................207 CHAPTER IV. "THE OPPROBRIUM OF OUR.COLONIES"............................................ 263 CHAPTER V. ANGUILLA AND THE ART OF RESISTANCE ....................................369 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................. 392 VITA .....................................................................................................................................................413 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS So many people, both in academia and Anguilla, contributed to this dissertation that it is impossible to thank them all. The most important assistance came from the following people, in chronological order. Virginia Kems nurtured my concept of writing about a salt island and helped me obtain a minor research grant from the College of William and Mary to investigate the feasibility of fieldwork in Anguilla. James Peterson, a professor at the University of Vermont who has spent many seasons digging in Anguilla, sent me a list of local contacts. Carol Litchfield, a professor at George Mason University and an editor of The Journal of Salt History, the Review of the International Commission for the History of Salt, introduced me to the journal and to Anthony Gregory's master's thesis on salt production in the Turks and Caicos. On my first trip to Anguilla in 1998.1 received the blessing of the .Anguilla National Trust to do research on the island; everybody from artists to former salt workers to historians encouraged me and promised aid. All academic work builds on previous work and this study is no exception. In particular. Don Mitchell's unpublished history of Anguilla and. most importantly, his photocopies of the original Colonial Office documents, and Colville Petty's unpublished master's thesis on Anguillian history formed the basis for my historical research. My committee chair. Grey Gundaker. helped me obtain a grant from the American Studies Program at the College of William and Mary for a year's research on the island. The Anguilla Library' Service lent me space to conduct my research. I owe more to my Anguillian family that I can ever say: Ijahnva Christian, her sons. Wolde and Judah, and my space mate. Nesta King, gave me comfort and a home. Linda Lake not only helped me with my interviews, but gave me trans and laughter. She. Colville Petty and Lloyd Gumbs provided me with photographs. When the time came to put words on paper. Grey Gundaker managed to be both an incisive and generous editor. Thanks to the rest of my committee. Virginia Kems. Richard Lowry. Brad Weiss, and John Szwed. for the lessons they taught me. their insightful comments, and their willingness to give me enough rope to hang myself. My children. Jane. Cate. David and Ned know their multiple contributions. Many times I dragged them away from their own families and work to rescue me from computer catastrophes. Finally, this study is dedicated to my mother. Katherine Dillon McKinney Brawner. Her love and grace have brightened and the world for ninety-four years. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 The front cover of Anguilla Life. (4( 1) 1991). 73 2.1 Salt harvest in Road Bay Pond. Anguilla. 1983. (Photograph: 120 Lloyd Gumbs.) 2.2 View of heaps of salt and the industrial complex at Sandy Ground. Anguilla 122 during the last period of production. Background: Road Bay Salt Pond. (Photograph: Colville Petty.) 2.3 The pump house (above) and the salt grinding mill (below). (Photograph: 125 Linda Lake.) 2.4 Linda Lake holding a piece of picked salt. The mother is still attached to the 135 bottom. (Photograph: Linda Lake.) 3.1 Wallblake House. Anguilla. The open door on the ground floor is the 240 entrance to a cellar very like the one in which Charlotte was incarcerated. (Photograph: author.) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF MAPS Table Page 1.1 The Caribbean. (Carty 1985:12). 43 1.2 Anguilla. (Carty 1985:13). 55 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This study begins with two premises. The first is that American Studies needs to move beyond the borders of the United States to examine the ideological, cultural and economic effects our country has had on others. The United States has historically been deeply involved in Anguilla's economy, revolution and ideology. The second is that history is a commodity that is selectively deployed in the creation of personal and national cultural values in Anguilla. I use Sherry Ortner’s concept of serious games and James Scott's theory of the arts of resistance to analyze how Anguilla's contemporary culture is a product of its history, environment, and a particular industry. Colonial institutional failure created a vacuum in which AnguiIlians were permitted, even encouraged, to conceptualize themselves as independent. The harsh environment prevented the formation of a plantocracy based on sugar production. The means and modes of the production of salt. Anguilla's only staple, resulted in a social structure that contrasts with those of the sugar islands in the Antilles. Today, independence remains Anguilla's serious game and sole art of resistance on a personal, cultural and national level. The definition of self and nation as independent is based upon a radical excision of history that is articulated in an invention of tradition. Plato's idea of mythos and logos serve as methodological tools for unpacking how history has been strategically utilized and suppressed to support cultural concepts. But. because history is a commodity that has use value and exchange value in Anguilla's serious game, the corollary questions that are addressed are two: which history and cui bono? The hypothesis of this dissertation is that, if history repeats. Anguilla is trapped in the box of dominant discourse. Anguillians" history does repeat: their version of history fails to benefit them because it elides their basic dependency. The conclusion is that, in positioning independence as the contrariety of colonialism. Anguilla