Trade, Plunder, and Economic Development in Early English Jamaica, 1655-89 Author(s): Nuala Zahedieh Source: The Economic

History Review, New Series, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1986), pp. 205-222 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Economic History Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2596150 . Accessed: 04/12/2013 16:24
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Economic History Review, 2nd ser. XXXIX, 2 (I986),

pp. 205-222

Trade, Plunder, Development in Jamaica,

A

and Early

Economic

English

I655-89

By NUALA ZAHEDIEH dam Smith concluded The Wealth of Nations with a fierce attack on the value of empire, "not a gold mine, but the project of a gold mine: a project which has cost . . . immense expense without being likely to bring any profit."' Smith focused his attention on the West Indian colonies, which contemporaries widely considered to be the most valuable part of the empire. He claimed that from the introduction of the Navigation Acts the stock which had improved and cultivated the sugar colonies had been sent out of England, for "[their] prosperity has been, in a great measure, owing to the great riches of England, of which a part has overflowed, if one may say so, upon those colonies."2 He added that this investment represented a diversion of resources away from what would have been more profitable employment at home. Furthermore, colonization imposed high costs which offset an additional part of any gains: the costs of preferences on sugar borne by the British consumer and the costs of administration and defence of empire borne by the British taxpayer. Whilst the individual return for many planters and merchants was high, the social rate of return for Britons at large was low or even negative.3 Smith's assertions have provoked discussion in the last 200 years. However, this has tended to focus on the latter'parts of the argument. Little thought has been given to the initial assertion about where the capital for colonization came from and most commentators implicitly assume that it did, as Smith claimed, flow from the mother country.4 This paper examines his assertion in
p. 587. Englandassumedto herselfthe monopolyof the colonytrade,the "When,by the act of navigation, fromit. The English withdrawn foreigncapitalswhich had beforebeen employedin it were necessarily on but a partof it was now to carryon the whole . .. [priorto this] the capitalwhichhad beforecarried desart, little inhabitedand less cultivated."Smith contrasted island of Jamaicawas an unwholesome whichhas in the West Indies. "The stock, it is to be observed Frenchand Englishcolonialdevelopment improvement the sugarcoloniesof France... has beenraisedalmostentirelyfromthe gradual improved the sugarcolonies and cultivated of those colonies. .. But the stockwhichhas improved and cultivation the of England has, a greatpartof it, been sent out fromEngland,and has by no meansbeen altogether produceof the soil and industryof the colonists."Ibid. pp. i87, 197, 199. 3 Smithexpandshis views on the financing of of the prosperity of the coloniesin the sections"Causes Ibid. of America." whichEuropehas derivedfromthe discovery new colonies"and "Of the Advantages
1 AdamSmith,An Inquiry of Nations(1776), II, of the Wealth intotheNatureandCauses
2

4 R. P. Thomas,'The SugarColoniesof the Old Empire:Profitor Loss for GreatBritain,' Economic of Imperialism: The History Review,2nd ser. xxi (i968), pp. 30-45;P. R. P. Coelho,'The Profitability x (1973), pp. 253-80. in Economic History, in the West Indies, 1768-1772,' Explorations BritishExperience whichcontributed surplus thattheWestIndiesyieldedaneconomic argument Sheridan presents thecounter in the Eighteenth economy. R. Sheridan,'The Wealthof Jamaica to the growthof the metropolitan in the Century,'Econ. Hist. Rev. 2nd ser. xviii (i965), pp. 293-311; idem, 'The Wealthof Jamaica A Rejoinder,' ibid. xxi (i968), pp. 46-6i. Also see, F. W. Pitman,TheDevelopment Century: Eighteenth and Indies, 700-63 (New Haven,Conn. 1971), pp. 334-60;EricWilliams,Capitalism of theBritishWest Slavery(ChapelHill, N. Carolina,1944), pp. 209-12.

pp. 157-256.

205

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206

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ZAHEDIEH

the light of the funding of what was to be England's richest sugar colony, Jamaica, and concludes by discarding it. It shows how the capital for planting Jamaicawas locally generated and, furthermore, that this capital once earned, could not easily have been more profitably employed in the mother country. Debate about "profit and loss" has focused on the West Indian islands because they most nearly approached the contemporary colonial ideal. The Caribbean colonies stimulated the expansion of long distance trade, "to the benefit of navigation"; they had no manufacturing industries of their own and so imported goods from England; above all, they "cultivated a plentiful soil, productive of commodities not to be had elsewhere".5 They produced tobacco, cocoa, indigo, ginger, dyeing woods and, most important, sugar. Sugarquickly became England's leading colonial import and, from its first arrival on the market in the i640s, yielded a far higher and steadier profit than any other American cash crop.6 Sugar gave rise to levels of wealth and conspicuous consumption which bolstered the image of the Indies as a source of fabulous riches-the land of El Dorado. advancethe There is no one commoditythat doth so much encourage navigation King's customsand our land and is at the same time of so greata universaluse, virtueand advantage as this king of sweets.7 Jamaica was England's leading sugar exporter for most of the eighteenth century and in the I770S surpassed all the other English islands combined. Production more than quadrupled between the I720S and the I770s and aggregate levels of capital investment must have increased in similar measure.8 However, as contemporary planters remarked, "a plantation once made may be improved to as much as one will only by its own produce".9 Once the sugar industry was established the plough-back of profits meant that expansion could be self-financing.10 This paper looks at the early period when the first English settlers faced the daunting task of amassing the resources to get sugar planting underway-to clear the land; build roads, houses, forts, harbours; support the labour force until the first crops appeared. This was the period when the colonists' need for outside assistance was apparently at its height. I Jamaica was seized by the English in i655 and was their last Caribbean acquisition in the seventeenth century. The settlers were sparedthe experimental phase passed through in earlier colonies in which pioneers searched for
5The southern colonieswerehighlyvaluedby contrast with the 'Northward parts'whichwereseen as veryinjurious to the mothercountry."TheNorthward partshavedrained us mostof peopleandyet yield of little value":CharlesD'Avenant.'On the Plantation commodities Trade'(I698), in ThePoliticaland Commercial Works of Charles D'Avenant, ed. C. Whitworth (177i), II, p. 20. SeealsoJosiahChild,A New to its Trade Discourse of Trade (I692), pp. 204-6;JohnCary,An Essayon theStateof England in Relation (Bristol,I695), pp. 68-70, 204-205. 6 R. Davis, 'English ForeignTrade,I660-1700,' Econ.Hist.Rev. 2nd ser. VII(1954),pp. 150-66; idem, 'EnglishForeignTrade, 1700-1774,' ibid. xv (i962), pp. 285-303; R. Dunn, SugarandSlaves (Chapel Hill, N. Carolina,1972), p. i88. 7 Thomas Tryon, Tryon's Letters,Domestick and Foreignto SeveralPersonsof QualityOccasionally Distributed in Subjects (1700), p. 221. 8 R. Sheridan, An Economic SugarandSlavery: History of theBritishWest Indies,i623-I775 (Barbados,

9 B. L. Add. MS 11410, fo. 527, Sir ThomasLynchto LordCornbury, 29 Marchi671. 10RobertNash claims that the growingindebtedness of the West Indies afterthe 1730s came from the sugar the planters rather thanfinancing R. Nash, financing conspicuous consumption amongst industry.

1974), pp. 487-9.

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TRADE,

PLUNDER,

AND DEVELOPMENT

IN JAMAICA

207

profitablecash crops and ways to man the fields. Already Barbadoshad with a firmlyestabthe potentialprofitsof tropicalagriculture demonstrated lished sugar and slave economy. This island, lauded as "one of the richest provideda model for Jamaicawhich her spots of ground in the wordell""1 Englishmasterssuccessfullyemulatedby the earlyeighteenthcentury.This hadinheritedlittle from wasimpressive.The Englishconquerors achievement had who had scarcelysettled or plantedthe island;'2Jamaica the Spaniards, only seven sugar works in i655 producingnegligible quantities.'3In the first decade progresswas slow and in i67I there were still only 57 sugar plantations.14 Clearlymany were as yet in their infancy, as legal exports were only about i,ooo hogsheads(containingi,ooo lbs. each) per annum.15 had 246 A map of i685 shows that Jamaica Thereafter,progressaccelerated. By i689 Jamaicansugar productionwas over I2,000 sugar plantations.16 level of I5,000 to the Barbadian hogsheadsper year and was approaching disruption; (Table I). The Frenchwarscausedconsiderable 20,000 hogsheads halted. However,it was resumedafter the Treaty progresswas temporarily
Table I. J7amaica'sAgriculturalExports Accordingto the Naval Officer,
I67i-I678
Sugar (hhds.)
i671 (6 i672 i673 i674
I675

and I682-I689
Cocoa (hhds.)
8
i6 i6 i6 6 6 6

Indigo (hhds.)
32

Hides
i,6i6
3,232 3,232 3,232 4,931 4,931

Cotton (bags)

Logwood (tons)
460
920 920 920 430

months)

585
i,I69 i,I69 I,I69
2,512 2,512 2,512

I676 I677

64 64 64 II8 ii8 II8

4,931

430 430

I678
I682 I683 i686

5,I65
io,66i 9,533 12,855

90
-

26
-

Ii,865
22,535 I6,107 7,462 1,937 1,309 1,505 1,296 648
903

554
623 5o6 651

I687
i688
I689

ii,i86
12,129 11,574

8,468
842
576

5o6
1,079 1,132

Sources: I671-I678,
I678: I682-I689,

P.R.O. CO 1/43, fo. 59. Given as aggregates, from June I67I-I674,

I675-I677,

and

returns whichwere P.R.O. CO 142/13. Thesefiguresaretakenfromthe NavalOfficer's or with the Navigation Acts. Thus, they includeonly legalexportsto England kept to ensurecompliance papersthat illegalexportssent directlyto Europeor via Englishcolonies.It is evidentfrom merchants' also. The tableexcludesindigoand cocoaexports the Dutch entrepotat Curaqao werevery considerable unit of measurement in the records. in the i68os as thereis no standard of Ph.D. thesis, University Study'(unpublished Trade, i660-1730: A Quantitative Transatlantic 'English Cambridge, i982), pp. 31-51.
11 B. L. Sloane MS 3926, fo. 8, 'Henry Whistler's Journal.'

(Kingston,Jamaica, 91i9). theSpaniards JamaicaUnder F. Cundalland J. Pietersz, i655,' in C. H. Firth, (I9oo), p. 139. Venables of General ed. TheNarrative 14 B. L. MapK123 (44), 'Novissima Ogilivium,' Descriptio perJohannum Jamaicae andAccuratissima
12

13 'LettersConcerning into the SpanishWest Indiesin the EnglishExpedition

15 P.R.O. CO 1/43, fo. 59, 'An Accomptof whatPassengers, and Slaveshas been broughtto Servants this Islandwith accountof what goods hath been exportedfrom 25 Januaryi671 to 25 March 1679'

I671.

(hereafter 'Account of what . . . brought to this Island'). 16 B.L. Map 80710 (17), 'A New Map of the Islandof Jamaica,' i685.

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208

NUALA

ZAHEDIEH

of Utrecht in I7I3, after which Jamaicaquickly becameEngland'sleading sugar producer.17 The Barbadian model for agricultural development was expensive.A sugar plantation,with its combinationof industrialand agricultural operations, requireda very large-scalecapitalinvestmentby seventeenth-century standards. The costs of raisinga workingplantationof ioo acresare laid out in Table 2a. CapitalCostof Raisinga Plantationof i00 Acres in Jamaica, i690
?
50

s.
0 0 0 12
i9

d.
0 0 0 0
0

valueof ?i6 12S. blacksat averageinventoried at average 7 white servants inventoried valueof ?12 for 4 years'service
3 artists which are paid wages

830

84
25

5 horsesat averageinventoried valueof ?5 8 bullocksat averageinventoried valueof ?2 4s.

Purchase of uncleared land
-

17

Costsof land clearance-3 yearsworkingchargeson as shownin Table 2b. the plantation Stills, mills, coppers,etc.; clothes, tools, provisions Interestat 8%p.a. on capitalinvestment for first 3 years

988
I,ooo

0
19

0 10

674
3,620

10

10

Table 2b. AnnualCharges Incurred on the Same Plantation

Wagesfor 3 artistsat 30 shillingsper month Wearand tearon tools, according to Thomas Clothesand provisions,according to Thomas
Replacement at io% p.a. of Slaves

? 54 6o
120

s.
0 0
0 0

d
0 0
0 0

83

Servants Livestock

8 4
329

8 5
13

0 0 0

Sources: Account IndiaColonies Dalby Thomas,An Historical of theRise andGrowth of theWest (i690), pp. 14-i5; Jamaica iB/i 1/3, iII; Lynchto LordCornbury, Archives,Spanish Town, Inventories 29 March
i672, B.L. Add. MS 11410 fos. 525-33; Somerset Record Office, Taunton, Helyar MSS, DD/WHh 1o8990, 115i Addenda Papers 12.

Tables2a and 2b which are basedon a computation madeby Dalby Thomas in sugar in i690.18 However,as Thomaswas pleadingthe casefor a reduction duties he wantedto show that planters'profitswere being squeezedand it is assumedhe weighted the evidence accordingly.Where possible, his values have been replaced by figures taken from Jamaicaninventoriesand trade papersof the same period. The resultingcalculationthat it requiredalmost ?4,000 to raise a working plantationis borne out by other contemporary
comments.19

A planter who made an investmentof ?3,620 could eventuallyexpect a returneven when Jamaican reasonable sugarpriceswere at theirlowest as in
17 18

Sheridan, SugarandSlavery,pp. 487-9. Account Dalby Thomas,An Historical of theRise and Growth of the West India Colonies (i690), pp.

14-15.

19 B.L. Add. MS 11410, fo. 532, Lynch to Cornbury, 29 March i672.

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TRADE,

PLUNDER,

AND DEVELOPMENT

IN JAMAICA

209

output of 8o hogsheadsof sugarand i688 (Table 3). The annualanticipated wouldproducea turnover 28 hogsheadsof molasseson Thomas'splantation20 Table 3. Returns on a SugarPlantation,i688
?
a) Capitalinvestment(Table2a) Annualcharges(Table2b) Average priceper hogsheadof sugarand molassesin Jamaica Annualturnover in valueof clearedland at 8%p.a. Capitalappreciation Annualproduction 3,620
329

s. 10
I3
IO 0

d. 10
0
0 0

6
702

0 0 79 8ohh. sugarand 28 hh. molasses Per cent of capital investment

IO-28

b) Net income (without interest on capital) Net income + 8% capital appreciation in land value (without interest on capital) Net income (with 8% interest on capital) Net income + 8% capital appreciation in land value (with 8% interest on capital)

? 372 45I 82 6i

s. 7 7 I4 I4

d.
0 0

I2.46
2-28

0
0

4.46

of about?702 per annumin i688; a net income of ?372 7S. (I0.28 per cent) if no interestis chargedon the capital;a net incomeof ?82 I4s. (2.28 per cent) if interestis chargedat 8 per cent, a typicallevel in Jamaicaat this time.21 greaterat I2.46 per cent and 4.46 The ratesof returnwould be substantially in land per cent respectivelyif allowanceis made for a capitalappreciation valuesat much the samelevel as the interestrateof 8 per cent. However,the plantercould not expect to see any visible returnfor at least threeyearsafter he madethe initialinvestment.A sugarplanterneedednot only plentifulcash for resourcesto invest, but also had to be in a positionto defer gratification severalyears. As Governor ThomasLynch remarked,"plantingis a work of
time, it requires vast expense . . . wherefore who will plant, must (like the

builders in the Gospel)taketheirmeasures andfurnishthemselves beforehand, with money and patience."22 Clearlyit needed a large-scalecapital investment to establish Jamaican in the seventeenthcentury.Whilst it is not possibleto calculate agriculture do suggestvarious sum with precisionthe preceding calculations the aggregate indicators.They show that it cost ?45 5s. to produceone hogsheadof sugar per yearin good conditions.This indicatesthattherehad been an investment of ?540,330 5s. in order to produce the island's annual averagerecorded
20 Thomas Account, pp. I4-I5. per annum.Thomas,Historical expectedone acreto yield one hogshead to site conditions andlevelsof management. However,the yield of sugarper acrevariedwidelyaccording for plant cane, 3,200 about classesof yields of muscovado: One writergave the followinginformation great";2,400 poundsper acre,"I0 per cent of all estates";i,6oo pounds poundsper acre, "uncommonly forratoons i,6oo poundsperacre,"veryfew";I,200 poundsperacre, peracre,"maybe a savingaverage"; a Book,Entitled, Remarks Upon Anonymous, medium". 800 poundsperacre,"above the common "good"; Considered ThePresent Stateof theSugarColonies (I73). 21 Interest andJews: S. A. Fortune,Merchants ratesusuallyexceededEnglishlevelsin the Caribbean. Florida,i984), p. i55. At times TheStruggle for BritishWestIndianCommerce, i6So-i750 (Gainesville, in i668 reveal"thebareinterestof this place"was i6 per transactions they soared.Sir JamesModyford's (hereafter Westminster AbbeyMuniments cent. By courtesyof the Dean and Chapterof Westminster, to Sir AndrewKing, 4 Nov. i668. W.A.M.), II92I, Sir JamesModyford 22 B.L. Add. MS II4I0, fo. 532, Lynchto Cornbury, 29 Marchi672.

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2I0

NUALA

ZAHEDIEH

is madefor exportsof I I,94i hogsheadsbetweeni686 and i689. If allowance and the many illegal exports, which were reported to be considerable,23 misfortunes which could befall a plantation,the investmentmust have been far greater. The main cost of sugarplantingwas labour. One acre in canes produced one hogsheadof sugarper year in good conditionsand requiredone man to
of Sugar Plantation Described Table 4. Labour Requirements by Dalby Thomas, i690
Plantation size ioo acres
50

Numberof slaves
Area in cane

8o acres
40

(areaharvestedannually) Slavesper acreharvested of muscovado Annualproduction of muscovado per slave Annualproduction

pp. I4-I5.

acres lbs.)

I-2

8o hogsheads (of i,000 i,6oo lbs.

(i690), IndiaColonies of the West Account of theRise andGrowth Source: Dalby Thomas,An Historical

evidencethat, confirmthe literary inventories cultivateit (Table4). Surviving plantingwas largelybasedon despiteconcernabout securityrisks, Jamaican black slave labourfrom the first. They reveala servantto slave ratioof i to
24

in i674-i675

and i to 54 in i686-i696 (Table 5). This acquistion of a large

slave labour force requireda substantialoutlay and provides yet another indicationof the scale of the capitalresourcesrequiredto establishJamaica's plantationeconomy. By i689 the island's 5,000 or so whites owned about
25,000

slaves (Table 6). The inventories surviving for the period i686 to i689

give an averagevalueof ?i6 M2s.for a slaveso that the blacklabourforcewas worthat least ?4I5,ooo. But, the plantersneededto spendperhapstwice this sum to acquiretheir 25,000 slavesas very high mortalityratesand desertion caused substantialwastage. Assuming a mortalityrate of i0 per cent per annum(as in the estimatesin Table6), planterswouldhavehadto buy 30,000 slaves between i68o and i689 to increasethe total from 2I,500 to 25,000. This representsan investmentof ?498,ooo in that decade alone, an annual
outlay of ?49,800.

II flow from agriculture Did this large capitalinvestmentmade in Jamaican The mannerin which Jamaica the mothercountryas AdamSmithsuggested? was acquiredhad a considerablebearing on this question. Unlike earlier colonial projects Jamaicansettlement was not initiated by a joint stock
company or lords proprietors, who might have provided the first capital.24

The Jamaicanprojectwas backed by the state, but more by accidentthan design. The island was a consolationprize acquiredin what was little more
23 The frequent lawswerewidelyignoredby the Jamaicans assertions thatthe Navigation contemporary Masters Exhibits,Brailsford papers.P.R.O. C II0/I52, Chancery by evidencein merchants' areconfirmed 25 Sept. i688, 20 Sept. i689. papers),Halls to Brailsford, Brailsford v. peers(hereafter 24 R. Pares,Merchantsand Planters (Cambridge, i960), pp. I-I4.

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TRADE,

PLUNDER,

AND DEVELOPMENT

IN JAMAICA

2II

Table 5. Number of Servants and Slaves on Jamaican Plantations, I674-5 and I686-96
Number of servants i674-i675 Number of
0 I
2

I0

Total

plantations with 0- Islaves

II2I20

25

_ -

_ _ -

50 5I-I00 0I +

8 8 I
I

I
2 -

I 3
-

I I
2

_ I I

I
I

_ -

I
I

Numberof plantations Numberof

slaves Number of slaves per

43 7i8

5 85

5 83

4 i65

6o
I,2IO

55

44

6o

plantation
Slave to servant ratio

I7

I7 I7

I7

4I I4

55
II

44 5.5

6o 6

20 24

Number of servants
I686-I696 0 I
2

I0

II

Total

Numberof with plantations o- io slaves

II- 20 2I- 50 50-IO0 0I +

52
29 26 I2

5
6
2 I

I I

2 I

_ -

_ -

57
36 3I
22

3 5
259

4
I23

I4

3
II2

_ I

I
I

5
I5I 4,oo8

Number of plantations Number of slaves Number of

2,856 266

i84

i6i 8i
I3

64 64 6

io6 io6
II

slavesper
plantation
23

I9
I9

52
26

37
I2

92 23

_
_

_
_

27

Slaveto
servant ratio 54 Source: Inventories, Jamaica Archives, Inv. iB/II/3, and III

a venture than a state-sponsored raid on the SpanishIndies;25 buccaneering conceivedwith the intentionof makinga large, immediateprofitin Spanish treasure,not a long-term investment in agriculture.26 England did retain Jamaicabut neither Cromwell,nor his successors,felt disposed to spend moneyon it. Land was reservedfor the state, but it was neverdevelopedand
was finally abandoned in i678.27

Otheroutsideinterestswere equallyreluctantto makea directinvestment in Jamaican This is not very surprising.The dramaticprofitsof agriculture.
25Cromwell while Spainwas tryingto negotiate had no provocation for his attackwhichwas launched an alliancewith England. A. MacFayden,'Anglo-Spanish Relations, i625-i66o', (unpublished Ph.D
thesis, University of Liverpool, i967), pp. 56-65. 26 B.L. Add. MS I I4I0, fos. 6i-8o, 'A Copieof the Original sett out the DesignuponwhichCromwell

fleetfor the takingof the islandof Hispaniola'. 27 P.R.O. CO I38/3, fo. 482, Carlisle to RobertSouthwell,ii July i68i.

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2I2

NUALA

ZAHEDIEH

Table 6. The Population of Jamaica, 1662-i689

i662 i670 i673 i68o i689

White men women children Total whites Privateers Negroes

2,458 454 448 3,360

I,500 514

3,000
I,200 4,200 I,500-2,000

4,050 2,oo6
I,7I2

c.4,000

7,768
I,500 9,504

c.5,600
I,200

c.4,600
I,200

2,500

2I,500

25,000

Sources: i662: P.R.O. CO I/I5, fo. I92. i670: Ibid., CO I/25, fo. 5. i673: Journals of House of Assemblyof Jamaica,i663-i826 (Jamaica, i8iI-29),

I, pp.

20,

28.

There is no head count availablefor i68o or i689. Figuresfor i68o based on the Naval Officer's information on arrivals,i673-i679. The figurefor blackswas doubledto allowfor illegaldeliveries; both figureswere adjustedto allowfor a mortality rateof io% p.a. P.R.O. CO I/43, fo. 59. i689: Figurefor whites basedon annualaverage arrivals calculated fromthe Naval Officer's Returns, i686-i688. The figurefor blacksis basedon the RoyalAfrican Company's deliveriesi680-i689, doubled to allowfor illegaldeliveriesand then reducedby 25%to allowfor sales to the Spaniards. Both figures were adjusted to allow for a mortality rate of io% p.a. P.R.O. CO I42/I3; T 70/IO, I2, i5, i6; T 70/938944. The mortality rateis basedon planters' expectations in the i68os. For example,BodleianLibrary, and instructions Oxford,MS Rawl. A348, fo. 4, "Affairs for the careof a plantation". The figurefor slavesis broadlyconfirmed by the followingcheck. Mapof i685 shows690 plantations; average numberof slavesper plantation in inventories, I684-I694is 27. This givestotalsof I8,630 slaves. In additiontherewas an estimatedi,500 slavesin Port Royaland SpanishTown. Total ig,630 slaves. The trendsarealsoconfirmed by literary evidence.Contemporaries remarked thatthe whitepopulation barelymaintained itselfin the I670S anddeclinedin the i68os. Meanwhile, the blackpopulation increased rapidly.P.R.O. CO I38/3 fo. 332, Carlisleto Coventry,i5 Sept. I679; Instituteof Jamaica, Kingston, MS I59, fo. 63. The Stateof Jamaica UnderLord Vaughan; P.R.O. CO I38/7, fo. I29, Presidentand Councilto Committee,Sept. 28, I692; P.R.O. CO I38/9, fo. I4, Some Considerations Relatingto the Islandof Jamaica, Oct. i696.

the early sugardays in Barbados were over. The returnsnow looked far less tempting. Production had outstrippeddemand, and the English price of in muscovadofell by 6o per cent from about40 shillingsper hundredweight i66o to a low point of i6 shillingsper hundredweight in i686/i687.28 It was still possible to make a handsomeprofitfrom a sugarplantation,even when priceswere at bottom, as shownin Table 3. However,these profitsdepended on close, carefulsupervision of the estateas manyan unhappyabsenteeowner discovered.One such was WilliamHelyar, an English squirewho inherited a Jamaican fromhis brotherin I672. Underthe management sugarplantation of irresponsible and corruptoverseersthe estateneveryieldeda penny profit exceptwhen the squire'sown son took briefcontrolin the i68os.29As Lynch remarked"servants,attorneys,etc. are apt to dye or remove,and this ayre I think disposespeople more to covetnousness yn yt of Europe. . . those that are absent can do nothing, but loose all".30Absentee investmentin sugar plantingwas a very risky and generallyunattractive proposition. The pattern of land ownershipwas reflectedin a survey of Jamaicaof acreshad been patented.31 I670. This shows that a total of almost 2IO,OOO
28 J. R. Ward,'The Profitability Hist. of SugarPlantingin the BritishWest Indies, i650-i834', Econ. Rev. 2nd ser. XXXI(I978), pp. I97-2I3; Dunn, SugarandSlaves, p. 205; Sheridan, SugarandSlavery, pp. 496-7. 29 Somerset RecordOffice,Taunton (hereafter S.R.O.), Helyar MSS,DD/WHhio89-90, I I5I Addenda PapersI2.
30 31

B.L. Add. MS

II4IO,

fo. 532, Lynch to Cornbury, 29 March i672.

P.R.O. CO I38/I fos. 6i-8o, 'Surveyof Jamaica,' i670.

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TRADE,

PLUNDER,

AND DEVELOPMENT

IN JAMAICA

2I3

Contemporaries observed that those aiming to produce cash crops would usuallypatentover I ,000 acres. There was only one absenteeamongstthe I3 whose portionwas men with tractslargerthan 2,000 acres;Lord Clarendon totally uncultivated.The 34 patenteeswith between iooo and 2,000 acres revealed a similarpattern.Of the 26 who couldbe identified,25 wereresidents. Therewas only one absentee,JosiahChilde,who patentedlandin partnership with SamuelBache, a Port Royalmerchant.Clearlythe groupof 47 men who of 80,386 acres, or 42.5 per cent of possessedover iooo acres(an aggregate Jamaican residents.There the total patentedby i670) were overwhelmingly was no similarsurveyat the end of the period, but it is clearthat the pattern of land ownershipchanged little. The file of Land Patents in the Jamaica Archivesshowsthat at least 74 out of the 88 personswho patentedover2,000 in acresin the seventeenthcenturywere residents.A sampleof conveyances the Island Record Office in Spanish Town indicates that sales were also overwhelmingly among residents. Outside interests were almost as wary of making an indirect as a direct in earlyJamaican anddeedsin the Island investment planting.The inventories RecordOfficeshow that it was unusualfor plantersto owe moneyoutsidethe island. Meanwhile, there was an active internal credit market. The one The totalamount important outsidecreditorwas the RoyalAfricanCompany. owed to it in Jamaica rose from?56,583 in i683 to about?iooooo in i689.32 creditgivento planters.Partwasinterest.33 Almosthalfof this was short-term the value of only 5,422 slavesat the However,even the total sum represents valueof ?I6 I2S. or aboutIOpercent of the totalnumbers inventoried average deliveredto the island. Unwillingnessin England to become too heavily involved in the risky business of funding a distant colonial venture is reflectedin the dispersed natureof Jamaican trade.The Londonportbooksindicatethata largenumber of individualswere involvedin tradewith the island, mainlyin a smallway.
Between 29 December i685 and 30 June i686, 298 merchants imported goods

from Jamaica in 30 ships. Of these, only 62 people had goods on more than one ship, and only 20 had goods on three or more ships.34These mainly tradecredit adventurers small-scale might have felt able to extendshort-term to theirJamaican customersbut few wishedto makethe large,and frequently plantingunder way. risky, long-terminvestmentnecessaryto get Jamaican III residentsto make It is clear that it was largelyleft to the early Jamaican what they could of the island'sagricultural potential.Outsidersplayedlittle part. How did the first colonists accumulatethe necessaryresources?Very Therewas no largefew arrived with sufficientcapitalto developa plantation. of capital(see numberof slavesbroughtfromthe othercolonies, scaletransfer
32

P.R.O. T

70/i6,

fo.

52;

P.R.O. CO 138/6, fo. 227, 'Petitionof RoyalAfricanCompany,'15 July

i689.
33 Interest with theirown chapmen... takingtwentyper cent the chargeswerehigh. "The company of Jamaica to by Planters firstsix monthsand fifteenafter."P.R.O. CO i38/3, fo. 479, 'Paperpresented

- Lords of Trade', i68o. 34 P.R.O. E 190/143/I, LondonOverseas Importsby Denizens, i686.

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214

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ZAHEDIEH

Table 7. Migration to Jamaica from Other Colonies, -8 and I686-9 I1671

Whites
I671-4 793

Blacks
1,491

i675-7 I678

989
92

1,585 95
3,171

Total Annualaverage
I686

I,874
296

i687
i688 I689

90 49
46 0

396 82
2i6 109

86

Total

i85

493
123

Annualaverage
Sources: P.R.O. CO 1/43, fo. 59; CO
142/13.

46

Table 7) and expertise from the smallerislands, despite their complaints The conqueringexpeditiondid about land shortageand soil exhaustion.35 recruit4,000 men (mainly indenturedservants)in the Caribbean,but few survivedeven the first yearof settlement.Afterthis, West Indiansdisplayed a markedreluctance (Table7). Sugarprobablydid not to transferto Jamaica seemto offerrichenoughrewards in this periodto offsetthe storiesof disease, death and generalgloom which circulatedfrom Jamaica.Some plantersof substancemade the move-Luke Stokes, Sir Thomas Modyford,who was appointedgovernorin i664, the two groupsof settlersfrom Surinamin the that those i670s; but they were few and far between. It was often remarked who did transferto Jamaicawere usually the "loosersorts" who went "in hopes of plunder"-not to plant.36 Settlerswho arrivedfrom the mothercountryalso came to the Indies in of makinga fortuneonce there:very few broughtone with them. expectation Thosewhomthe diarist,JohnTaylor,listedas the island's"chiefandprincipal gentlemenand planters"in i688 were "for the most part (thoughnow rich) formerlyrude and of meanbirth, men of theirwits, whichhavehere advanct their fortune."37 They were youngersons like HenderMolesworthor Cary Helyar;juniorofficerslike ThomasLynch;smalltraderslike PeterBeckford; craftsmenlike RobertBindlosswho was said to have been a ship's surgeon. Only one of the I2 residentswho had patentedover2,000 acresby i670 came with sufficientcapitalto set up a plantation: ThomasModyford,a successful Barbadian sugarplanter. The six army officersand the five merchantswho madeup the grouphad firstto accumulate fundsbeforethey could "fallupon
planting".38

In fact, the earlysettlerswere not firstattracted to Jamaica by its futureas a plantation.It was often remarkedthat "few come particularly or only to
35E. Hickeringill, Jamaica Viewed(i66i), p. 59. B.L. EgertonMS 2395, fo. 286B, 'Considerations aboutthe Peoplingand Settlingthe IslandJamaica,' i66o. 36 B.L. Egerton MS 2395, fos. 640-I, ColonelLynch 'Concerning the SugarPlantations'. 37 Instituteof Jamaica, Kingston(hereafter I.J.), MS 105, JohnTaylor,'Multumin Parvo',fo. 589. 38 P.R.O. CO 138/2, fo. 117, 'Stateof Jamaica', i675.

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TRADE,

PLUNDER,

AND DEVELOPMENT

IN JAMAICA

2I5

plant, but to merchandize."39 Their interestin Jamaicawas arousedby its geographicallocation, "in the Spaniard'sbowels and in the heart of his trade."40 It was this strategicposition which attractedsettlersto the island and it was their successfulexploitation of the locationwhich enabledthem to accumulate the necessaryresourcesto begin plantingfree of overseasties. Men had been attracted to the Indiesby visionsof El Doradosincethe first discoveries.The abundanttreasureof the minesof Mexicoand Peruaroused the avidity of all Europe. Spain tried to reservethis wealth for herself by declaringa monopolyof trade and navigationin the area;but what others could not have by agreement,the newcomerstook by force or stealthprivateersand smugglersraided and traded.41 As the Spaniardsfound it increasingly difficultto defendtheirempirefrom depredations it was likened to a "deadcarcassupon whom all the rest do prey".42 The first half of the seventeenth century was the great age of Dutch commericalexpansion;the Hollandersturned the Caribbean almost into a Dutch lake.43 The acquisitionof Curaqao in i634 gave them an ideal base for expandingtheir trading operationson the Spanish Main. Meanwhile,the in both contraband Englishwerehampered tradingand plunderby theirlack of a suitableheadquarters in the Caribbean.44 The Englishsettlementswhich survivedthis early period were all situatedon the peripheryof the region, wherethey were safelyawayfrom Spanishharassment, but equallyill-placed to tradeor plunderon the Main.45 The colonistswereconfinedto agricultural developmentby necessityratherthan choice. Jamaicawas different.It was "in the centreof the most valuablepartof the West Indiesat an easydistance from the Spanish settlements."46 The island was ideally situatedfor both tradeand plunder. The Englishfoundeda town at PortRoyalwith its large,sheltered harbour afterthe seizureof Jamaica. immediately The port quicklybecamea basefor freebootingactivities against the Spaniards,attractingdisorderlyelements fromall over the Caribbean. In i663 Jamaica had a fleet of i5 privateers.By i670, the islandhad over 20 such vesselswith about2,000 men.47Marauders
39 Ibid.

Hickeringill, JamaicaViewed,p. i6. R. D. Hussey, 'SpanishReactionto ForeignAggression in the Caribbean to about i68o', Hispanic American Historical Review,IX (1929), pp. 286-302; Violet Barbour,'Privateers and Piratesin the West Indies',American Historical Review,xvi (i9i i), pp. 526-66; K. R. Andrews, TheSpanish Caribbean: Trade and Plunder, i530-i630 (New Haven, Conn. 1978). 42 I.J. MS 390, Letterto Nottingham, Marchi689. 43 Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, p. i6; C. H. Goslinga, The Dutch in the Caribbean, i58o-i68o (Gainesville, Florida,1971), pp. 52-60. 44 An EnglishCompany did settle the islandsof Providence Henrietta (SantaCatalina), (SanAndreas) andTortuga in i630, whichprovided idealbasesforprivateering. The Spanish themfromTortuga expelled in i635 and Providence in i641. A. P. Newton, The ColonisingActivities of the English Puritans (Yale,
40

41

1914).
45 All foreigncoloniesestablished in the Antillesin the earlyseventeenth centuryfacedseriousdanger of a Spanishattack.The Spanishexpelledthe Frenchand EnglishfromTrinidadand Tortugain i634; theyexpelledthe FrenchandEnglishfromSt. Christopher andNevis in i629; the DutchfromSt. Martin in i633; and the Englishfrom St. Catalina in i64i. Hussey,'Spanish Reaction to ForeignAggession', p. 299.
46 H. of L. Journals, xvii, p. 5i0. Reportof Admiralty PapersRelatingto Vice AdmiralGreydon, 23 March1703. 47 B.L. Add. MS 11410, fo. I1, 'An Accountof the PrivateShips of War belonging and to Jamaica in i663'; P.R.O. CO I/25, fo. 5, Charles and Tortudos Modyford's Reporton Jamaica, i670; M. Pawson 0. Buisseret, Port Royal, Jamaica (Oxford,1975), pp. 6-i9.

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2i6

NUALA

ZAHEDIEH

continuedto operatefrom Port Royal throughoutthe seventeenthcentury despitethe Anglo-Spanish Treatyof Madrid,promisingpeaceand friendship in i670. Both opponentsand advocatesof so-called"forcedtrade"declared that the town's fortunehad the dubiousdistinctionof being foundedentirely on the servicingof the privateers' needs and a highly lucrativetradein prize commodities.48 A reportthat the 300 men who accompanied Henry Morgan to Portobelloin i668 returnedto the town with prizeto spend of at least?6o each (two or threetimes the usualannualplantation wage)leaveslittle doubt thatthey wereright.49 AlthoughJamaican plantinghad scarcely begun(Table I), the port'stradeincreased fivefoldin the i66os. It attracted about20 ships a year in i66o, and i00 by the end of the decade.50As GovernorLynch admittedin i67I, scarcelyone quarterof what was shippedfrom the island was of its own growth.51 The Portobelloraid aloneproducedplunderworth ?75,ooo,52 more than seven times the annual value of the island's sugar exports, which at Port Royal prices did not exceed ?io,ooo at this time. Port Royalwas also ideally situatedfor contraband tradewith the Spanish colonists. Foreignershad long obtained a substantialshare of the official Spanishcolonialtradewhichwas conductedin two, supposedly annual,fleets from Sevilleor Cadiz. The goods were shippedto Portobelloand VeraCruz wherethey were exchangedfor rich Americancommodities,mainlybullion. However, the traders'profits were eroded by innumerabledifficultiesand delays,particularly as the fleetsbecameincreasingly irregular andhighdefence costs pushed up charges.53 The advantages of direct tradevia a base in the Caribbean were apparentto both sellers and customers.Suppliersreduced costs and delays considerably(Peter Beckford, a Port Royal merchant, reckonedthat direct tradereducedshippingand freightchargesto half what they were with the fleets),54which enabled them to increaseturnoverand profits. The Spanishcolonistscould buy goods more cheaplyand disposeof their own productsmore regularlywhich was particularly importantif they were sellingperishable agricultural commodities.The economiclogic was too strongto be denied and, despitethe Spanishauthorities persistentrefusalto condonethe trade,it grewand flourished,attracting to Port Royal merchants who participated on theirown, andtheircorrespondents' behalf.55 Partof this
48

P.R.O. CO 1/23, fo. i9i, Bowne to Williamson, 17 Dec. i688; W.A.M. 11913, Sir James Modyford

to Sir AndrewKing, 27 Dec. i667. 49 W.A.M. 11920, Sir JamesModyford to Sir AndrewKing, 4 Oct. i668; P.R.O. CO 1/24, fo. 145, 'Narrativeof Sir Thomas Modyford',23 Aug. i669; P.R.O. CO 1/24, fo. i, 'Memorial of Spanish Ambassador', 7 Jan. i669.
50

P.R.O. CO 140/I, fo. 6, Minutes of Council of Jamaica, i8 June i66i; P.R.0 CO 138/I fo. 107-I1,

'List of WhatVesselsArrivedin Port Royal, i668-i670'. 51 P.R.O. CO 1/28, fo. 9, Lynch to Willamson,i6 June i672. 52 W.A.M. 11920, Sir JamesModyford to Sir AndrewKing, 4 Oct. i668.
53

Sailing of Fleets

Galeones

Flota

4 H. Kamen, Spain in the Later SeventeenthCentury(ig80), p. 133. 54 C.S.P. Col. i675-i676, No. 735, Peter Beckfordto Williamson, 6 Dec. i675. Caryclaimedthat
2

I670s i68os

directtradewith the SpanishIndieswas five timesmoreprofitable thanthe Cadizroute;Cary,Essayon

the State of England, pp. 115-i6. 55 B.L. Add. MS 28140, 'An Essayon the Natureand Methodof Carrying on a Tradeto the South Seas," fos. 24-24b; P.R.O. C 110/152, Brailsford Papers.

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TRADE,

PLUNDER,

AND

DEVELOPMENT

IN

JAMAICA

2I7

0
00

I-

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00

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2i8

NUALA

ZAHEDIEH

trade was conducted in the island's own sloop fleet, stimulating its growth

from40 in i670 to 8o in i679 and about i o in i689.56 A furtherconsiderable

part was carried on by English and colonial ships which called at Port Royal before making for the Spanish Indies, but did not return to Jamaica on their way home. Reginald Wilson, the Naval Officer, reported that 40 of the 87 ships which had sailed from Port Royal in i679, had gone on to trade with the Spaniards in this way.57 A close examination of Wilson's returns in the i68os suggests that it continued to be usual for about half the ships entering Port Royal to be destined for Spanish markets58 (ships with a recorded arrival but no recorded departure in Table 8). Jamaican agents hired skilled supercargoes and strengthened the ships' crews, earning commission for their services.59 Contemporary comment confirms the importance of the Jamaican entrepot trade and, as Cary remarked in i695, its steady growth was also reflected in a decline of English commerce by the old route to the Indies, via Old Spain.60 The contraband trade was mainly carried on "underhand" in bays and creeks or the smaller towns. The larger, strongly fortified towns of Portobello, Cartagena and Havana were more difficult and risky to penetrate. The one commodity which could open their doors was slaves, for the Spaniards did not pretend to provide them for themselves, and so had to turn to a middleman who did. The contractors, or asientistas,obtained supplies where they could and Jamaica was ideally situated to serve them; transport costs being 20 per cent lower than they were from the rival Dutch base at Curaqao.61There is no record of a formal agreement to supply the Spaniards in the early years but there are references to their coming to Jamaica. By the i68os the trade was substantial. The African Company alone sold about 25 per cent of its annual supplies to the Spaniards(i.e. an averageof about 500 slaves, see Table 9) and there are also records of large sales by interlopers. However, it was a small group of merchants who benefited most. They bought slaves from the African Company, then sold them to the Spaniards, providing their customers with an armed convoy and accepting payment in the Spanish home port. The Spaniards paid 35 per cent extra for this convenience.62 It was a highly lucrative and relatively safe business which was, as the planter John Helyar remarked, "a much easier way of making money than making sugar".63
56

P.R.O. CO 1/43, fo. 59, 'An Account of what ...

brought to this Island; I.J. MS 105, Taylor,

'Multumin Parvo,'fo. 499. 57 P.R.O. CO 1/43, fo. 59, 'An Accountof what ... brought to this island'.
P.R.O. CO I42/I3, Naval Officer's Returns, Jamaica, i680-1705. of P.R.O. C 110/152, Halls to Brailsford, i3 and 14 Marchi688; NualaZahedieh,'The Merchants Contraband Trade, i655-92', William and Mary Quarterly,3rdser. XLIII PortRoyal,Jamaica and Spanish
58

59

(i986). 60 "The West Indies ... is very plentifully and manyotherthings supply'dby us with manufactures . . . this I taketo be the truereasonwhy our vent for themat Cadizis lessenedbecausewe fromJamaica supplyNew Spaindirectwith those thingsthey used to havethencebefore."Cary,Essayon theStateof tradeand Englishparticipation declinedduring England, pp. Ii5-i6. Kamenclaimsthat the Andalusian of evidencebut the Englishin Spainwereconscious the late seventeenth century.Thereis little statistical
a decline. Kamen, Spain in the Later SeventeenthCentury,p. i i8. 61 B.L. Egerton MS 2395, fos. 502-502b, 'Considerations about the Spaniards buying negroes of the

EnglishRoyalCompany'. 62 P.R.O. CO 138/6, fo. 288, 'Address 26 July i68i. of Counciland Assemblyof Jamaica', 63 S.R.O. HelyarMSS, WHh/Io89,John Helyarto father, i6 Sept. i686.

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TRADE,

PLUNDER,

AND DEVELOPMENT

IN JAMAICA

2I9

Table 9. Royal African Company'sDeliveries to Jamaica, I680-I689

No. of ships
i68o i68i I682 I 683 I684 I685 7 5 5 9 8 9

No. of slaves delivered

I,602 1,56i 1,577 I,892 1,905 I,908

i686
i687

'4
II

3,574
3,075

i688

i689 Total

7
76

103 2,176
19,373 1,937 142/13.

AnnualAverage 7.6 Sources:P.R.O. T 70/10, 12, I5, i6; T 70/938-944; CO

The asiento trade also provided Jamaican merchants with an opportunity to smuggle manufactured goods into the major Spanish towns, which had proved so difficult to penetrate.64 Unfortunately the lack of detailed statistical evidence makes it impossible to quantify the value of Port Royal's Spanish trades, either peaceful or forced, with any precision. However, their combined importance is clear. It was most obviously reflected in the unusual abundance of cash in Jamaica, which enabled the islanders to use coins as currency, rather than commodities as in other colonies. In i683 a visitor remarked that "there was more plenty of running cash proportionately to the number of its inhabitants than is in London."65 Furthermore, although there were no continuous figures for Jamaica'sbullion exports a number of scattered estimates show that they were considerable. Governor Lord Inchiquin claimed that the fleet carried away ?ioo,ooo worth of bullion in i690,66 whereas sugar exports recorded by the Naval Officer the previous year were worth only ?88,ooo at the current inland price. In addition a large quantity of bullion was earned in the entrepot trade with the Spanish colonies and shipped straight back to England. The value of the Spanish commerce is also indicated by the fact that the growth and prosperity of Port Royal predated the development of the agricultural hinterland. Although the island's sugar trade was in its infancy the port's white population increased from 630 in i662 to almost 3,000 in i68o and 3,000 to 4,000 in i689, making it the largest English town in the Caribbean67 (Table io). The importance of trading opportunities in attracting people to Port Royal is shown by the very large number of merchants in the
64 P.R.O. CO 138/5, fo. 47, Molesworth to Committee of Trade,24 Marchi684; the tradeis discussed in C. P. Nettels, 'Englandand the SpanishAmerican Trade, i680-1715', Journalof Modern History,In

(1931), pp. 1-33.

65

66

F. Hanson,ed. Lawsof Jamaica(i683), Introduction. P.R.O. CO 138/7, fo. i9, Inchiquin to Lords of Trade, 12 Aug. i69i.

67 The population of Bridgetown, Barbados, was2,927 in i68o. P.R.O. CO i/44, fos. 142-397, Census of of Barbados, i68o. The population is said to havebeen stableor fallingin the i68os. The population Boston,the largesttown in mainland North America, was 6,ooo in i69o. JamesA. Henretta,'Economic Development and SocialStructure in Colonial Boston',William andMaryQuarterly, 3rd ser. XXII (i965), p. 75.

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220

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Table io. Population of Port Royal, i662-i679

Whites
i662 630

Blacks
40 312

Total
670 I,98I

Privateers
1,500 1,500 1,200
1,200

i673 i68o
i689

i,669 2,o86 approx. 4,000

845 not available

2,931 not available

in the Precinctsin the Sources: P.R.O. CO 1/15, fo. 192. 'A Brief Accountof the SeveralInhabitants of Jamaican Island', i662; Journals Assembly,app. I, p. 40; P.R.O. CO 1/45, fos. 97-109, 'Account of there is no Inhabitants both mastersand servantsof Port Royal Parish',26 May i68o. Unfortunately claimed thatthe townhad5,000 reliable figurefor i689. The diarist,Taylor,whowasproneto exaggerate, and as many slavesin i688. Instituteof Jamaica, white inhabitants Kingston,MS 105, fo. 499. In I692 that beforethe earthquake the towncouldmuster2,000 men whichsuggeststhat the the Councilasserted and Councilto Committee totalwhite population was about4,000. P.R.O. CO 138/7,fo. 129, President of Trade, Sept. 28, I692.

town. There are I I8 Port Royal inventories surviving from the period i686i694, a fair-sized sample of a town with about i,000 households in I689; 49 of these were merchants. Port Royal was also the busiest port in the English Caribbean. By the i68os the Naval Officer's returns show that it was attracting I50 to 200 ships a year. Barbados was still the leading English sugar producer but in i688, the only complete year for which figures survive in this period, it attracted only I02 ships (although they were of slightly higher average tonnage).68 Visitors remarked on Port Royal's easy lifestyle. Taylor, the diarist, described the merchants and gentry living "in the height of splendour", served by negro slaves in livery. The craftsmen also lived better than in England. There was plentiful employment and wages were three times as high as at home. There was abundant food. Three daily markets were well stocked with fruit, fish and meat. Luxuries were easily available too. There was also a wealth of entertainment: a bear-garden, cock-fighting, billiards, music houses, shooting at targets and also "all manner of debauchery" which the prudish blamed upon "the privateers and debauched wild blades which come hither". Many raised eyebrows at the large number of alehouses and the "crue of vile strumpets and common prostratures" which crowded the town, undeterred by frequent imprisonment in a cage near the harbour.69All this reflected the surplus cash in the place. The Port Royal inventories which survive from the period I674-I694 also indicate that it was a prosperous town. In the whole period 44 out of a total of 2I2 left estates worth over Li,ooo (Table i I). This suggests that the townspeople had succeeded in making themselves at least as rich as their famous New England counterparts.70As Taylor remarked "with the help of the Spaniards' purse" inhabitants of the island "have advanced their fortune" and were now rich.71

IV
The successful exploitation of Jamaica's strategic geographical location, and the rise of Port Royal as a trading post based on Spanish plunder and contraband, provided the early residents with the capital necessary to embark on plantation agriculture. William Claypole's study of the extensive land
fo. 26, 'ShipsTradingat Barbados'. I.J. MS 105, Taylor, 'Multumin Parvo',fos. 491-507. 70 Bernard Bailyn, TheNew England Merchants in theSeventeenth Centuty (Harvard,1979); Henretta, 'EconomicDevelopment... in ColonialBoston',p. 84. 71 I.J. MS 105, Taylor,'Multumin Parvo,'fo. 589.
69

68 P.R.O. CO 390/6,

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TRADE,

PLUNDER,

AND DEVELOPMENT

IN JAMAICA

221

Table I I. Values of Port Royal Inventories, i674-i694

Volume I i674-i675 Value in ?
05010050049 99 499 999

Volume II i679-i686 %
20-5
20-5 25

No.
8 8 10 7
4 2

No.
7 7

%
13
13

Volume III i686-i694 No. % II 9

20

i6
13
6

30
24 II

I8
10

47 14
10

17 39.5
12 8

1,000-1,999 2,000+

17

14

Total 39 54 Source: Jamaica Archives, Inv. iB/il/3, I-III, Inventories i674-94.

ii8

recordsavailablein Jamaicaindicatesthat Port Royal'smerchantsprovided the largestsourceof capitalinvestmentin agriculture.72 Manypatentedand plantedland on their own account-at least 275 of 5o8 merchantsidentified in PortRoyalbetweeni664 and 1700 purchased agricultural property.Twelve of the 23 PortRoyalestatesinventoried as over?2,000 indicatean involvement in a plantation.The debts listed in the inventories also show that PortRoyal's residentswere the majorsource of credit for the planters.Port Royal grew rich "out of the Spaniard's purse": the profitsof tradingand looting were used to build up Jamaica's plantations. The mechanismis clearlyreflectedin Taylor'slist of the island's"principal gentlemenand planters"in i688.73 Almost without exceptiontheir debt to the Spaniards is apparent.The most telling examplewas HenryMorgan,the most celebratedof the privateers,who built up a substantial plantationwith I22 negroes, valued at ?5,263 on his death.74Lynch, Molesworth,Beeston, Bindlossand the others had all participated in Port Royal'srise as a trading post.75The most spectacularly was Peter successfulof these earlyimmigrants Beckfordwho arrivedin Port Royalin i66i "breda seamanand merchant" and at firstprosperedby doing businessin prizecommodities.76 In the i68os he was asiento agent in Jamaica.77 Meanwhilehe also began to patent and 20 estates, I,200 plant land.78When he died in I7Io he had accumulated slavesand had founded, what Noel Deerr describedas "perhaps the greatest fortuneever made in planting."79
V

Adam Smith was wrong. The prosperityof Jamaicawas not "owing to the great riches of England of which a part had overflowed".80 Plantation agriculturein Jamaicawas largely financedby Spanish silver earned in a illicittradebasedon plunderandcontraband. lucrative Nor did the investment
72 IslandRecordOffice, SpanishTown (hereafter I.R.O.), Deeds, OS, I-III. Claypoleanalysedthese records with somecarein his thesis.W. Claypole, 'TheMerchants of PortRoyal,i655-I700'(unpublished

Ph.D. thesis, University of the West Indies, 1974), pp. 174-95. 73 I.J. MS 105, Taylor,'Multumin Parvo,'fo. 326.
74 Jamaica Archives,SpanishTown (hereafter J.A.), Inv. iB/il/3, fos. 259-267, Inventoryof Henry Morgan,i688. 75 Zahedieh,'The Merchants of Port Royal'. 76 P.R.O. CO 138/4,fo. 25b, 'Namesof Persons fit to be Councillors", i6 Feb. i684; I.R.O. Deeds OS I fo. 115b;P.R.O. CO 1/34, fo. 71, Beckford to Williamson, 25 March1675. 77 P.R.O. CO 138/6, fos. 292-293, Addressof Counciland Assemblyof Jamaica, 26 July i689; The RoyalAfricancompany's factorsreported Beckford's dealingswith interlopers. P.R.O. T 70/10, fo. 296. 78 P.R.O. CO 138/i, fos. 6i-8o, 'Survey of Jamaica',I670. 79 N. Deerr,History of Sugar(1949), I, pp. 175-6.Beckford's son'sinventory of 1739 indicates thathis wholefortunemay have amounted to ?300,000or so. J.A. Inv. IB/II/3, xviII, fo. io8. 80 Smith, Wealth of Nations,II, p. i87.

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222

NUALA

ZAHEDIEH

of these illicit gains in Jamaican agriculture represent a diversion of capital away from what would have been more profitable employment in the mother country. Table 3 shows that, even at the end of the period when sugar prices were at their lowest, the net return on a well-managed plantation, unencumbered by debt, was I03 per cent (without capital appreciation on the land). This was higher than typical rates of return on rentier-typeinvestment in England.81 However, there was not, as yet, any mechanism by which a merchant making his living in Port Royal could make a safe, trouble-free investment of his surplus funds in England. There was no government stock and it was risky to make loans or an investment in land without personal supervision. Capital and entrepreneurship are most effective when combined, and rates of return suffer if one or the other is missing. The importance of "enterprise" as a contributory factor of production, with higher returns in Jamaicathan in England, made capital far less mobile than might at first seem possible. The failure to recognize this is a prime flaw in the argument that colonies brought "more loss than profit". Furthermore, the high individual returns to planters and merchants in Jamaican trade were not offset by low or negative social returns in the early period. Defence and administration costs incurred in the mother country were nominal. The island did not have a standing army after the disbandment of Cromwell's troops in i662. There were never more than two naval frigates stationed at the island in this period. Frequently there were none at all. The governors' expenses and salary were usually paid out of the proceeds of local taxation and prize goods. The Navigation Acts, which compelled the colonial producers to send their sugar to the mother country, rather than to the market of their choice, tended to reinforce the price fall of the i67os and i68os in England caused by supply outstripping demand. Thus, in this period, they operated in favour of the home consumer rather than the colonial producer.82 The wealth of Jamaica was created out of the profits of Jamaica; far from supporting the liberal theory that empire was a cost and burden on the mother country, the island provides a good example of imperialism as theft,83 albeit by one colonial power from another, rather than by a developed from a developing country. It was plunder and illegal trade which provided England's largest sugar producer with much of its initial capital. Smith's contemporary, the planter historian William Beckford, was justified in this case in asserting that the personwho acquiresa competence in another countrydoesnot drawanywealth fromhis own, at the sametime that whichhe makesor at least the greaterpartof it flows back againto enrichthe parentstream.84 England was able to drain some of "the benefit of the Spanish gold and silver mines" without the "labour and expense" of working them.85 Nothing could have been more attractive in a mercantilist world! London School of Economics
81 R. (I969),
82

Review,LXXXIV English Historical England', Grassby,'The Rateof Profitin Seventeenth-century

pp. 72I-51.
pp. 241-5;

Laws (New York, 1939), L. A. Harper,TheEnglishNavigation

Child,A New Discourse

of Trade, p. 94; Thomas, Historical Account, p. 44.

83 F. C. Lane, 'National eds. War andT. C. Cochran, Costs,'in J. D. Clarkson WealthandProtection (New York, 1941), pp. 32-43. TheHistorian's Perspective as a SocialInstitution: 84 WilliamBeckford, of theIslandofJamaica(1790), II, p. 319. A Descriptive Account 85 F. Hanson,ed. Laws of Jamaica(I683), Introduction.

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