Chap 1 Flashcards
Omnipresent
(of a deity) having unlimited power.
“God is described as omnipotent and benevolent”
synonyms: all-powerful, almighty, supreme, most high, pre-eminent; More
having great power and influence.
“an omnipotent sovereign”
This omnipresent mountain could be seen everywhere on the island.
Verdant
(of a deity) having unlimited power.
“God is described as omnipotent and benevolent”
synonyms: all-powerful, almighty, supreme, most high, pre-eminent; More
having great power and influence.
“an omnipotent sovereign”
The verdant foothills that swept down to the sandy beach made the island a natural fortress for the British.
Marginal
relating to or at the edge or margin.
“marginal notes”
2.
minor and not important; not central.
“it seems likely to make only a marginal difference”
synonyms: slight, small, tiny, minute, low, minor, insignificant, minimal, negligible
“the difference is marginal”
We see that these West Indian Islands were far from marginal, or unimportant.
Maritime
connected with the sea, especially in relation to seaborne trade or naval matters.
“a maritime museum”
synonyms: naval, marine, nautical, seafaring, seagoing, sea, ocean-going
“maritime law”
The West Indian setting was far from marginal, the crossroads of a bitter maritime rivalry for mastery of a lucrative sugar trade.
Lucrative
producing a great deal of profit.
“a lucrative career as a stand-up comedian”
synonyms:
The sugar trade was extremely lucrative for a few white people on Nevis.
Imbibed
Drank
They grew sugarcane to sweeten the coffee, tea, and cocoa imbibed in fashionable European capitals.
Vacillated
waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive.
“I vacillated between teaching and journalism”
The Brits vacillated about swapping Canada for the Island of Guadeloupe.
Engendered
cause or give rise to (a feeling, situation, or condition).
“the issue engendered continuing controversy”
Sugar engendered a brutal world for black slaves.
Sweltering
Hot and humid.
Most Europeans would not swelter all day in the West Indies heat. So slaves persisted.
Indentured servant
Indentured servitude was a labor system in which people paid for their passage to the New World by working for an employer for a fixed term of years. It was widely employed in the 18th century in the British colonies in North America and elsewhere.
Cosseted
care for and protect in an overindulgent way.
“all her life she’d been cosseted by her family”
While other founding fathers were cosseted on large slave plantations in Virginia, Hamilton grew up in a hellhole.
Fractious
typically of children) irritable and quarrelsome.
Hamilton grew up in a land of dissipated whites and fractious slaves.
Dissipated
(of a person or way of life) overindulging in sensual pleasures.
Alluded
suggest or call attention to indirectly; hint at:
His early family history is hardly spoken of, alluded to in only a couple of cryptic letters.
cryptic
Having a meaning that is mysterious or obscure: he found his boss’s utterances too cryptic.
He turned his early family history into a taboo topic, alluded to in only a couple of cryptic letters.
chattel
a personal possession.
In the slave-based economy, physicians often attended the auctions, checking the teeth of the human chattel and making them run, lead, and jump to test whatever strength remained after the grueling middle passage.
pervasive
spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people. (especially an unwelcome influence or physical effect.)
No white in the sugar island was entirely exempt from the pervasive taint of slavery.
inequitable
unfair; unjust: the present taxes are inequitable.
The 4000 slaves on Nevis outnumbered whites by a ratio of 4 to 1, making inequitable carnal relations between black slaves and white masters a dreadful commonplace
carnal relations
sexual relations
petite bourgeoisie
Name comes from Marxist theory. These people are employers who typically work with their employees. As opposed to Haute (high) Bourgeoisie who do not.
Denuded
strip of its covering, possessions, or assets.
Nevis was denuded of much of its vegetation due to a plant disease.
marred
spoiled.
Their marriage was marred by perpetual squabbling.
annuity
fixed sum of money paid to someone each year, typically for the rest of their life.
Mary renounced all rights to her husband’s property in exchange for an inadequate annuity of 53 pounds.
Sephardic
Spanish or Portuguese Jew.
affluent
having a great deal of money. Lavien was a flashy dresser who tried to look like an affluent suitor.
vindictive
having an unreasonable desire for revenge.
A vindictive Lavien ranted in a later written divorce decree . . .
nemesis
the inescapable agent of someone’s downfall.
One of Hamilton’s journalistic nemeses branded him “the son of a camp-girl”
pretensions
a claim or assertion of a claim to something.
I have better pretensions than most of those who in this country plume themselves on ancestry.
arable
land suitable for growing crops. As opposed to rocky hillsides, etc.
The family estate encompassed half the arable land in the parish.
apothecary
a person who prepared and sold medicines and drugs. Not commonly used today.
lackadaisical
lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy.
Easy going and lackadaisical, devoid of the ambition that would propel his spirited son, James Hamilton did not seem to internalize the Glaswegian ethos of hard work and strict discipline.
