JAMAICA 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲 Flashcards
1
Q
Background of Jamaica pre English
A
- was originally inhabited by the taino people
- colombos claimed it for Spain and with his weapons out powered the taino
- the Spanish overworked and enslaved the taino and as they had never made contact with outside people their immune systems couldn’t take any disease
- soon the taino and their culture had all been wiped out
- though there was no gold in Jamaica, the Spanish used it as a base to conquer other South American countries
2
Q
How did the english take Jamaica
A
- in 1655 Cromwell sent fleets to seize spains carabean
- he sent a fleet of 2500 men commanded by admiral penn, it was a poor army as it had been quickly put together
- they had lost an invasion and were looking for victory
- the sparsely manned spanish men in Jamaica surrendered
3
Q
Initial faliure of the english in Jamaica
A
- there was lots of disease
- supplies were sparse
- they were attacked by the maroons, escaped slave who lived in mountainous areas
4
Q
Edward Doyle
A
- cornel who had come with venebles to Jamaica
- he encouraged pirates to take up Jamaican ports so spanish couldn’t come back
- became the first officer of Jamaica
- he noted that they juch prefered being pirates in Jamaica than working to make sugar
5
Q
How Cromwell attracted people to Jamaica and why
A
- he wanted to make use of Englands new land for their glory as a country
- he promised free land and no tax
- many came from the us and Barbados
6
Q
Modyfords ideas
A
- he was a seasoned sugar planter from Barbados
- he told Charles of jamaicas potential due to its harbours, soil and climate
- he also was not scared by pirates- saying they’d rather plant sugar but also accepting many as défense for the island- even taking some of their profit
- he successfully drove them out of the port but then had to welcome them back
- governors from 64 to 71
7
Q
Impact of modyford
A
- economy began to thrive
- out of 16000 Jamaicans ober 9000 were enslaved
- he gave over 300k acres of land to his family and dreinds
- sugar imported into England was exempt from all taxes
8
Q
Impact of declining plantations in Barbados on Jamaica
A
- soil began to hugely decline in fertility through overuse so it cost more
- so many trees had been cut down to fuel factories that coal had to be imported from England
- the land began to produce less than 1 ton of sugar per acre, far less than Jamaica
- Barbados plantation owners moved to Jamaica and brought land
9
Q
Growth of enslaved people in Jamaica
A
- slavery has been run by the french and Portuguese
- the Dutch were the first to bring them to english plantations
- navigation acts post restoration helped england take over the trade and profit
- this meant that the number of enslaved people in Jamaica post 1660 grew hugely, soon it was up to 5000 a year
10
Q
Other people (non slaves) working in Jamaica
A
- many were prisoners of war or criminals sent to do labour
- there was also contracted servants/ indentured workers who would serve an agreed amount of time on the plantation for freedom afterwards
- owners were less keen on contracted servants as they were treated less harshly (if they ran away they’d only have months added to the contract) and worked less efficiently in tropical heat, they were also more expensive for less time
11
Q
Importance of slaves to plantations
A
- the slave trade and the sugar trade became mutually dependant on one another as labour was needed in order for sugar to be produced
- the work was brutal, they were treated as property and often died and so were readily replaced
12
Q
Slave uprising
A
- escaped slaves would join the maroons
- they lived in jungle mountainous areas and had safe bases
- they’d come from this area to attack english soldiers very successfully
- plantation owners soent lots trying to halt them without much real effect
-in resto england there was six large slage uprisings- in 73 and 85 hundreds of slaves took arms killed their owners and made it to the maroons mountainous areas
13
Q
The slave code
A
- slave population hugely trumped white population and marrons + uprisings we’re a huge threat
- in 64 modyford passed the first slage codes which listed how slaves should be treated and punished
- in 84 as the population grew and there were more rebeltiions a new Jamaican slave code was made, it fined owners who didn’t stick to the code, increased pay for finding missing slaves and changed the status of slaves so they had to be sold off instead of inherited
14
Q
Jamaica as an English colony
A
- charles wanted colonies loyal to him and neeeded to make money for his debts
- he encouraged competition in between colonies to increase revenue
- charles used a private tax collector to raise this money which was hugeky unsuportee by the Jamaican governors as it hindered their relations with plantation owners
15
Q
Achievemts of lord Windsor
A
- replaced doyley as governor in 62
- he gave all non enslaved Jamaicans the rights of an englihs citizen
- he set up a council which could call for an assembly which was able to pass laws freely for two years
- however the owners in the assemblies were constantly fighting the gov and the king
- Windsor gave huge grants of land and encouraged the buckaneers to attack the Spanish
- he successfully attacked and looted cuba