Access is available on and off campus to current McMaster University students, faculty and staff.
Coverage: 1624 to 1870
Stretching from Jamaica and the Bahamas to Trinidad and Tobago, Colonial Caribbean makes available material from 27 Colonial Office file classes from The National Archives, UK. Covering the history of the various territories under British colonian governance from 1624-1870, it includes administrative documentation, trade and shipping records, and details of plantation life, colonial settlement, imperial rivalries across the region, and the growing concern of absentee landlords.
- Settlement, Slavery & Empire (1624-1832): covers the establishment of British colonial settlement, the rise of absentee landlords, the rise and decline of the slave trade, and the rise of the abolition movement.
- Colonial Government & Abolition (1833-1849): covers the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act, its impact on the Caribbean islands and their governments, the introduction of apprenticeships, and resistance to abolitionist legislation.
- Economic Change & Indentured Labour (1850-1870): covers the rise of indentured labour of Chinese and Indian workers against a backdrop of injustice and poverty in previously enslaved communities, leading to widespread rebelling across the Caribbean.
Many documents in this collection are written from a colonialist perspective and may use terminology that is outdated or offensive by present-day standards. Essays and video interviews by scholars contextualize th ematerials and explain how they can be used to uncover hidden narratives and amplify marginalized voices.
