| Abolition and Plantation Management in Jamaica, 1807-1838 Contributor(s): Gosse, Dave St Aubyn (Author) |
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ISBN: 9766402698 ISBN-13: 9789766402693 Publisher: University of the West Indies Press OUR PRICE: $30.40 Product Type: Paperback Published: October 2012 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Caribbean & West Indies - General |
| Dewey: 972.92 |
| LCCN: 2013397607 |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 6" W x 8.9" (0.95 lbs) 248 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Caribbean & West Indies |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The British Parliament's decision to abolish the slave trade in 1807 had disastrous implications for plantation societies, such as Jamaica, in regards to the health and the labour of the enslaved population. Many of the Jamaican sugar planters could not accept the fact that the 1807 Abolition Act was a watershed moment which demanded a more conciliatory form of management and a willingness to implement critical labour reforms, such as task work. The failure to introduce these necessary internal reforms resulted in the continuing decline in the plantations' crude production figures and in their productivity levels, despite the introduction of steam engines on many estates. The numerical strength of the enslaved population was also decreasing, and most important the health of the enslaved Africans was seriously declining. The planters' failure to also eliminate their ambiguous management structure further hastened their own demise and the profitability of slavery in Jamaica. |