Abstract
The Caribbean was the crucible of Atlantic slavery and the plantation system that sustained it. The impact of Irish people on the evolution of the Caribbean archipelago is not well understood; nor is the reverse impact of the Caribbean on Irish mentalities, networks, towns and landscapes. Researching Ireland’s role in slavery’s transatlantic web of commerce, improvement and monoculture agriculture is complicated by the overwhelming watershed of the Irish famine of 1845–9, which continues to distort the interpretation of earlier events, and the popular correlation of Cromwellian indentured servitude with inherited matrilineal chattel slavery. Irish-Caribbean identities stretched from indentured servants to great planters, and Irishmen were also subversive players in British imperial contexts. This introductory chapter seeks to discuss and interrogate these complex threads, advertise the developing historiography, and advance new arguments about the relationship between Ireland and the Greater Caribbean.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
