Ethnic groups and class in an emerging market economy : Spaniards and Minorcans in late colonial St. Augustine

336 Pages·1993·8.5 MB·English

by  Cusick, James G

ETHNIC GROUPS AND CLASS IN AN
EMERGING MARKET ECONOMY: SPANIARDS AND MINORCANS
PN LATE COLONIAL ST. AUGUSTINE
By
JAMES GREGORY CUSICK
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
1993
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES
Copyright 1993
by
James Gregory Cusick
Dedicated to Marie V. and James G. Cusick,
my
parents,
and Maureen A. Cusick,
my
sister
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Funding for several aspects of this research was provided by the
following organizations. The National Science Foundation, Social Science
Division, Anthropology Program, provided funds toward identification and
analysis of faunal materials (grant #BNS-9003961). The St. Augustine
Historical Society funded the 1991 fieldseason at SA-34-3, one of its properties,
in order that data from this site could be included in the study. Monies from
the Charles H. Fairbanks Scholarship Fund, administered by the Department
of Anthropology, University of Florida, defrayed costs of producing this
dissertation. Teaching and research assistantships were also indispensable, as
was the constant support of the University of Florida's Department of
Anthropology, the Florida Museum of Natural History, and the Division of
Sponsored Research.
If there is a better or more gracious place to do archaeology than St.
Augustine, I have yet to find it. Field work and analysis were made possible
through the dedicated efforts of many institutions and individuals.
Excavations at SA-34-2 were carried out by Vicki Rolland, assistant field
supervisor, and crew members of the St. Augustine Archaeological
Association (Betty Riggan, Margaret Perkins, Jackie Bowman, George Allen,
Richard Todd, Dick Metzler, Charles Tingley, Les Loggin, Dot Miller, and Bud
Moler). Archaeological sites were included in the study with the enthusiastic
approbation of the site property owners: Mr. Fred White of St. Augustine,
IV
Sister Mary Albert and the sisters of the Convent of St. Josephs, the Historic
St. Augustine Preservation Board, the St. Augustine Historical Society, and
the City of St. Augustine. Bruce Piatek and Stanley Bond of the Historical St.
Augustine Preservation Board and Carl Halbirt, City Archaeologist, provided
assistance, lab space, and advice during analysis of curated collections.
Bruce Chappell, archivist, and the staff of the P.K. Yonge Library of
Florida History, and Page Edwards, director, and the staff of the St. Augustine
Historical Society were constant guides during archival and historical
research. Of equal importance was the cooperation of Dr. Jane Landers of the
Department of History, Vanderbilt, Susan Parker of the Historic St. Augustine
Preservation Board, and Sherri Johnson of the University of Florida, all of
whom shared with the author information from their own research on life in
late colonial St. Augustine. Professor Jennifer Schneider, Theater
Department, University of Florida, provided background on eighteenth-
century costume. Special thanks go to Drs. John and Patricia Griffin, who
have provided data, advice, and encouragement throughout this project.
I also gratefully acknowledge the patient and long-suffering work of Dr.
Patricia Foster-Turley, who identified site faunal materials and provided the
baseline data for the study of foodways. I wish her good luck with her otters.
No amount of thanks can truly acknowledge the enormous donation
of time and effort given to me by the members of my doctoral committee: Dr.
Kathleen Deagan, chairperson; Drs. Jerald MiJanich, Elizabeth Wing, Darrett
Rutman, and Murdo MacLeod, members; Bruce Chappell, invited member.
This dissertation presents only a fraction of the overall number of
research projects in historical archaeology which have come to fruition
because of Kathleen Deagan. Kathy communicates to her students her own
passion for the field of Spanish colonial archaeology. Her research in St.
y
Augustine provided the model, the inspiration, and the foundation for the
current study. I am grateful to Kathy for providing me with careful and
thorough archaeological training, for constant support during my graduate
education, and for the many (many) hours spent overseeing and reviewing
this work.
I am indebted to Darrett Rutman for introducing me to the world of
community study and for his astute and objective evaluation of this and
many other manuscripts. I am also most grateful to Jerry Milanich, Elizabeth
Wing, and Murdo MacLeod for helping me integrate the diverse fields of
archaeology, zooarchaeology, and history into a study that, ultimately, says
something about people rather than artifacts.
In addition, Dr. Prudence Rice, an earlier member of the committee,
provided much-needed advice in the early stages of the ceramic analysis, and
Dr. Elizabeth Reitz read early drafts of the chapters on foodways and provided
both editorial suggestions and additional information.
Anyone writing a dissertation gains a new appreciation of the meaning
of friendship. Becky Saunders and Ann Cordell had to listen to more
complaints about cluster analysis than any reasonable person should have to
tolerate. Kate Hoffman, Maurice Williams, George Avery, Donna Ruhl, Judy
Sproles, Greg Smith, and Marsha Chance managed somehow to keep me
grounded during many alternate days of euphoria and angst.
Finally, I reserve my most heartfelt thanks for my mother, father, and
sister, who have seen me through many hard times, and whose only reward
will be to flip through this dissertation before putting it on the coffee table in
the living room. They have always recalled me to the fact that scholarship is
a privilege accorded to a few by the generosity of the many.
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iv
LIST OF TABLES. x
LIST OF FIGURES xiii
ABSTRACT
xiv
CHAPTERS
INTRODUCTION
1 1
2 CLASS AND ETHNICITY. 11
Social Class. 11
Ethnic Groups 16
The Study of Ethnicity and Assimilation 18
3 OLD COLONY, NEW BEGINNINGS. 24
Early Spanish Exploration 1513-1565 24
First Spanish Period 1565-1763 25
British Period 1763-1783
..............26
Late Colonial Spanish East Florida 27
Spain and its Late Bourbon Dynasty. 29
The Circum-Caribbean and the Rise of Cuba 31
Florida and the Cuban Model 33
Political Events in Spanish East Florida 36
4 PORTRAIT OF A COMMUNITY:
CULTURE AND CULTURE THEORY
IN A ST. AUGUSTINE CONTEXT. 38
Demography
39
Spaniards and Minorcans. 48
Assimilation or Non-Assimilation?... 61
vn
Documentary Evidence for
Consumerism in St. Augustine 62
Late Colonial Household Sites in St. Augustine 68
A COMPARISON OF SPANISH
AND MINORCAN DRESS
79
Late Eighteenth Century
Costume in Spain and Minorca 80
Spanish and Minorcan Costume in St. Augustine 87
6 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INDICES OF CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR: CERAMIC ASSEMBLAGES IN
SECOND SPANISH PERIOD ST. AUGUSTINE. 101
Ceramics as a Data Source 103
Studies of Consumer Behavior 104
Ethnicity and Consumption 113
Methodological Considerations
Governing the Comparison and
Quantification of Ceramic Assemblages 116
Methodological Considerations:
Cluster Analysis of Sites. 127
7 TEAWARES, PLATES, AND
UTILITARIAN WARES.
131
Initial Data Analysis: Sherd Counts and Weights 131
Vessel Counts 136
Analysis Based on the Estimated
Minimum Number
of Vessels 143
Interpretation 159
8 ZOOARCHAEOLOGY AS AN
ANTHROPOLOGICAL TOOL
166
General Zooarchaeological Methods: Overview. 173
Background to Colonial Subsistence in
St. Augustine Based on Historic Documents 184
Background to Colonial Subsistence in
St. Augustine Based on Zooarchaeological Data 191
Spanish and Minorcan Diet
in Late Colonial St. Augustine 195
Vlll
ZOOARCHAEOLOGY OF SPANISH
9
AND MINORCAN HOUSEHOLDS.
202
Zooarchaeology of Spanish
and Minorcan Households 202
Comparison of the Second
Spanish Period Faunal Assemblages 213
Interpretation 221
10 JOURNEY'S END 224
APPENDICES
A LIBRARY INVENTORIES
235
B OCCUPATIONS IN ST. AUGUSTINE 242
C PRICES FOR VESSEL FORMS IN ST. AUGUSTINE 249
D STATISTICS FOR CERAMIC ANALYSIS 253
E MNI AND BIOMASS DATA
FOR ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSEMBLAGES
261
F ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROVENIENCES
USED IN THIS STUDY.
280
BIBLIOGRAPHY
285
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
318
IX
LIST OF TABLES
TABLES
Page
4-1 Population of St. Augustine 1786
(Excluding the Garrison) 40
4-2 Free Black and Slave Population of St. Augustine 41
4-3 Non-Spanish Household
Heads Arriving in St. Augustine. 42
4-4 Non-Spanish Immigration
into Spanish East Florida 43
4-5 Distribution of Occupations Across
Some Segments of St. Augustine's
Late Eighteenth-Century Population 49
4-6 Overall Volume of Goods by Major Ports 63
4-7 Food Imported into St. Augustine 1787, 1794, 1803. 65
4-8 Sites and Their Household Heads 69
4-9 Household Size and Socioeconomic Rank 69
5-1 Names and Occupations of Individuals in Sample 90
5-2 The Distribution of Shirts, Breeches,
Pants, Stockings, Ruffles, Cravats, and Gloves 92
5-3 The Distribution of Coats, Waistcoats, Jackets,
and Suits by Year and Socioeconomic Position 94
5-4 Mean Numbers of Shirts,
Breeches, Stockings, and Cravats 96
5-5 Mean Number of Outer Garments.
97