If the Irish Ran the World: Montserrat, 1630-1730 PDF
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If the Irish Ran the World Montserrat, 1630-1730 What would have happened if the Irish had conquered and con- trolled a vast empire? Would they have been more humane rulers than the English? Using the Caribbean island of Montserrat as a case study of "Irish" imperialism, Donald Akenson addresses these questions and provides a detailed history of the island during its first century as a European colony. Montserrat, although part of England's empire, was settled largely by the Irish and provides an opportunity to view the inter- action of Irish emigrants with English imperialism in a situation where the Irish were not a small minority among white settlers. Within this context Akenson explores whether Irish imperialism on Montserrat differed from English imperialism in other colonies. Akenson reveals that the Irish proved to be as effective and as unfeeling colonists as the English and the Scottish, despite the long history of oppression in Ireland. He debunks the myth of the "nice" slave holder and the view that indentured labour prevailed in the West Indies in the seventeenth century. He also shows that the long-held habit of ignoring ethnic strife within the white ruling classes in the West Indies is misconceived. If the Irish Ran the World provides interesting insights into whether ethnicity was central to the making of the colonial world and the usefulness of studies of seventeenth- and eighteenth- century English imperialism in the Americas. DONALD HARMAN AKENSON is professor of history Queen's Uni- versity. His most recent books include Conor: A Biography of Conor Cruise O'Brien (McGill-Queen's), winner of the Trillium Award, and God's Peoples: Covenant and Land in South Africa, Israel, and Ulster (McGill-Queen's), winner of the Grawemeyer Award. This page intentionally left blank If the Irish Ran the World Montserrat, 1630-1730 DONALD HARMAN AKENSON Being the Joanne Goodman Lectures of the University of Western Ontario, 1997 McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo © McGill-Queen's University Press 1997 ISBN 0-7735-1630-1 (cloth) ISBN 0-7735-1686-7 (paper) Legal deposit third quarter 1997 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Published simultaneously In the Caribbean by The Press University of the West Indies Mona Kingston 7 Jamaica WI In the European Union by Liverpool University Press. Printed in Canada on acid-free paper Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Akenson, Donald Harman If the Irish ran the world: Montserrat, 1630-1730 (The Joanne Goodman lectures ; 1997) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-1630-1 (bound) ISBN 0-7735-1686-7 (pbk) i. Irish - Montserrat - History, i. Title, n. Series. F2082.A44 1997 972.97/.50049i62 C96-9oio8o-x Typeset in Palatino 10/12 by Caractera inc., Quebec City The Joanne Goodman Lecture Series has been established by Joanne's family and friends to perpetuate the memory of her blithe spirit, her quest for knowledge, and the rewarding years she spent at the University of Western Ontario This page intentionally left blank Contents Maps and Tables / ix Acknowledgments / xi 1 Who's in Charge? / 3 2 Ireland's Neo-Feudal Empire, 1630-1650 / 12 3 From Neo-Feudalism to Crown Rule, 1650-1680 / 58 4 Capitalism at a Gallop, 1680-1730 / 117 5 The Long Wind-Down: After 1730 / 154 6 Usable Traditions / 171 Appendix A The 1678 Census / 189 Appendix B The Census of 1729 / 201 Notes / 205 Bibliography / 255 Index / 267 This page intentionally left blank Maps and Tables MAPS 1 The Lesser Antilles, late twentieth century / 23 2 Montserrat, late twentieth century / 24 3 Census divisions, 1678 /no 4 Census tracts, by ethnicity, 1678 / 112 5 Rainfall, topography, and settlement patterns / 113 6 Census divisions by ethnicity, 1729 / 147 TABLES 1 Adult Male Population of the Main Leeward Islands, 1672 / 105 2 Population of the Main Leeward Islands, 1678 / 106 3 Ethnic Composition of the White Population of the Main Leeward Islands, 1678 / 107 4 The Gender and Dependency Composition of the White Population of the Main Leeward Islands, 1678 / 108 5 Ethnicity of Adult White Male Population of Montserrat, 1678 / 109 6 Census Figures, 1678-1729 / 137
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