Slavery in the Circuit of Sugar: Martinique and the World-Economy, 1830–1848

527 Pages·2016·1.643 MB·English

by  Dale W. Tomich

Slavery in the
Circuit of Sugar
FERNAND BRAUDEL CENTER
STUDIES IN HISTORICAL SOCIAL SCIENCE
Series Editor: Richard E. Lee
The Fernand Braudel Center Studies in Historical Social Science will publish works
that address theoretical and empirical questions produced by scholars in or through the
Fernand Braudel Center or who share its approach and concerns. It specifically seeks to
promote works that contribute to the development of the world-systems perspective engag-
ing a holistic and relational vision of the world—the modern world-system—implicit
in historical social science, which at once takes into consideration structures (long-term
regularities) and change (history). With the intellectual boundaries within the sciences/
social sciences/humanities structure collapsing in the work scholars actually do, this series
will offer a venue for a wide range of research that confronts the dilemmas of producing
relevant accounts of historical processes in the context of the rapidly changing structures
of both the social and academic world. The series will include monographs, colloquia,
and collections of essays organized around specific themes.
VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES:
Questioning Nineteenth-Century Assumptions about Knowledge I: Determinism
Richard E. Lee, editor
Questioning Nineteenth-Century Assumptions about Knowledge II: Reductionism
Richard E. Lee, editor
Questioning Nineteenth-Century Assumptions about Knowledge III: Dualism
Richard E. Lee, editor
The Longue Durée and World-Systems Analysis
Richard E. Lee, editor
New Frontiers of Slavery
Dale W. Tomich, editor
Slavery in the Circuit of Sugar, Second Edition: Martinique and the World
Economy, 1830–1848
Dale W. Tomich
Slavery in the
Circuit of Sugar
Martinique and the World-Economy,
1830–1848
SECOND EDITION
Dale W. Tomich
FERNAND BRAUDEL CENTER
STUDIES IN HISTORICAL SOCIAL SCIENCE
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2016 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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sion. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Ryan Morris
Marketing, Kate R. Seburyamo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tomich, Dale W., 1946–
Slavery in the circuit of sugar : Martinique and the world economy, 1830–1848 / Dale W.
Tomich. — Second edition.
pages cm. — (SUNY series, Fernand Braudel Center studies in historical social science)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5917-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5918-9 (e-book)
1. Slavery—Martinique—History—19th century. 2. Slave labor—Martinique—History—
19th century. 3. Sugarcane industry—Martinique—History—19th century. 4. Sugar trade—
Martinique—History—19th century. 5. Sugar trade—History—19th century. 6. Martinique—
Economic conditions. I. Title.
HT1108.M3T66 2016
306.3'62097298209034—dc23 2015005370
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my parents,
John and Dorothy Tomich

C O N T E N T S
List of Tables ix
List of Illustrations xi
Foreword xiii
Richard E. Lee
Preface to the Second Edition xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction to the First Edition: Sugar, Slavery, and Capitalism 1
Introduction to the Second Edition: The Capitalist World-Economy
as a Small Island 17
Chapter 1 Sugar and Slavery in an Age of Global Transformation,
1791–1848 51
Chapter 2 The Contradictions of Protectionism: Colonial Policy
and the French Sugar Market, 1804–1848 77
Chapter 3 The Local Face of World Process 133
Chapter 4 Sugar and Slavery: Forces and Relations of Production 193
vii
Chapter 5 The Habitation Sucrière: Cell Unit of Colonial Production 213
Chapter 6 Obstacles to Innovation 277
Chapter 7 A Calculated and Calculating System: The Dialectic of
Slave Labor 309
Chapter 8 The Other Face of Slave Labor: Provision Grounds and
Internal Marketing 367
Conclusion The Global in the Local: World-Economy, Sugar, and the
Crisis of Plantation Slavery in Martinique 397
Appendix 1 Estimated Volume of the Slave Trade to Martinique,
1814–1831 421
Appendix 2 Slave Prices by Age and Occupation, 1825–1839 425
Notes 431
Bibliography 477
Index 495
viii
TA B L E S
1.1. International Sugar Production, 1791–1842 53
1.2. British Colonial Sugar Production, 1792–1843 64
2.1. French Colonial Sugar Production, 1818–1829 88
2.2. The French Sugar Market, 1816–1848 92
2.3. Exports of Refined Sugar from France Receiving Bounty,
1820–1827 95
2.4. Colonial and Metropolitan Beet Sugar Prices, 1820–1848 117
2.5. Import Duty Collected and Export Bounty Paid on Sugar,
1817–1836 119
3.1. Martinique: Sugar Production and Exports of Sugar, Molasses,
Rum, and Tafia, 1818–1847 137
3.2. Slave Births, Deaths, and Manumissions, 1832–1847 142
3.3. Age and Gender Distribution of the Rural Slave Population, 1832 143
3.4. Composition of the Slave Agricultural Labor Force, 1832–1847 145
3.5. Distribution of Land and Labor by Crop, 1820–1847 147
3.6. Regional Distribution of Sugar Production, 1820–1847 166
3.7. Average Holdings of Sugar Plantations by Region, 1820–1847 167
3.8. Martinique: Value of Imports & Exports, 1818–1847 174
ix