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THE ROLE OF THE SCOTS IN THE ECONOMY AND SOCIETY OF THE WEST INDIES *
Author(s) -
Sheridan Richard B.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1977.tb47735.x
Subject(s) - annals , scots , west indies , library science , citation , history , political science , media studies , classics , sociology , art , ethnology , literature , computer science
Slavery in the New World plantation societies was shaped by physical and institutional environments that varied widely in time and place. The planta· tion was a multifaceted institution that produced agricultural staples for export markets and came to dominate the larger society under the control of the planter class. Developing in regions of open resources, the plantation required combined and constant labor that was not forthcoming apart from slavery and which yielded a rate of return on both human and physical capital that was high by comparison with that of free labor. The rate of return was, in part, a function of the investment in human capital, both black and white. The typical sugar plantation was a big business establishment in comparison with contemporary units of industrial and agricultural organization in Europe. It was both farm and factory; it combined the growing of canes with the manufac· ture of raw sugar and the distilling of molasses into rum. The Reverend Hope Masterton Waddell, a Scottish missionary in Jamaica near the end of slavery, wrote that a sugar estate in good order was a fine sight. The canes presented an appearance of utmost luxuriance and the pastures with their beautiful trees seemed like English parks. The sugar works comprised an extensive range of buildings: