Occupation & Control: The British in Jamaica 1660-1962 - Softcover

The net introduction of enslaved Africans up to the time that the importation of slaves became illegal in 1808 was estimated by the cleric historian W.J. Gardner at 800,000. A census in 1844 recorded a surviving population of 377,433 consisting of 293,128 Blacks, 68,529 free Coloureds, and 15,776 Whites. Until 1865 Jamaica's inhabitants were controlled partly by the British Government and partly by local white residents, many of whom regarded themselves as Englishmen (or Welshmen, Scots or Irishmen) overseas. From 1866 until 1944 control was almost entirely in the British Government's hands. Thereafter, until political independence came in 1962, Jamaicans were permitted a gradually increasing participation in the affairs of state. How was it that a resident ethnic minority and a government over four thousand miles away, with only a handful of agents stationed in the colony and a garrison of less than a thousand white soldiers were able to dominate and control the lives of the very much larger black majority? This book examines both the constitutional and franchise structure employed to exclude that majority from participation in the processes of administration and the instruments of force and means of persuasion relied upon to achieve this. It describes the institutional, social and armed means by which control was maintained for three centuries. So much for what it is; now for what it is not. It is not a chronological history of Jamaica. It contains histories of the Militia; the regular Army; the Police; the Law, Law Courts and Prisons; and an outline history of constitutional controls. But these are each separately presented and not in the form of a continuous narrative. Nor does it contain a record of popular resistance to these mechanisms of control. For an account of the popular struggles against slavery the reader is referred to Hart s Slaves Who Abolished Slavery (2002); and for an account of the origins of the workers' struggles in modern times to improve their standard of living, reference should be made to Hart s Rise and Organise(1989). But despite its limited scope, this book provides information on aspects of Jamaican history and the island's colonial relationship which will hopefully be found useful.