Product Description

Eighteenth-century Jamaica, Britain's largest and most valuable slave-owning colony, relied on a brutal system of slave management to maintain its tenuous social order. Trevor Burnard provides unparalleled insight into Jamaica's vibrant but harsh African and European cultures with a comprehensive examination of the extraordinary diary of plantation owner Thomas Thistlewood. Thistlewood's diary, kept over the course of forty years, describes in graphic detail how white rule over slaves was predicated on the infliction of terror on the bodies and minds of slaves. Thistlewood treated his slaves cruelly even while he relied on them for his livelihood. Along with careful notes on sugar production, Thistlewood maintained detailed records of a sexual life that fully expressed the society's rampant sexual exploitation of slaves. In Burnard's hands, Thistlewood's diary reveals a great deal not only about the man and his slaves but also about the structure and enforcement of power, changing understandings of human rights and freedom, and connections among social class, race, and gender, as well as sex and sexuality, in the plantation system.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #199068 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
"A subtle, compelling, and beautifully written study of the racial, social, and gendered power systems that characterized eighteenth-century Jamaica." - Betty Wood, Cambridge University"

About the Author
Trevor Burnard teaches early American history at Brunel University in Middlesex, England, He is author of Creole Gentlemen: The Maryland Elite, 1691-1776.

Customer Reviews

An eye opening and intresting introduction in to Jamaican slavery
This book is a great introduction to those wanting to learn about the system of slavery within Jamaica. I would not suggest the book to those wishing to learn about the origins of the Atlantic slave trade but it can really add to ones knowledge of the everyday lives of master and slave on the island of Jamaica. A new perspective for me as i primarily study slavery with North America, which as stated in this book, has some significant diffrences to slave systems of the Caribbean and South America.
The author does well to bring about a full bodied story of Thomas Thistlewood from his habitual daily diary entries over his 36 years in Jamiaca. Great read overall.

Shining a light on a dark time
A great book that lets Thistlewood talk in his own words (the man was one for facts rather than emotion and the book thankfully does not try to guess his feelings) - it gives a glimpse into how the slave world worked, how the businesses that relied on the slave trade functioned and the types of white men that were drawn to Jamaica during this era.
This book does not cover the issues from the slaves' perspectives but that is because the core of the book is based on Thistlewoods diaries (which were numerous) and he does not consider their opinions.
An excellent book to help understand (not judge) the white culture and economy in Jamaica during this awful period.