Plantation Palm
Planted firm on this
landscape 100 years stories we could tell
Of the many captured
humans they did buy and sell
And those who did not
die but survived to smell hell
As my brother and I
stand here and sway
And would never dream
we would see a day
When the mistreated
and abused their prayer someone would hear
Not a thing did they
own not even their own lives
And the licks on their
backs were severe and scars were rife
But we remained alive
to see the oppressed take over the land
That they ancestors
paid for by the work of their hand
Generation have now
passed and gone
But the perseverance
bequeathed still lives on
The wealth of the
wicked is stored up for the blessed
This is your
inheritance you have endured the test.
-
Cyralene Benskin-Murray
Barbados,
the eastern most gem of the Caribbean Sea, is a serene tourist haven where
people from all of the world land ashore to rest and sunbath and frolic in its
crystal waters. This island a prized
gemstone mined by the British in 1627. A
perfectly carved climate regulated by the sun, fertile lands and interesting
topography lent to untapped potential unbounded and broken to open a chest
of fortune for the king and the English
men. In this feature we will examine Barbados – the incubator for wealth.
With Bim topping the
charts being the 12th most expensive country to live the questions
looms/dances in our heads…how did we get here “fields and hills and hills
beyond recall are now our very own”
This was indicated by
CEOWORLD Magazine which ranked Barbados our beloved island state at twelfth out
of grand total of one hundred and thirty two countries. The international
business edition named Switzerland the most expensive European country to live
in following Norway, Iceland, Japan, Denmark, Bahamas, Luxembourg, Israel,
Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Barbados.
Robert Morris, Historian
and former government advisor, explained that “the plantation system started really
without a particular focus on crops…grants of land would have been made by the
proprietor the person to whom the island was given to by the king…and one large
segment what is known as the ten thousand acres would have been given to the
merchant the syndicate that helped the persons who were developing
Barbados…that land was taken from Blackrock right up to through St. George
Valley…and clearly those persons who decided that they wanted their land in that area would have gone on
horseback and checked it out because
that is really some of the best agricultural land in Barbados”.
The historian explained
the first settlers from Holetown moved to the northern areas of the island
moving from St. James to surrounding parishes with greener more arable
pastures.
In fact the first crops
are said to be cotton and ginger, tobacco and after these crops did not prove
to be profitable sugar became ‘king’ in the 1630s. According to the vibrant
historian the Dutch who were stationed in Brazil partnered with the Jews…..to provide
technology (windmill) to sustain and grow the cane industry.
Sugar indeed was the
dominant crop and it also dominated the export market in from the 1630s to the
1640s.
The Historian and
former Politian described Bim as a ‘monocrop’ society with sugar cane being our
main product for export and essentially the pen ultimate resource we used to
accumulate or create wealth.
Majority of Plantations
that existed in the 1630s were harvesting sugarcane…quite frankly we are still
living on the plantation…several plots of land were distributed to the
merchants which on average created planation of ‘145 acres’.
Merriam-Webster defines
an incubator as one that incubates such as a. an apparatus by which eggs are
hatched artificially b. an apparatus with a chamber used to provide controlled
environmental conditions especially for the cultivation of microorganisms or
the care and protection of premature or sick babies or as I coined it an
environment that creates the perfect climate for growth. The industry that
created wealth – Sugar still King.
From the early 1600 and
for almost three centuries Barbados was the nucleus and catalyst for the growth
of formidable wealth. With the introduction of sugar in the 1630s and the
importation of Africans slaves Barbados stature grew. The island from seventeenth century through its
natural and imported resources generated unprecedented wealth or was used as a
receptacle and environment where small fortunes could be increased or hidden.
Indeed Barbados was such a porotype of wealth generation with its over 1000
plantations in a mere 166 square miles that it was replicated in the Carolinas
in the united states of America. Noted historian Sir Henry Fraser pays homage
to the economic boom of the day as he states “Barbados was described as “the
richest spotte on Earth” because of the wealth earned from sugar’’
Indeed Bimshire the 166
square miles spot of land by the 18th century was home to nearly 1000 sugar
plantations. Characterized by stately imposing structure with expansive verandahs, dual rows
of welcoming cabbage palms the plantation aesthetic is as synonymous with
Barbados as is sugar and rum. According to Fraser “Barbados’s rich heritage is
elegantly expressed in its historical buildings. Sugar wealth coincided with
the era of Georgian architecture..” Not coincidentally it is these two outputs
of the plantation that was a spurred on the economic bounty of the owners. The
plantation generally took the name of the owner so Skeetes plantation was owned
by Mr. Skeete and then the surname of the owner was imposed on the slaves and
later on the small tenantries that the free slaves occupied in the environs of
the plantation.
Wealth Generated by the
Planter Class
Ronnie Hues a prolific
writer and teacher who penned the history of plantation came up with
categorical system of owners where plantation owners whose properties were 200
acres would be deemed a major planter. Therefore owners who had 200 acres or
more at the time would have been the aristocrats and elites of Barbados or
little England. Class in those days was determined by crop the more successful
the crop the wealthier the owner.
In the heart of
Bridgetown a Jewish Synagogue can be found today and we are reminded of our
ever present history.
In fact let’s take The
Villages which currently houses several medical students from Ross University
that space really was owned by plantation owner John Fraser who bought land
from Mr.Coverley. Coverley Planation was
estimated to have an acreage of 190 to 203 acres. The tenantry takes a new
development. The villages at Coverley owned by Mark Maloney Managing Director currently
features six architectural designs all of which feature the names of tropical flora
and of course one of the designs takes the king ping name ‘sugar cane’.
History alludes us at
every corner…
Merriam-Webster
dictionary defines wealth two ways 1. a large amount of money or possessions.
2. a great amount or number a wealth of ideas. The prosperity of the
island to today has been derived not from the former but from the later
definition. From a wealth of ideas born out of great injustice, cruelty and
hardship in a captive environment former slaves have risen like a Phoenix from
the ashes because of a wealth of ideas.
by Adriana Murray
Referecences
Robert
Morris
http://www.creolelinks.com/1913-barbados-plantation-owners-names.html
http://www.creolelinks.com/1913-barbados-plantation-owners-names.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/experience-barbados/history-of-the-island/
https://www.aaihs.org/on-barbados-the-first-black-slave-society/
Comments
Post a Comment