If the Irish Ran the World: Montserrat, 1630-1730Montserrat, although part of England's empire, was settled largely by the Irish and provides an opportunity to view the interaction of Irish emigrants with English imperialism in a situation where the Irish were not a small minority among white settlers. Within this context Akenson explores whether Irish imperialism on Montserrat differed from English imperialism in other colonies. Akenson reveals that the Irish proved to be as effective and as unfeeling colonists as the English and the Scottish, despite the long history of oppression in Ireland. He debunks the myth of the "nice" slave holder and the view that indentured labour prevailed in the West Indies in the seventeenth century. He also shows that the long-held habit of ignoring ethnic strife within the white ruling classes in the West Indies is misconceived. If the Irish Ran the World provides interesting insights into whether ethnicity was central to the making of the colonial world and the usefulness of studies of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English imperialism in the Americas. It will be the basis of the Joanne Goodman Lectures at the University of Western Ontario in 1997. |
Contents
Irelands NeoFeudal Empire 16301650 | 12 |
From NeoFeudalism to Crown Rule 16501680 | 58 |
Capitalism at a Gallop 16801730 | 117 |
After 1730 | 154 |
Usable Traditions | 171 |
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Common terms and phrases
acres African slaves Anglican Anthony Briskett anti-Catholic Antigua appointed assembly Barbados became black slaves Blake British Isles Carib Carlisle patent census Christopher Codrington colonists colony Cotter council County Cork Crown David Gallway deputy governor Division Dutch early economic eighteenth century emancipation England Established Church ethnicity European free labourers freehold French Gallway governor of Montserrat granted historians indentured labourers indentured servants Indian Ireland Irish Catholics Irish civil war Irish diaspora Irish ethnicity John land landowners Leeward Islands London authorities Lord Willoughby ment merchant militia Mont Montserrat planters Munster native Irish neo-feudal Nevis Old English olic onwards parish penal code percent Plymouth priest probably Protestant religious Roger Osborne Roman Catholic serrat settlement settlers seventeenth century slavery social sort St Anthony's St Christopher St Patrick's sugar tenancies tion tobacco Total Trade and Plantations Trant Waad Warner West Indies white indentured white male white population William Stapleton