Following the Bermudan’s settling in the Islands the next large introduction of slaves followed the AmericanWar of Independence. Following the war the Loyalists were required to take an oath of allegiance. Many refused which led to their land and property, including slaves, being confiscated and sold. For the Loyalists there was no future in Georgia so many moved to Florida, which was still under British rule. Unfortunately for them the British ceded Florida to the Spanish and once again the Loyalists were forced to move – this time to the West Indies.
Fleeing Loyalists were granted land in British held territory, some of whom moved to the Caicos Islands in the 1780s and 1790s. With the Loyalists came plantation life, and a key element to a successful plantation system at this time was slaves. There were two types of slaves: African (those from Africa) and Creole (native born Blacks). Some estimate that the ratio was as high as 80% Creole to 20% Black.
As Saunders states (1985), the majority of the loyalist slaves were born in the USA, lived in a society of almost equal sex ratio which allowed a well developed family life to exist, and worked on small holdings rather than on extensive plantations. There is little reason to believe that the slave dwellings on Loyalists plantations in the Turks and Caicos Islands developed any different to those in the Bahamas. There they consisted of unplastered stone with a palm thatch roof – in fact when we look at some of the structures on Middle Caicos they fit this description.
The dominant plantations in the Caicos Islands were those growing Sea Island Cotton. Cotton needed one slave for every 5 acres compared to one slave per acre on sugar plantations (Saunders p143). Large-scale sugar plantations appear not to have existed within the Bahamas archipelago. However, in 1812 Dowson does record that Colonel Brown had “a fine sugar plantation” on North Caicos (Pegg p44). We can assume that there must have been some limited sugar production as there is circumstantial evidence. For example at Wade’s Green there are several “sugar kettles” in which sugar cane could have been boiled up. Further “kettles” are found on Grand Turk (now held in the Turks and Caicos National Museum) and one on Salt Key (probably moved here to be used in the whaling industry).
John Wilson, in his 1783 survey of the Bahamas to assess the Islands for suitability for the transfer of some of the Loyalists from Florida (Kozy p.66), did not record the Caicos Islands at all which suggests there were no occupants. In Wylly’s “Short Account of the Bahamas” of 1789 he estimated that prior to the arrival of the Loyalists there were only one white male head of a family and 5 slaves in the Caicos Islands. This suggests that the Caicos Islands had little attraction before the Loyalists were granted land there.
In the Caicos Islands 92 grants were made to 72 people, totalling 18 138 acres, or on average 197 acres per plantation (Kozy, p 84). It is unlikely all took up their grants, especially as anything smaller than 60 acres would not have been sustainable under a plantation system (Kozy, p106). It is estimated that by 1788, 40 families with around 1200 slaves had settled in the Caicos Islands. These family names: Basden, Ferguson, Gamble, Lorimer, McIntosh, Missick, Penn, Rigby and Stubbs, still survive today.
Mckinnen, a traveller in the Bahamas in around 1803 recorded that he had found “one planter owning 600 slaves” in the Caicos Islands (Kozy, p 168). However, this was not clearly all of the planters that were there, just the largest slave owner (was it Wade Stubbs?).
There is little contemporary evidence for life on a cotton plantation in the Bahamian Archipelago. It is clear that most if not all the loyalists were resident on their land and due to the relatively small numbers of slaves it would have been more likely that the property owner and/or members of their family, supervised the slaves either directly or through a “driver”, a trusted slave. The slaves would have carried out all of the tasks from constructing and maintaining the buildings and field boundaries, clearing the land for planting, planting, harvesting, separating the cotton from the seed, packing it and carrying to the dock for transportation to the market. On top of this they would be expected to grow food for themselves and the slave owners, raise the livestock and carry out any other duties that were required. Unlike on sugar plantations where gangs were used, the “Task” system seemed to have been employed on the cotton plantations (Saunders, 1985, p 157). This allotted certain tasks or an area of land to individual slaves: once they had finished their tasks the rest of the day was generally theirs. It is likely though that at harvest time gangs were employed, as this would have been more efficient.
The Bahamas Assembly passed laws to limit the area of land to be worked by one slave to be no more than 7 acres for a “taskable hand” (aged 16-60) or 3 ½ acres for “half taskable hand” (aged under 16 or older than 60) (Kozy p 168). Also, slave owners had to make sure that there was sufficient provision of food, clothing and accommodation for the slaves. In most cases it was likely that the slaves would have been given their own plot of land on the plantation on which they could raise crops. For the old and infirm the slave owner would probably have provided the food.
Cotton harvests were initially good but the thin soil was soon depleted of its nutrients. The hurricane of 1813 and pest infestations saw many plantation owners depart from the Islands, leaving many slaves behind. By 1820 most plantations had been abandoned (de Booy) but we do know that Wade’s Green was still in use, and it is likely that Wade Stubb’s other interests at Cheshire Hall and Haulover were still in operation. Remaining owners continued to work the plantations with slaves until emancipation in 1834.
So who were the Loyalists and what evidence remains of their presence today? The Loyalists included John Bell, a man of independent means, who was granted over 1000 acres on Grand Caicos, developing the two plantations “Increase” and “Industry” . He brought 180 slaves with him. In his estate appraisal at his death in 1800 it recorded 90 slaves (Kozy, p116, and p163 which lists the slaves and their family connections) on a plantation of 1 470 acres, of which 300 were under cotton production (Kozy, p160). In one of his inventories it records “thirteen large stone houses for negroes” (Kozy p147). There was also Stephen De Lancey who was granted 900 acres, “Greenwich Plantation” , and an appraisal made in 1800 recorded 18 slaves, listed by name (Kozy, p136) and a cotton gin, as well as household items. However, the best data relates to the Cheshire Hall, Wade’s Green and Haulover Plantations.
Contents of this story:
Turks and Caicos National Museum
Nigel Sadler |
