Episode 293: Christine Walker, Jamaica Ladies: Female Slaveholding in Jamaica

by Liz CovartJanuary 19, 2021

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How did Jamaica grow to become the “crown jewel” of the British Atlantic World?

Part of the answer is that Jamaica’s women served as some of the most ardent and best supporters of the island’s practice of slavery.

Christine Walker, an Assistant Professor of History at the Yale-NUS College in Singapore and the author of the award-winning book, Jamaica Ladies: Female Slaveholders and the Creation of Britain’s Atlantic Empire, leads us on an investigation of female slave holder-ship in 17th and 18th-century Jamaica.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Christine Walker, an Assistant Professor of History at the Yale-NUS College in Singapore and the author of the award-winning book, Jamaica Ladies: Female Slaveholders and the Creation of Britain’s Atlantic Empire, leads us on an investigation of female slave holdership in 17th and 18th-century Jamaica.

During our investigation, Christine reveals how England came to possess and colonize Jamaica; Why the voices and lives of women and people of color must be uncovered and recovered to understand how the British Atlantic Empire came to be; And, information about the lives and deeds of Jamaica’s female slaveholders.

What You’ll Discover

Jamaica as a Spanish colony
England’s colonization of Jamaica
Being a “lady” in 18th-century Jamaica
Why study women and families in 18th-century Jamaica
How women slaveholders helped to build the British Atlantic Empire
Recovering the voices of women and people of color in the archives
Similarities and differences between Jamaican and British North American slavery
Differences between slavery and indentured servitude
How women slaveholders participated in violence of slavery
How Jamaican slavery looked through the eyes of women
Stabilizing Jamaican society after Spanish rule
Birth rates in Jamaica
Why many Jamaican families were formed outside of marriage
Marriage practices in 17th- and 18th-century Jamaica
Women slaveholders in 17th- and 18th-century Jamaica
British Jamaica and mainland British North America

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if the thirteen British American colonies had followed Jamaica’s lead in accepting and adopting more fluid perceptions of race and gender? How might the development of slavery in the mainland North American colonies have been different?