Date of Award

2011

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Anthropology

Advisor(s)

Theresa A. Singleton

Keywords

African Diaspora, Antigua, Historical Archaeology, Landscape, Plantation Studies, Slavery

Subject Categories

Anthropology

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the shift from slavery to freedom in Antigua by examining the landscapes and lifeways of enslaved and free laborers at Green Castle Estate during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Taking a diachronic approach to the past, I examine the production of landscape at Green Castle Estate and in Antigua to contextualize how the social relations of slavery and freedom unfolded in this specific geography. I argue that landscape did not merely serve as a backdrop to the success of sugar in Antigua but was carefully manipulated to ensure the success of that industry on the island. Amidst these landscapes of sugar and slavery, Afro-Antiguans lived and worked on plantations and developed cultural practices that stood in opposition to dominant cultural ideologies. In examining domestic refuse associated with enslaved and free laborers at Green Castle Estate, I offer insights into how the practices of daily life and consumption were influenced by the overarching social relations of slavery and freedom in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Additionally, I draw on archival records to highlight how Antigua's unique approach to emancipation in 1834 reshaped the lives of planters and laborers alike. In doing so, I argue for the importance of local contexts in studies of Caribbean plantations and how historical processes unfold in these contexts amidst changing social relations.

Access

Open Access

Download

Included in

Anthropology Commons

Share

COinS