Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 14/Sep 09:03

Rum, sailors, soldiers and the enslaved in Tobago

FOR Tobago’s plantocracy, the start of the 19th century was the harbinger of doom. Despite the administration’s best efforts, the island was retaken by the French in 1802, which inflicted a serious blow to the sugar industry and its ability to recover properly from the previous occupation of 1781. Also, planters had to face their worst nightmare. The anti-slavery movement was gaining support in Britain, both in and out of Parliament, which was bad news for the pro-slavery group, whose concerns lay with maintaining a servile labour force. This turn of events did not augur well for a struggling sugar colony. Thus, at the start of the new century, in its usual fashion, the Tobago administration sought recourse to laws intended to provide relief in the areas regarded as most urgent. These laws targeted the groups considered essential to the island’s welfare. Enslaved labour was critical for the sugar industry, while sailors and soldiers were just as critical for defence against encroaching external rivals and the longstanding internal threat of resistance from the enslaved population. In all three cases the essential services could become uncontrollable and sources of serious security breaches if they were allowed easy access to alcohol. Their first thrust was against the desired and despised rum and other forms of alcohol. The rum industry was the best remunerated aspect of the sugar industry. Good rum fetched higher prices than the poor-quality sugar produced on the island could ever hope to. However, its uncontrolled consumption in the home space could lead to negative consequences. Despite its premium status for external marketing purposes, rum was seen as an evil, the local consumption of which ought to be curtailed, because its uncontrolled consumption could create serious threats to law and order and to the safety of the population from groups with a propensity to be disorderly. On November 6, 1804, Tobago’s administrators passed a law to prevent undue frequenting of taverns and tipping houses and the consequent availability of rum to soldiers, sailors and the enslaved. It forbade anyone without the required licence to sell rum, wine, beer, ale or any liquor to soldiers, sailors and enslaved people. That licence was available on application from three or more justices of the peace, one of whom must be a member of council, authorised to grant such licences to up to four people in Scarborough and one in Plymouth. Those applying for the authority to grant licences had to be freeholders resident on the island and able to post securities of £500 and of £25 specifically for retailing alcohol. Applicants had to conform to all parts of the law and faced a charge of £330 for breaking it. Those authorised also had to pay quarterly licence fees. Failure to pay regularly resulted in a charge of £50. [caption id="attachment_1178149" align="alignnone" width="433"] -[/caption] Licensed vendors could sell small quantities of alcohol only to soldiers and sailors with permission from their commissioned officers, and, in the case of the enslaved, from their masters. The fine for contravening this part of the law was to be determined by a magistrate and the offender could face a levy on his land, tenements or enslaved possessions. Should cases of neglect by magistrates occur, they would be liable to prosecution in the court of the King’s Bench, and, if found guilty, be charged £60, half to be paid to the informer and the remainder deposited in the Treasury. The stiffness of this law was indicative of the seriousness of its intent, but its lack of practicality limited its effectiveness. The easy availability of rum and other forms of alcohol in Caribbean plantation societies could not be easily removed by laws, especially in a society like Tobago’s, where there was a shortage of agents of the state to enforce them. In the interest of maintaining the good order and decorum of the lower class necessary to preserve the safety and security of the inhabitants, it was determined stronger regulation of the police service was required in the towns of Scarborough and Plymouth. To this end, a law of December 25, 1805 required that a white resident of Scarborough must attend the courthouse there daily from 6am-8pm to take care of the jail and to receive and confine those committed to jail. This officer was also required to provide night duties as needed. This law was considered necessary because the imperial government had imposed restrictions on the importation of captive Africans, to which the island’s administration was vehemently opposed. It was argued that Tobago never had the opportunity to obtain what was considered a full quota of Africans, which planters felt necessary for effective cultivation of their plantations. They asked for special consideration for the unique circumstances of the island, without success. The fact is, imperial sentiments were moving in favour of terminating British involvement in human trafficking, and the restriction law was the first step. Although imperial intent was made clear in 1807 that the trade would be ended with effect from 1808, the administration of Tobago made a last desperate attempt to hold on to their enslaved possessions. Fearing that news of developments in Britain and reactions in the region would stimulate increased resistance by the enslaved, planters sought to hold on to enslavement to the bitter end. The enslaved were the specific target of the next law, of November 28, 1807, against “the practice of gangs of enslaved to absent themselves from their masters, owners or rentiers to the evil example of others and the terror and danger to the inhabitants.” If enslaved people absented themselves from any plantation without tickets from their owners, or ran away singly or in “gangs of two or more” for any period, the ringleader or ringleaders would be considered the greatest offenders and would be put to death or given any other punishment decided by those appointed to try the enslaved. The other runaways would be whipped or given other punishment. Owners were required to pay four shillings and sixpence for each enslaved person admitted to or released from the jail. While the Tobago planters could not prevent the imposition of imperial laws, their intent was to prevent the escape of their enslaved possessions, with the aim of maintaining plantation operations. However, the planting fraternity was caught in a bind. Their problem was that the things they desired and on which they depended most to produce, protect and preserve their lifestyle, they came to despise, because they were unable to control them to the extent they wanted.   The post Rum, sailors, soldiers and the enslaved in Tobago appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.