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Tobago planters’ problems 1805-1806

After the British regained possession of Tobago in 1793, there was a peak in the sugar industry, which enjoyed high prices, owing to the fall in production from St Domingue (Haiti). Although this period stimulated a sense of optimism in Tobago and created the label “as rich as a Tobago planter,” the boom did not last long, and a combination of factors spread gloom across the island. First the industry was hit by changes on the international market: at the turn of the century, prices declined, causing serious financial deficit to planters whose purchases were based on optimistic anticipated returns from the sale of their sugar. Secondly, the island once again fell into the hands of France, causing political and economic dislocation for a year before it reverted to British possession in 1803. Planters were caught between the international realties of the fluctuating sugar market, the need to overcome the negative effects of the dislocation, and developments in Britain, where the growing strength of the anti-slave trade movement hung like a cloud over the future of the sugar industry. Tobago planters were alarmed because their sugar did not hold a competitive edge on the international market: owing to its poor quality, it was relegated to the lowest prices, which seriously eroded chances for profitability. The growth of the anti-slave trade movement aggravated planters’ concerns about the continuation of their labour supply. To them, unpaid African labour was essential to maintain the industry and critical to a necessary extension of their production, which was seen as the natural strategy to overcome the challenges. In addition, the mortality rate among the Africans was very high, and they needed replacements to maintain the labour force; but the increased cost of new acquisitions added to production costs, while the price of sugar kept falling. [caption id="attachment_1193326" align="aligncenter" width="433"] -[/caption] In addition, the negative attitude to the slave trade and slavery itself which prevailed in Britain combined with the other factors to make profitability for Tobago’s sugar industry an elusive dream. Planter concerns were not shared by British parliamentarians, whose economic interests had soared beyond the narrow concerns of the sugar industry; their discussions centred on a gradual reduction of British participation in the trade in captive Africans, as a prelude to its ultimate termination. This was unwelcome news for the planters, who built arguments to try to convince the British authorities that Tobago deserved special attention. They called Parliament’s attention to the disruptions in the island’s life as a British possession since 1781, repeated in 1802, while seeking unsuccessfully to preserve the system which supplied the resident labour force. They asked the imperial government to consider the island’s historical experience regarding the intent to restrict the trade in captive Africans to Tobago, because, they argued, the island had never had a chance to obtain its desired work force, owing to the British/French hostilities, which dovetailed into the American war of independence, with grave consequences for Tobago. However, the fact was, investors were no longer interested in Tobago’s sugar industry, and some absentee owners put their properties on the market to cut their losses. This was the start of the process of estates changing hands which characterised 19th-century Tobago. While the prognosis for matters outside their sphere of influence was negative, the Tobago planters also directed their efforts to the one area over which they could exert control – the resident enslaved population. They sought to restrict the possibility of action by the enslaved which would result in the attrition of their numbers. This was grounded in the fear that news of developments in Britain would stimulate a surge for freedom. Ironically, the planters’ own responses, grumbling and swearing at the imperial government, alerted the enslaved population that there was some action in the air from which they might benefit. The planter strategy was to tighten the slave laws to reduce opportunities for organising and executing plots. A December 1805 law outlawed beating drums, empty containers, large gourds or other such instruments and blowing horns, shells or other loud instruments – the main means of communication between enslaved communities. Their freedom was to be restricted to two days’ holiday at Christmas and one at New Year’s, to prevent unnecessary socialising for “bad purpose.” In addition, the enslaved from one plantation were not allowed to mix with those of other plantations. Owners who could not control their slaves were invited to call on the commanding officer of the militia of their parish for assistance. As it became clear the information had filtered into the enslaved communities and planter reality that the undesired law would be passed, in November 1807 plantation owners were required to exert tighter management of their enslaved charges. In particular, the authorities sought to prevent what was described as the practice of some enslaved people of absenting themselves in gangs “to the evil example of others and to the terror and danger of the inhabitants.” According to the law, any enslaved person or people who absented themselves from their plantations without tickets from their owners authorising their absence, or who ran away in gangs of two or more from any plantation, or even the enslaved not based on a particular plantation running away from their owners’ control, the ringleader or leaders would be sentenced to death or other punishment imposed by the courts. This law was supported by tightening security at the batteries established to protect bays around the island. Focus was placed on those bays which were active centres of trade and through which escape would be possible: Sandy Point, Little Courland, Black Rock, Great Courland, Castara, Man of War Bay, Tyrell Bay, King’s Bay, Queen’s Bay, Mangrove Bay and Barbados Bay. All free coloured people in Scarborough were attached to the batteries under commanding officers, and, with another twist of irony “ the most active and trusted slaves” were to be enrolled for service at the batteries, at the rate of three per hundred from each plantation in the district. Planters, short of white manpower, faced a dilemma, and resorted to the old divide-and-rule tactic. This was to give social status to the despised coloured population, separate them from the Africans, and use the Africans – whose service in the militia did not change their enslaved status – to defeat their own cause. But fate was not on the side of planter interest. Despite their plans and those of their allies in the administration, the Limitation Act, which restricted the number of captive Africans who could be brought to Tobago, was passed. This thwarted the efforts of the ruling class, as a precursor of the termination of the British trade in captive Africans.   The post Tobago planters’ problems 1805-1806 appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.