Table Of ContentSTUDIES OF THE AMERICAS
edited by
James Dunkerley
Institute for the Study of the Americas
University of London
School of Advanced Study
Titles in this series are multi-disciplinary studies of aspects of the societies of the h emisphere,
particularly in the areas of politics, economics, history, anthropology, sociology, and the
environment. The series covers a comparative perspective across the Americas, including
Canada and the Caribbean as well as the United States and Latin America.
Titles in this series published by Palgrave Macmillan:
Cuba’s Military 1990–2005: Revolutionary Soldiers during Counter-Revolutionary Times
By Hal Klepak
The Judicialization of Politics in Latin America
Edited by Rachel Sieder, Line Schjolden, and Alan Angell
Latin America: A New Interpretation
By Laurence Whitehead
Appropriation as Practice: Art and Identity in Argentina
By Arnd Schneider
America and Enlightenment Constitutionalism
Edited by Gary L. McDowell and Johnathan O’Neill
Vargas and Brazil: New Perspectives
Edited by Jens R. Hentschke
When Was Latin America Modern?
Edited by Nicola Miller and Stephen Hart
Debating Cuban Exceptionalism
Edited by Bert Hoffman and Laurence Whitehead
Caribbean Land and Development Revisited
Edited by Jean Besson and Janet Momsen
Cultures of the Lusophone Black Atlantic
Edited by Nancy Priscilla Naro, Roger Sansi-Roca and David H. Treece
Democratization, Development, and Legality: Chile, 1831–1973
By Julio Faundez
The Hispanic World and American Intellectual Life, 1820–1880
By Iván Jaksic´
The Role of Mexico’s Plural in Latin American Literary and Political Culture:
From Tlatelolco to the “Philanthropic Ogre”
By John King
Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico
Edited by Matthew Butler
Reinventing Modernity in Latin America: Intellectuals Imagine the Future, 1900–1930
By Nicola Miller
The Republican Party and Immigration Politics: From Proposition 187 to George W. Bush
By Andrew Wroe
The Political Economy of Hemispheric Integration: Responding to Globalization
in the Americas
Edited by Diego Sánchez-Ancochea and Kenneth C. Shadlen
Ronald Reagan and the 1980s: Perceptions, Policies, Legacies
Edited by Cheryl Hudson and Gareth Bryn Davies
Wellbeing and Development in Peru: Local and Universal Views Confronted
Edited by James Copestake
The Federal Nation: Perspectives on American Federalism
Edited by Iwan W. Morgan and Philip J. Davies
Base Colonies in the Western Hemisphere, 1940–1967
By Steven High
Beyond Neoliberalism in Latin America? Societies and Politics at the Crossroads
Edited by John Burdick, Philip Oxhorn, and Kenneth M. Roberts
Base Colonies in the Western
Hemisphere, 1940–1967
Steven High
BASE COLONIES IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, 1940–1967
Copyright © Steven High, 2009.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-60943-3
All rights reserved.
First published in 2009 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
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this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
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the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-37593-6 ISBN 978-0-230-61804-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230618046
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Library of Congress.
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Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: January 2009
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 The United States and Hemispheric Defense 17
2 The Tourism Politics of Base Location in Bermuda 43
3 Working for Uncle Sam in Newfoundland 67
4 “You Can’t Eat Dignity”: Race and Labor in the British Caribbean 93
5 Building Bases on a Jim Crow Island 117
6 The American Occupation of Stephenville, Newfoundland 137
7 The Racial Politics of Criminal Jurisdiction 157
8 From Slavery to Chaguaramas 175
Conclusion: Stepping Stones to New Empires 199
Notes 205
Bibliography 271
Index 281
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Figures
0.1 “Navy Property.” 7
1.1 Map of St. Lucia with Base Locations. 35
2.1 Index Map. U.S. Corps of Engineers. Bermuda Air Base,
Bermuda Islands. Parcel Index Map. Leased Area—
St. David’s Island. March 15, 1941. 50
2.2 Map. U.S. Corps of Engineers. Bermuda Air Base, Bermuda
Islands. Parcel Index Map. Leased Area—St. David’s Island.
March 15, 1941. 51
2.3 Detail in U.S. Corps of Engineers. Bermuda Air Base, Bermuda
Islands. Parcel Index Map. Leased Area—St. David’s Island.
March 15, 1941. 52
3.1 Photograph. Naval Air Station. Argentia, Newfoundland. Views
of Existing Docks. Looking North from S.S. Richard Peck.
March 1, 1941. 70
3.2 P hotograph. Naval Air Station. Argentia, Newfoundland.
Bulldozer Sunk in Bog. February 12, 1941. 71
3.3 Photograph. Naval Air Station. Argentia, Newfoundland.
Unloading Material from Freighter. Looking East from
Railroad Station. February 12, 1941. 73
3.4 P hotograph. Naval Air Station. Argentia, Newfoundland.
Newfoundland Barracks, Unit #4. May 24, 1941. 75
3.5 Photograph. Naval Air Station. Argentia, Newfoundland.
Cigarettes Unloaded from the S.S. Torungen.
June 12, 1941. 77
3.6 Photograph. Naval Air Station. Argentia, Newfoundland.
Cutting Off Plank for Dock Extension. June 11, 1941. 79
3.7 Photograph. Naval Air Station. Argentia, Newfoundland.
Sheet Piling #1 to 423 at the Seaplane Parking Area.
September 12, 1941. 83
viii FIGURES
3.8 Photograph. Naval Air Station. Argentia, Newfoundland.
Temporary Laundry. Preparing Sheets for the Dryer.
May 14, 1942. 89
4.1 Map of Chaguaramas Naval Base. 110
6.1 Vicinity Map. Philip Bruton, “Stephenville Staging
Field—Boundary Lines and Property Ownership.” 138
6.2 Detail. Philip Bruton, “Stephenville Staging Field—Boundary
Lines and Property Ownership.” 139
6.3 Detail. Philip Bruton, “Harmon Field. Revised Boundary
Line and Property Ownership,” September 17, 1941. 139
Tables
1.1 Strengths of Army-Navy Bases in Suggested Itinerary of
Eleanor Roosevelt’s March 1944 Tour (Selected) 41
2.1 Drawing Comparisons between St. David’s Island Case Files,
1941–43 60
2.2 Motor Vehicles in Bermuda, 1939–43 64
3.1 The Number of Newfoundland Men Employed on Canadian
and American Bases, 1942–45 69
3.2 W ages Proposed for Selected Occupations at U.S. Army and
Navy Bases in Relation to Other Major Employers, February
1941 (Cents per Hour) 81
3.3 Changes in Hourly Wages for Local Employees of
Newfoundland Base Command (United States) and Its
Contractors, 1941–45 84
4.1 Population and Geographic Area of Caribbean Base Colonies 97
4.2 Comparative Wage Rates in Occupations Common to the
Sugar Industry, Colonial Government, and the U.S. Bases,
Trinidad, 1944 112
5.1 Local Employees of U.S. Army in Bermuda by Sex and Race,
August 1943 126
6.1 Classification of Stephenville Farm Lands Subject to
Expropriation (Acres) 144
6.2 Composite Monthly Rates of Venereal Disease Infection at
Harmon Field, April 1943–March 1944 (per 1000, with
Actual Number in Parenthesis) 150
6.3 Selected Amounts Claimed and Awarded for Property in
Stephenville, 1943–44 154
7.1 Jurisdiction over Criminal Offences, Article 4,
Bases Agreement 158
