If the Irish Ran the World: Montserrat, 1630-1730

286 Pages·1997·15.403 MB·English

by  Donald Harman Akenson

If the Irish Ran the World
Montserrat, 1630-1730
What would have happened if the Irish had conquered and con-
trolled a vast empire? Would they have been more humane rulers
than the English? Using the Caribbean island of Montserrat as a
case study of "Irish" imperialism, Donald Akenson addresses
these questions and provides a detailed history of the island
during its first century as a European colony.
Montserrat, although part of England's empire, was settled
largely by the Irish and provides an opportunity to view the inter-
action of Irish emigrants with English imperialism in a situation
where the Irish were not a small minority among white settlers.
Within this context Akenson explores whether Irish imperialism
on Montserrat differed from English imperialism in other colonies.
Akenson reveals that the Irish proved to be as effective and as
unfeeling colonists as the English and the Scottish, despite the
long history of oppression in Ireland. He debunks the myth of the
"nice" slave holder and the view that indentured labour prevailed
in the West Indies in the seventeenth century. He also shows that
the long-held habit of ignoring ethnic strife within the white
ruling classes in the West Indies is misconceived.
If the Irish Ran the World provides interesting insights into
whether ethnicity was central to the making of the colonial world
and the usefulness of studies of seventeenth- and eighteenth-
century English imperialism in the Americas.
DONALD HARMAN AKENSON is professor of history Queen's Uni-
versity. His most recent books include Conor: A Biography of Conor
Cruise O'Brien (McGill-Queen's), winner of the Trillium Award,
and God's Peoples: Covenant and Land in South Africa, Israel, and
Ulster (McGill-Queen's), winner of the Grawemeyer Award.
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If the Irish Ran the World
Montserrat, 1630-1730
DONALD HARMAN AKENSON
Being the Joanne Goodman Lectures of
the University of Western Ontario, 1997
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo
© McGill-Queen's University Press 1997
ISBN 0-7735-1630-1 (cloth)
ISBN 0-7735-1686-7 (paper)
Legal deposit third quarter 1997
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
Published simultaneously
In the Caribbean by
The Press University of the West Indies
Mona Kingston 7 Jamaica WI
In the European Union by Liverpool University Press.
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Akenson, Donald Harman
If the Irish ran the world: Montserrat, 1630-1730
(The Joanne Goodman lectures ; 1997)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-1630-1 (bound)
ISBN 0-7735-1686-7 (pbk)
i. Irish - Montserrat - History, i. Title, n. Series.
F2082.A44 1997 972.97/.50049i62 C96-9oio8o-x
Typeset in Palatino 10/12
by Caractera inc., Quebec City
The Joanne Goodman Lecture Series has been established
by Joanne's family and friends to perpetuate the memory of
her blithe spirit, her quest for knowledge, and the rewarding
years she spent at the University of Western Ontario
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Contents
Maps and Tables / ix
Acknowledgments / xi
1 Who's in Charge? / 3
2 Ireland's Neo-Feudal Empire, 1630-1650 / 12
3 From Neo-Feudalism to Crown Rule, 1650-1680 / 58
4 Capitalism at a Gallop, 1680-1730 / 117
5 The Long Wind-Down: After 1730 / 154
6 Usable Traditions / 171
Appendix A The 1678 Census / 189
Appendix B The Census of 1729 / 201
Notes / 205
Bibliography / 255
Index / 267
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Maps and Tables
MAPS
1 The Lesser Antilles, late twentieth century / 23
2 Montserrat, late twentieth century / 24
3 Census divisions, 1678 /no
4 Census tracts, by ethnicity, 1678 / 112
5 Rainfall, topography, and settlement patterns / 113
6 Census divisions by ethnicity, 1729 / 147
TABLES
1 Adult Male Population of the Main Leeward Islands,
1672 / 105
2 Population of the Main Leeward Islands, 1678 / 106
3 Ethnic Composition of the White Population of the
Main Leeward Islands, 1678 / 107
4 The Gender and Dependency Composition of the White
Population of the Main Leeward Islands, 1678 / 108
5 Ethnicity of Adult White Male Population of
Montserrat, 1678 / 109
6 Census Figures, 1678-1729 / 137