An Empire Divided: The American Revolution and the British Caribbean

By Andrew O'Shaughnessy

Book Overview

There were 26--not 13--British colonies in America in 1776. Of these, the six colonies in the Caribbean--Jamaica, Barbados, the Leeward Islands, Grenada and Tobago, St. Vincent; and Dominica--were among the wealthiest. These island colonies were closely related to the mainland by social ties and tightly connected by trade. In a period when most British colonists in North America lived less than 200 miles inland and the major cities were all situated along the coast, the ocean often acted as a highway between islands and mainland rather than a barrier.

The plantation system of the islands was so similar to that of the southern mainland colonies that these regions had more in common with each other, some historians argue, than either had with New England. Political developments in all the colonies moved along parallel tracks, with elected assemblies in the Caribbean, like their mainland counterparts, seeking to increase their authority at the expense of colonial executives. Yet when revolution came, the majority of the white island colonists did not side with their compatriots on the mainland.

A major contribution to the history of the American Revolution, An Empire Divided traces a split in the politics of the mainland and island colonies after the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765-66, when the colonists on the islands chose not to emulate the resistance of the patriots on the mainland. Once war came, it was increasingly unpopular in the British Caribbean; nonetheless, the white colonists cooperated with the British in defense of their islands. O'Shaughnessy decisively refutes the widespread belief that there was broad backing among the Caribbean colonists for the American Revolution and deftly reconstructs the history of how the island colonies followed an increasingly divergent course from the former colonies to the north.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812217322
• ISBN13: 9780812217322
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Why Did only 13 Colonies Revolt?

Specialists in the history of the Revolution, its causes, and its immediate consequences have not concerned themselves with examining why the British Caribbean colonies did not join their northern brethren. There were close family and trade ties between the 2 groups of colonies and all of them had grievances against London. This book explains how the Caribbean colonies and Britain were able to resolve their differences short of revolution. It also explores the role played by the need to defend these colonies against the depredations of the French in the British imperial planning for the Revolutionary War. Very interesting and highly recommended.

ever wonder why....

Have you ever wondered about the thirteen colonies decided to fight for to become an independent country in 1776 while other British colonies in the Caribbean such as Trinidad and Tabago and Jamaica did not? O'Shaughnessy attempts to explain these differences by look at the conditions of the 13 colonies and the British Caribbean such as trade, slave populations and cultural differences. He also looks at how American independence affected the British Caribbean by cutting of vital trade roots and reducing its influence in London Parliament.

Fascinating

A thorough treatment of a topic that few people (or at least me) had ever considered. Far from being insignificant islands, the Caribbean colonies were just as important to the British as the American colonies, and O'Shaughnessy makes a convincing case that the difference in the colonies' attitude towards Britain (and indeed, the principal reason for the American Revolution in the first place) is principally due to economic factors.I really enjoyed this book; I am an economist so my interest in such a topic may not coincide with the typical reader, but I thought I learned a lot about something I had never really thought too much about.