ABSTRACT
Jamaica fi rst became a colony under Spanish rule between 1495 and 1655 before falling under British rule from 1655 to August 1962. This chapter focuses on this latter period of colonization as Jamaica became one of the oldest colonies of the British Empire. Under the British, a purely white colonialist regime, the political system and governance in Jamaica were organized around the key principles of self-interest, competition and social stratifi cation; their primary goal being the protection of the sanctity of private property for the colonialists and their capital (Sheridan 2000). Jamaica was initially of commercial interest to the British as a primary source of sugar. African slaves and Indian and Chinese indentured labour were brought, often by force, to work on the plantations operated by the British and fi nanced by British capital (Mintz 1961).
