The Economy of the British West Indies, 1763–1790

The islands of the West Indies have been compared to a necklace of jewels strung in a curving line along the outer edge of the Caribbean Sea. ¹ Anchored at the north end by Jamaica and at the south by Barbados, the chain of the British West Indies was interspersed with other islands variously held by France, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, and even Sweden. Jamaica and Barbados stood apart. The other British islands belonged to one or another of two geographical groups: to the north, the Leeward Islands; to the south, the Windward Islands. In the first group were four chief islands–Antigua, Montserrat, St Christopher (colloquially called St Kitts), and Nevis–and a subgroup of smaller islands, the British Virgin Islands. In the Windward Islands were Dominica, St Vincent, Tobago, and Grenada and the Grenadines. The Windward Islands were also called the Ceded Islands because they had been turned over to Great Britain by France in 1763 as part of the settlement ending the Seven Years War. All of the British West Indies are listed, with their estimated populations, 1760–1790, in table 14.1. Table 14.1 Population estimates for the British West Indies, 1760–1790 (thousands)

Colony	Category	1760 (1)	1770 (2)	1780 (3)	1790 (4)
Jamaica	White	10.0	12.2	17.9	18.3
Black	172.9	201.7	243.2	275.6
Total	182.9	213.9	261.1	293.9
Barbados	White	17.8	17.2	16.9	16.2
Black	86.6	92.0	82.4	75.4
Total	104.4	109.2	99.3	91.6
Antigua	White	3.2	2.8	2.3	5.0
Black	35.2	38.6	37.9	45.0
Total	38.4	41.4	40.2	50.0
Montserrat	White	1.4	1.3	1.1	0.8
Black	9.1	9.9	9.3	8.0
Total	10.5	11.2	10.4	8.8
Nevis	White	1.2	1.6	2.0	1.5
Black	8.5	8.8	9.0	8.4
Total	9.7	10.4	11.0	9.9
St Christopher	White	2.6	2.1	2.1	4.0
Black	22.3	23.4	24.6	26.3
Total	24.9	25.5	26.7	30.3
British Virgin Islands	White	1.2	1.2	(1.2)	(1.2)
Black	6.8	8.5	10.2	(10.2)
Total	8.0	9.7	11.4	11.4
Dominica	White	1.6	3.1	1.2	1.2
Black	5.7	14.8	18.8	15.4
Total	7.3	17.9	20.0	16.6
St Vincent	White	0.8	2.0	1.5	1.4
Black	5.4	8.3	11.9	11.8
Total	6.2	10.3	13.4	13.2
Grenada	White	1.3	1.6	1.1	1.0
Black	12.4	24.7	31.5	27.0
Total	13.7	26.3	32.6	28.0
Tobago	White	−	0.2	0.8	0.5
Black	−	3.2	12.0	15.4
Total	−	3.4	12.8	15.9
SUBTOTALS
Leeward Islands	White	9.6	9.0	8.7	12.5
Black	81.9	89.2	91.0	97.9
Total	91.5	98.2	99.7	110.4
Windward Islands	White	3.7	6.9	4.6	4.1
Black	23.5	51.0	74.2	69.6
Total	27.2	57.9	78.8	73.7
TOTALS
British West Indies	White	41.1	45.3	48.1	51.1
Black	364.9	433.9	490.8	518.5
Total	406.0	479.2	538.9	569.6

Notes and sources: Estimates are based on materials assembled and methods discussed in John J. McCusker, Rum and the American Revolution: The Rum Trade and the Balance of Payments of the Thirteen Continental Colonies, 1650–1775, 2 vols (New York, 1989, [Ph.D. diss., University of Pittsburgh, 1970]), II, 548–767, supplemented by additional research. Data for the period after 1790 are especially fragmentary and the estimates for 1790 are based on figures for 1785–1789, thus understating somewhat the actual population levels for 1790. “Black” includes slaves, free blacks, maroons, and Amerindians; the last three groups constituted an insignificant percentage of the total. Not all totals agree because of rounding. Figures in parentheses are essentially guesses. The subtotals for the Leeward Islands add together the figures for Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St Christopher, and the British Virgin Islands (Anguilla, Tortola, and others). The subtotals for the Ceded Islands, or Windward Islands, add together the figures for Dominica, Grenada and the Grenadines, St Vincent, and Tobago. The Windward Islands did not become British until 1763. It is therefore technically incorrect to add the population of this group to the total of the British West Indies for 1760 though not to have done so in this instance would have distorted unacceptably any calculations of the changes between 1760 and 1770. The figures presented in Alex[andre] Moreau de Jonnès, Recherches statistiques sur l’esclavage colonial et sur les moyens de le supprimer (Paris, 1842), pp. 36–45, are not strictly comparable to the above estimates since his numbers were not subjected to the same adjustments to correct for undercounting and other problems with the raw data. See the discussions in the text and notes in McCusker, Rum and the American Revolution, II, 548–767. Contrast the wildly inaccurate, even mythical figures in Avalle, Tableau comparatif des productions colonies françaises aux Antilles, avec celles des colonies anglaises, espagnoles et hollandaises, de l’année 1787 à 1788 (Paris, [1799]), table IX: “Relevé général de la population …”