ABSTRACT
The development of Britain's West Indian colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries took a familiar form. The establishment of large-scale agricultural enterprises in the West Indian possessions of Britain was financed to a greater degree by capital from the metropolis than was true in the case of the colonies of other powers. The naval and military forces in the British West Indies and as the home of the buccaneers, Jamaica was the main entrepot for metallic currency, and the British West Indian possession which needed least to depend on barter for its local transactions. Jamaica proved to be one of the most lucrative colonies in the entire history of western imperialism, and this richness was built on the labor of slaves and the production of sugar, rum, and a few other commodities for the markets of the metropolis. Beyond the Jamaican case itself, it may be useful to consider momentarily the possible utility of Gresham's law in other settings.
