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Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2023
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
History
First Advisor
Eric H. Ash
Abstract
Exploring one of the most transformative eras of Antigua’s colonial history through a close examination of the dominating planter class, this dissertation provides an analysis of Antiguan elite Creole culture and planter identity from the mid-eighteenth century through the 1830s. Interdisciplinary methodologies complement traditional documentary evidence in mapping planter development and their relationship to the metropole. The first chapter begins with an assessment of the geopolitical environment of Antigua and explores how the island colony was a crucial hub within the British imperial maritime economy and naval sphere of influence in the West Indies. In subsequent chapters the dissertation explores key subjects such as the roles that elite planters held in managing plantation economies while also being owners and managers of enslaved people. This leads to further study of the nuances of race-based hierarchies imbedded within plantation society and the masculinized practices of the colonial elite in their interactions with the indigenous Kalinago peoples. Major crises and characterizations of West Indian planters also helps chart the development of a Pan-Caribbean community. The dissertation concludes by examining how the planter class responded to the slavery debate and how they wrestled with the major challenges present to their way of life in the last decades leading up to abolition.
Recommended Citation
Noren, Erik Daniel, "Elite Creole Culture: Planter Identity Formation In Antigua, 1750-1840" (2023). Wayne State University Dissertations. 3910.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/3910