Juan Crestanello--The Middle Path: Jamaica in the American Revolution

Jamaica, Britain’s wealthiest colony in the 18^th century, heavily relied on Britain’s security apparatus, especially as other empires loomed in the background and slaves threatened to revolt. Britain also offered an enormous market for Jamaica’s precious commodity, sugar. Nevertheless, the Jamaican economy was also dependent on the North American colonies for raw materials, such as lumber and fish to feed the enormous slave population. It is then not surprising that Jamaica took the middle path in disputes between the colonies and Britain. In sum, Jamaica and the middle path it embraced illustrates the international dimension of the American Revolution.