Object: The Middle Path and Commerce in The Midst of War
In 1767, Jamaica—Britain’s richest colony—was home to more than two hundred thousand slaves, most of whom worked endlessly to enrich British planters and merchants.[1] Not unlike their Northern counterparts, Jamaican planters rarely questioned the legitimacy of the institution that racked up massive profits. Instead, they focused on the economic necessity of slaves to the region. Without them, there would be no profits and luxury: items such as Paul de Lamerie’s sugar boxes would not be filled with the valuable commodity produced in the West Indies. Sugar and the boxes used to store them are indicative of the complex commercial ties that wound Britain, the West Indian colonies, and the northern seaboard colonies. In particular, planters in the West Indies remained indifferent to British impositions on the colonies since they were “matter[s] not immediately affecting them.”[2] Yet, when the danger of shortages of raw materials became more acute in 1775, West Indians—as demonstrated in the anonymous pamphlet, “West India Merchant”—began to clamor for a middle path: they argued that Britain should moderate its tone or face disastrous economic consequences.[3] Put simply, the wealth exhibited by the sugar boxes would cease to grow. Due to the need for economic security, West Indians and their interests in Parliament took the middle path, at once pushing for access to North American raw goods and maintaining the lucrative European market.
Owned by Charles Cornwallis, the colonial administrator and British General, the sugar boxes in the Museum of Fine Arts demonstrate the centrality of the sugar trade in the British empire.[4] Sugar and its magical properties yielded unimaginable wealth for West Indian planters and merchants while feeding a consumer culture among the wealthy in England.[5] The focal point of Paul de Lamerie’s ornate silver box is an exotic woman cultivating sugar cane and other exotic plants. The iconography of the box does not hint at the two hundred thousand slaves that drove the economy. Instead, the box alludes to the magical aura of sugar. Its presence in a British home denoted status. As a result, wealthy elites spent considerable sums to get their hands on sugar and boxes to flaunt their wealth. Fueled by considerable consumption by the wealthy in England, the sugar trade meant profits for West Indian planters. It is then not surprising that when the British imposed the Coercive Acts in 1774 which had little to no immediate effect on the sugar trade, West Indian planters remained mostly indifferent.[6]
West Indian planters cared most about the continuation of commerce, keeping sugar flowing to Europe where it would fill silver boxes like those owned by Charles Cornwallis. In early 1775, West Indian planters realized the dire economic consequences that could result if the North Americans and the British were to go to war.[7] North America provided provisions and lumber at moderate prices to West Indian planters.[8] Maintaining the lucrative commerce that yielded tremendous wealth—depicted by the sugar boxes—was at the forefront of the West India interest. The anonymous pamphlet, “West India Merchant,” demonstrates this fear. Originally appearing in the London Evening Post of January 1776, “The West India Merchant” reminded Londoners of the vital role North America played in the production of sugar: without access to American supplies of lumber, fish, and other intermediary goods, sugar production would grind to a halt.[9] Interestingly, the author—a West Indian planter—admitted to not taking much notice about the disputes until it “broke into my…houfe, and gave a fhock, through the whole circle of my dealings, to that little property which I have been all my life labouring for.”[10] That is, West Indian planters took notice and concern only after the dispute between the British and North Americans affected their livelihoods. With the specter of losing their commerce, West Indian merchants pushed for the British to moderate its position and avoid war. The author of the pamphlet asserted that by trading with North America, the Sugar Islands were actually “ferving the interft of Great-Britain.”[11] When it became bad for business, West Indian planters took the middle path: keeping North America as a supplier of provisions and Britain as the primary market.
The economic concerns of shutting out the United Colonies weighed heavily in the minds of West Indian merchants. Planters in British colonies like Jamaica were not particularly concerned with the constitutional debates occurring in North America and Britain. First and foremost, they intended to continue the sugar trade and this meant trading with North America for provisions and expanding their market in Britain and Europe. That is, the West India interest pushed for middle path because of economic security. Items like the sugar boxes owned by Charles Cornwallis demonstrate the consumption and wealth that fueled the sugar trade, but they also underscore how vast swaths of the West Indian population—namely, slaves—remained out of sight from the British population.
Words Count: 893
Bibliography:
De Lamerie, Paul, 1751. Fitted Case for Pair of Tea Caddies and Sugar Box. Database online. Museum of Fine Arts. http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/sugar-box-37949. Accessed 27 February 2017.
The Humble Petition and Memorial of the Assembly of Jamaica. Philadelphia: William and Thomas Bradford, 1774.
The West India Merchant Being a Series of Papers Originally Printed Under that Signature in the London Evening Post. London: Burlington Houfe, 1776.
O'Shaughnessy, Andrew. “The West India Interest and The Crisis of American Independence” in Roderick McDonald eds.. West Indies Accounts: Essays of the British Caribbean and The Atlantic Economy. Kingston: University of West Indies, 1996.
Wall text. Sugar Box. Database online. Museum of Fine Arts. http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/sugar-box-37949. Accessed 27 February 2017.
[1] The Humble Petition and Memorial of the Assembly of Jamaica (1774), Introduction.
[2] Andrew O'Shaughnessy, “The West India Interest and The Crisis of American Independence” in Roderick McDonald eds., West Indies Accounts: Essays of the British Caribbean and The Atlantic Economy (Kingston: University of West Indies, 1996), 131.
[3] The West India Merchant Being a Series of Papers Originally Printed Under that Signature in the London Evening Post (1776).
[4] Paul de Lamerie, Fitted Case for Pair of Tea Caddies and Sugar Box, 1751, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
[5] Wall text, Sugar Box, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/sugar-box-37949
[6] There are many exceptions to this, but in general historians like Andrew O'Shaughnessy have argued that West Indian planters remained “remarkably inactive and divided in response to the Coercive Acts…”
[7] Andrew O'Shaughnessy, 133.
[8] Ibid., 135.
[9] The West India Merchant Being a Series of Papers Originally Printed Under that Signature in the London Evening Post (1776).
[10] Ibid., 3.
[11] Ibid., 9.