The History of Arrowroot and the Origin of Peasantries in the British West Indies

Posted on 1971 by Jerome Handler

1971 (Jerome S. Handler) “The History of Arrowroot and the Origin of Peasantries in the British West Indies.” Journal of Caribbean History 2: 46-93.

This paper describes the patterns of consumption, production, and distribution of arrowroot from the 17th century to the middle of the 19th, and relates those patterns to the way in which the foundation of a post-Emancipation peasantry was established during slavery. By tracing the history of minor crops one can get a better idea of the early beginnings of West Indian small-scale agricultural systems as well as a view into the processes by which the New World environment generated new patterns of plant use and ecological adaptations among the Africans and Europeans who displaced Amerindian populations.

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A German Indentured Servant in Barbados in 1652: The Account of Heinrich von Uchteritz

Posted on 1970 by Jerome Handler

1970 (A. Gunkel and J. S. Handler) “A German Indentured Servant in Barbados in 1652: The Account of Heinrich von Uchteritz.” JBMHS 33: 91-100

Cromwell shipped considerable numbers of his political and military enemies to Barbados where many of them were forced to labor as indentured servants. Heinrich von Uchteritz, a German mercenary, was captured after the Battle of Worcester in 1651, and spent about four and a half months on the island in 1652.

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Aspects of Amerindian Ethnography in 17th Century Barbados

Posted on 1970 by Jerome Handler

1970 (Jerome S. Handler) “Aspects of Amerindian Ethnography in 17th Century Barbados.“ Caribbean Studies 9: 50-72.

An ethnohistorical study of the island’s small enslaved Amerindian population, focusing on material life and its possible influence on persons of European and African birth or descent.

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Swiss Medical Doctor’s Description of Barbados in 1661: The account of Felix Christian Spoeri

Posted on 1969 by Jerome Handler

1969 (A. Gunkel and J. S. Handler ) “A Swiss Medical Doctor’s Description of Barbados in 1661. The Account of Christian Spoeri.” JBMHS 33: 3-13.

A German-speaking Swiss physician and surgeon, Spoeri visited Barbados at least three times during the early 1660s, and spent a total of approximately fourteen weeks on the island.

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Review of “English Rustics in Black Skin: A Study of Modern Family Forms in a Pre-lndustrialized Society”, by Sidney M. Greenfield

Posted on 1969 by Jerome Handler

1969 (Jerome S. Handler) “Book Review of English Rustics in Black Skin: A Study of Modern Family Forms in a Pre-lndustrialized Society.” Sidney M. Greenfield. New Haven: College and University Press, American Anthropologist 71: 335-337.

This review argues against the basic cultural historical premises developed by Greenfield, particularly his view of the influence of English culture on Afro-Barbadian society, and his naive perspective on Barbadian history and the life of the enslaved.

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The Amerindian Slave Population in Barbados in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries

Posted on 1969 by Jerome Handler

1969 (Jerome S. Handler) “The Amerindian Slave Population in Barbados in the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries.” Caribbean Studies 8: 38-64.

Shortly after Barbados was colonized in 1627, a small group of Amerindians from Guiana was brought to the island to teach the English colonists how to cultivate tropical crops. These Indians came voluntarily and as freemen, but shortly after arrival they were enslaved. In the ensuing years of the 17th century other Amerindians, from several New World areas, intermittently came to the island, but as slaves. Amerindians always formed a very insignificant minority of Barbados’ population and by the end of the first few decades o£ the 18th century there are few traces of their existence. This paper chronicles their story and examines their legal and social position on the island.

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Father Antoine Biet’s Visit to Barbados in 1654

Posted on 1967 by Jerome Handler

1967 (Jerome S. Handler) “Father Antoine Biet’s Visit to Barbados in 1654.” JBMHS.32: 56-76.

In 1651, a French company obtained its government’s permission to re-establish a colony in Cayenne . Between 500-600 persons were recruited for this venture, and these were joined by  group of French priests. Among this group was Father Biet, about 31 years old, who had decided to leave his church near Paris in order to meet the missionary challenges of the New World.

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Small-Scale Sugar Cane Farming in Barbados

Posted on 1966 by Jerome Handler

1966 (Jerome S. Handler) “Small-Scale Sugar Cane Farming in Barbados.” Ethnology 5: 264-83.

This paper describes the more prominent socio-cultural aspects of cane farming on small holdings and accounts for the importance of sugar as a cash crop in terms of the Barbadian farmer’s system of cash needs. The paper also treats the way in which the farmer’s emphasis upon cash acquisition has in turn affected the nature of his agricultural, specifically sugar producing, activities. Data are based on fieldwork conducted in the early 1960s.

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Some Aspects of Work Organization on Sugar Plantations in Barbados

Posted on 1965 by Jerome Handler

1965 (Jerome Handler) “Some Aspects of Work Organization on Sugar Plantations in Barbados.” Ethnology 4: 16-38.

This paper is specifically concerned with the more salient features of work organization on several small-scale sugar plantations in the Scotland or highland district of Barbados in the early 1960s. Emphasis is less upon the plantation as a productive enterprise or social system than upon the organization of work activities and the statuses which workers fill as they perform these activities.

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The History of Arrowroot Production in Barbados and the Chalky Mount Arrowroot Growers’ Association, a Peasant Marketing Experiment that Failed

Posted on 1965 by Jerome Handler

1965 (Jerome S. Handler) “The History of Arrowroot Production in Barbados and the Chalky Mount Arrowroot Growers’ Association, a Peasant Marketing Experiment that Failed.” JBMHS 31: 131-52.

Over the years Barbados has produced and exported a variety of minor cash crops, including arrowroot. In the village of Chalky Mount arrowroot played an important role, and the production of arrowroot starch involved was the first attempt in Barbados to provide an organization for the processing and marketing of a crop produced by small farmers. The Chalky Mount Arrowroot Growers’ Association had a short life span from 1936 to about 1942. In this paper I discuss the history of arrowroot production in Barbados and the techniques employed in its production and conversion to starch. I also chronicle the short life of the C.M.A.G.A, describe its organization and problems, and offer some explanation for its demise.

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