Contrary voices : representations of West Indian slavery, 1657-1834 / edited by Karina Williamson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Williamson, Karina.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavery in literature.

Plantation life in literature.

Slavery--Social aspects.

Slavery.

West Indies--In literature.

West Indies.

Slavery--Social aspects--West Indies.

Physical Description:

xi, 519 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Kingston, Jamaica : University of the West Indies Press, 2008.

Summary:

This collection fills a gap in the provision of sourcebooks for the history and sociology of slavery. It highlights variations in representations of West Indian slavery by drawing on a wide range of testimonies, especially those of the enslaved themselves. It differs significantly from previous collections such as Slavery, Abolition and Emancipation: Writings in the British Romantic Period, edited by Peter Kitson and Debbie Lee, and James Basker's Amazing Grace: An Anthology of Poems about Slavery, 1660-1810. First, the main focus is on representations based on first-hand experience or observation of slavery in the then British West Indies. Second, in an attempt to recover the "voices" of the enslaved, it draws on sources untapped in most anthologies, such as transcriptions of slave songs, funeral orations, conversations and judicial reports, as well as better-known slave narratives. The work is divided into five sections: Texts, 1657-1807; From Abolition to Emancipation, 1808-1834; Resistance and Rebellion; On the Haitian Revolution; and Songs of the Enslaved. The authors include not only relatively familiar figures such as Aphra Behn, James Grainger, Bryan Edwards, Matthew Gregory Lewis and Mary Prince, but also more obscure writers such as the cartographer John Luffman and the black radical Robert Wedderburn. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 1657-1807

A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados (1657) / Richard Ligon 13

An Impartial Description of Surinam (1667) / George Warren 19

A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica (1707) / Hans Sloane 21

"A Speech Made by a Black of Guardaloupe, at the Funeral of a Fellow-Negro" (1709) 26

"The History of Inkle and Yarico" (1711) / Richard Steele 35

"A Kind of Wild Tragedy" (1711) / Joseph Addison 38

"The Pleasures of Jamaica" (1738) 41

A New History of Jamaica (1740) / Charles Leslie 43

The Sugar-Cane: A Poem (1764) / James Grainger 49

Sailor's Letters (1766) / Edward Thompson 61

A General Description of the West-Indian Islands (1767) / John Singleton 67

The History of Jamaica (1774) / Edward Long 73

Jamaica: A Poem (1777) 83

"The Field Negroe; or the Effect of Civilization" (1783) 92

"To Sir Toby, A Sugar Planter in the interior parts of Jamaica" (1784) / Philip Freneau 98

An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Slave Colonies (1784) / James Ramsay 101

An Apology for Negro Slavery (1786) / Gordon Turnbull 108

Remarks upon the Situation of Negroes in Jamaica (1788) / William Beckford 111

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789) / Olaudah Equiano 116

A Short Journey in the West Indies (1790) / R.C. Dallas 128

A Brief Account of the Island of Antigua (1789) / John Luffman 135

"The Poor Negro Beggar's Petition and Complaint" (1791) / M.H. 145

"Ode on seeing a Negro-Funeral" (1793) / Bryan Edwards 149

Slavery: An Essay in Verse (1792) / John Marjoribanks 153

Fragments of a Poem (1792) / Henry Evans Holder 172

Narrative of a Five Years Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam (1796) / John Gabriel Stedman 174

The History of the Maroons (1803) / R.C. Dallas 182

Notes on the West Indies (1806) / George Pinckard 188

"The Coromantees" (1824) / Edward Rushton 199

Part 2 From Abolition to Emancipation, 1808-1834

An Account of Jamaica (1808) / John Stewart 205

Journal of a West India Proprietor (1834) / Matthew Gregory Lewis 214

"Account of the Christmas Racket among the Negroes in Jamaica" (1818) 224

A Voyage in the West Indies (1820) / John Augustine Waller 228

"Negro Slavery" (ca. 1821) / C.S. 233

Facts illustrative of the condition of the Negro slaves in Jamaica (1824) / Thomas Cooper 234

The Horrors of Slavery (1824) / Robert Wedderburn 239

"The African and Creole Slave Contrasted" (1825) 246

Sketches and Recollections of the West Indies (1828) 249

Marly; or, A Planter's Life in Jamaica (1828) 254

Negro Slavery Described by a Negro (1831) / Ashton Warner 259

The History of Mary Prince (1831) / Mary Prince 270

Domestic Manners and Social Condition of the White, Coloured and Negro Population of the West Indies (1833) / Mrs Carmichael 282

"A Brief Account of a Much-Persecuted Christian Slave" (1834) / William Knibb 292

"The negro will work for wages", from The Bow in the Cloud (1834) 295

Eleanor Affleck, Letter to Sarah Affleck, 1834 297

A Twelvemonth's Residence in the West Indies (1835) / R.R. Madden 299

"Lady Liberty" (1835) / A. McL. 302

Part 3 Resistance and Rebellion

A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados (1657) / Richard Ligon 307

Oroonoko: or, The Royal Slave (1688) / Aphra Behn 309

The History of Jamaica (1774) / Edward Long 312

The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies (1793) / Bryan Edwards 316

"An Account of Obi" (1789) / Richard Fuller 319

The History of the Island of Dominica (1791) / Thomas Atwood 324

"Three-fingered Jack" (1799) / Benjamin Moseley 330

Report from a Select Committee of the House of Assembly, appointed to inquire into the origin, causes, and progress of the late insurrection (1818) 335

Journal of a West India Proprietor (1834) / Matthew Gregory Lewis 346

Jamaica, as It Was, as It Is, and as It May Be (1835) / Bernard Martin Senior 354

"The Negro's Dying Speech" (1777) / Bryan Edwards 359

"Stanzas on the Execution of a Negro" (1792) / John Marjoribanks 362

West-Indian Eclogues (1787) / Edward Rushton 365

Part 4 On the Haitian Revolution

A Particular Account of the ... Insurrection of the Negroes in St Domingo (1792) 385

An Inquiry into the Causes of the Insurrection (1792) / William Roscoe 393

An Historical Survey of the French Colony in the Island of St. Domingo (1797) / Bryan Edwards 397

"Life and Character of Toussaint L'Ouverture" (1805) / Marcus Rainsford 406

"To Toussaint L'Ouverture" (1802) / William Wordsworth 411

"Toussaint to his Troops" (1806) / Edward Rushton 413

Barbadoes, and Other Poems (1833) / Matthew James Chapman 417

Part 5 Songs

A Songs of the Enslaved 423

Impromptu Songs 424

Work Songs 431

Dancing Songs 437

Ballads: Comment and Satire 441

Songs of Rebellion 454

Funeral Songs and Chants 459

B "Negro Songs" (1793) / Samuel Augustus Mathews 463

C Impersonations 475

"The Negro's Complaint" (1788) / William Cowper 475

"The Desponding Negro" (1792) / John Collins 479

"Azid, or the Song of the Captive Negro" (1795) / John Wolcott ["Peter Pindar"] 481

"The Negro Incantation" (1797) / William Shepherd 483

"The Sorrows of Yamba" (1797) / Eaglesfield Smith 486

"Bonja Song" (1802) / C.F.D. 491

"Yarra" (1816) / Matthew Gregory Lewis 493

The Black Man's Lament (1826) / Amelia Opie 495

Appendix Authors and Texts Classified by Location 503.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 505-513) and index.

ISBN:

9789766402082

9766402086

OCLC:

166368658