My dissertation project combines research in historical archives and archaeological survey and excavation to investigate the dynamics of Caribbean military community life through an examination of spatial and material practices at the Cabrits Garrison between 1760 and 1854. I have been most interested in contexts associated with enslaved laborers ("pioneers") and enslaved soldiers serving in the W
est India regiments. This period of complex transformation (i.e. rearrangement of prior social relations) is my main motivation to work at the site. The Cabrits provides an important window into wider processes of war and slavery where I can address questions relating to identity formation in the British Caribbean through a material culture approach. Information gained through this study will also be used as an aid to site interpretation and to the development of a national cultural resource management plan. One of my main goals is to provide the groundwork for a UNESCO World Heritage designation.
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The development of the Cabrits headlands corresponded with the birth of colonial Dominica as well as wider developments taking shape across the Atlantic World. Construction of a series of fortifications and signal stations along the coastline of the island began slowly in the 1770s. As noted in contemporary reports, “Negro artificers” or “pioneers” usually conducted the required workmanship. The island’s strategic location and plantation profits became points of recurring contention between the French and the British. Following the embarrassing loss of the American colonies the British Empire found itself in an uncomfortable position. Having invested a large amount of resources and manpower into the war in America their Caribbean territories were now vulnerable to an attack from France, who was eager to regain a dominant stance in the Caribbean. The British were also met with internal problems in Dominica. Their troops were dying off faster than they could be replaced. The harsh climate, formidable terrain, and disease epidemics were too much for a land force suited for warfare in different environmental conditions to handle. This stress is indicated by the fact that the British army numbered fewer than 40,000 men in 1793. Thus, the political and economic necessity to incorporate black troops into the British army was clear. These black troops served in garrisons around the Caribbean until the British closed down most of their colonial military installations in 1854. On April 9th, 1802, enslaved African soldiers in the British 8th West India Regiment garrisoned at the Cabrits mutinied. During this brief episode, seven Europeans were killed, while others were captured and subsequently freed unharmed. The British response left 100 mutineers dead or injured and an additional seven more black soldiers were sentenced to death when found guilty of participating in this act. This historic event, limited in duration but meaningful in breadth, contributed to the 1807 Mutiny Act; a law that freed some 10,000 slave soldiers and one of the first acts of mass emancipation in the British Empire. The composition of this mutiny also reveals the shortage of white recruits for regular British military service due to high mortality among European troops in the area and the enormous scope of wars with the French. In addition, this act of resistance draws attention to another dimension of slavery—one outside the normal scope of plantation labor and rooted in the dynamics of military strategy and culture. This important window into the internal dynamics of British colonial society provokes an investigation of the factors contributing to the variability in experience of the distinct groups occupying the Cabrits Garrison.
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I am set to complete my dissertation in ~2012-2013 (10 years of college!), but I hope to never stray too far from The Cabrits and Dominica. Let me know if you have any questions. I appreciate all forms of interest.
**This project would not be possible without the guidance and support I have received from my family, Dr. Lennox Honychurch, Mr. Arlington James, Dr. Roger Buckley, Dr. Steve Lenik, Edward Thomas, Dr. Liza Gijanto, the anthropology faculty at SU, and all my friends in Dominica. Big up yourselves!
