Hubs of Empire: The Southeastern Lowcountry and British Caribbean

Regional Perspectives on Early America

by Matthew Mulcahy

In Hubs of Empire, Matthew Mulcahy argues that it is useful to view Barbados, Jamaica, and the British Leeward Islands, along with the South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry, as a single region. Separated by thousands of miles of ocean but united by shared history and economic interest, these territories formed the Greater Caribbean.

Although the Greater Caribbean does not loom large in the historical imaginations of many Americans, it was the wealthy center of Britain's Atlantic economy. Large-scale plantation slavery first emerged in Barbados, then spread throughout the sugar islands and the southeastern mainland colonies, allowing planters to acquire fortunes and influence unmatched elsewhere--including the tobacco colonies of Maryland and Virginia.

Hubs of Empire begins in the sixteenth century by providing readers with a broad overview of Native American life in the region and early pirate and privateer incursions. Mulcahy examines the development of settler colonies during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, explores diverse groups of European colonists, and surveys political, economic, and military issues in the decades before the Seven Years War.

The plantation system achieved its fullest and harshest manifestation in the Greater Caribbean. The number of slaves and the scale of the slave trade meant that enslaved Africans outnumbered Europeans in all of the affiliated colonies, often by enormous ratios. This enabled Africans to maintain more of their traditions, practices, and languages than in other parts of British America, resulting in distinct, creole cultures. This volume is an ideal introduction to the complex and fascinating history of colonies too often neglected in standard textbook accounts.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2014

Reviews

[Douglas La Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will completely transform your understanding of the British colonies and the important role the Greater Caribbean played. The book clearly documents the history of slavery and the agricultural economy of the colonies, and explains why the mainland US and Carolinas decided to rebel against Great Britain but not the Caribbean islands. Easy and fun to read, yet deep and intensely informative

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, useful, but general information. goes a good job of arguing for the need to examine the relationship between southeastern colonies/states (the carolinas and georgia) and the british caribeean colonies (barbados and jamaicia).

[Sofia Cimballa · Rating 3 out of 5]

super duper boring

[Cordellya Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mulcahy provides an excellent overview of Caribbean History, the sugar industry, and how those connected to colonial America. This should be read by all students of early American History.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. Paradigm-shifting work!