Producers, Reproducers, and Rebels: Grenadian Slave Women 1783 - 1833

A major rethinking of Caribbean historical discourse on slavery has placed the role of women at centre stage. Ground breaking work has been done by Lucille Mair, Hilary Beckles, Barbara Bush, and Barry Higman, among others. These historians have shown that slave women provided the dominant agricultural labour input on British Caribbean sugar plantations from at least the end of the eighteenth century. Furthermore there was an increased dependence upon women for reproduction of plantation labour. This dual role placed the women at the centre of planter strategies designed to ensure the survival of the slave system. The slave woman was also shown as a rebel.