Codrington Plantations

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The Codrington Plantations were two historic plantations for sugar cane cultivation on the island of Barbados , which were founded in the 17th century by Christopher Codrington († 1698) and his father of the same name. Like many of the sugar plantations in the Caribbean , they were mostly farmed by slave labor . Still, they were part of a charitable legacy in 1710 when the third Christopher Codrington died and bequeathed the plantations to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG).

The history of the plantations illustrates both the Church of England's dependence on donations of all kinds for the Christian mission in the West Indies , as well as the rise of abolitionism , and also the reluctance of the institutions to deal with issues related to slavery.

geography

The two properties, Codrington’s and Consett’s, were located in the "Parochie" St. John on the east side of Barbados and had an area of ​​763 acres (309 hectares) on which sugar cane was grown. Codrington's will of 1702 also mentions three windmills with facilities for making sugar. This also included 315 “indentured slaves” and 100 cattle.

Codrington Bequest and the founding of Codrington College

After the death of Christopher Codrington in 1710, the two properties were given to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to provide funds for the establishment of a college in Barbados. Codrington wanted "the plantations as a whole to be maintained and at least 300 Negros to be kept there at all times, and a sufficient number of professors and scholars to be supported by it". Codrington also decreed that part of his foundation should be used to educate the slaves of Barbados, but attempts to make this gesture a reality were successfully thwarted by other plantation owners.

Although the monastic character of the college was soon abandoned, an educational institution was established between 1714 and 1742. The college buildings now serve as a seminary for the Church in the Province of the West Indies , a member of the Anglican Communion .

His legacy also made Codrington a major supporter of All Souls College , Oxford . He donated £ 6,000 worth of books and an additional £ 10,000 to help build the Codrington Library .

Living conditions on the plantations

The plantations were run by managers for the SPG and their management was nominally supervised by a Board of Trustees of the SPG, chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury and a committee of bishops of the Church of England. The plantations were dependent on regular supplies from slaves from West Africa ; Due to various illnesses and poor treatment, four out of ten slaves died within three years, according to a report from 1740.

At first, the slaves even got a brand with the words "Society" on their chests. Milton Meltzer explains that it was common on the sugar plantations for the slaves, who had already been branded by their traders, to be branded again by their "owners". Regarding the Codrington practice, Hochschild writes: “For over a decade, the Codrington leaders endeavored to reduce the escape of slaves by branding all slaves. In the end, however, the main leverage was the whip, and at times also an iron collar and straitjacket. ”Branding, the custom of a supervisor in particular and not the custom of various managers, was abolished about ten years after the church took over the plantation.

It has been pointed out that a “work to death policy” was brought about quite deliberately, as was customary on the plantations in South America . In addition to the harsh treatment by the managers, the rigors of the transfer, the shock of having to adapt to the new environment and the switch to unfamiliar food, and circumstances and illnesses were important factors that contributed to the fact that a third of the slaves within died three years after arrival.

Abolition of slavery

The situation in the West Indies and especially on the Codrington Plantations of the SPG, which prompted Bishop Beilby Porteus to call on the Church of England to end its links with the slave trade at a centenary sermon in 1783 in St Mary-le-Bow , Cheapside , London . The situation also pushed for the conditions of Afro-Caribbeans in Barbados to improve. At the same time, however, the slaveholders also used biblical arguments to justify themselves.

However, the Church did not end their slavery until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. When the slaves were absolved, the government paid compensation to the keepers under the Emancipation Act . The Church of England received £ 8,823 for the 411 Codrington Plantations slaves . 8s. 9d. This amount was credited to Codrington College .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schomburgk 1848: 112.
  2. ↑ "Desire to have the Plantations Continued Entire and three hundred negros at least always Kept there on, and a Convenient Number of Professors and Scholars maintain'd." Wilder 2013: 83.
  3. ↑ Wilder 2013: 87.
  4. ↑ James Walvin: Slavery and the Building of Britain . In: BBC History - British History in depth . February 17, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  5. ↑ Wilder 2013: 84.
  6. ^ Church apologises for slave trade . In: BBC NEWS . February 8, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  7. ^ "Already branded once by the trader, the slaves were branded a second time with their new owner's initials." Hochschild 2006: 65
  8. ↑ "For nearly a decade, Codrington officials tried to reduce escapes by branding all slaves on their chests. In the end, though, the chief deterrent was the lash, plus, at times, an iron collar and a straitjacket."
  9. ↑ Ben Fenton: Church's slavery apology 'is not enough' . In: The Telegraph . February 11, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ "in 1746 one third of Africans died within three years of arrival in West Indies, from the ordeal of the middle passage, and the shock of adjusting to the new life, foods, and diseases." Hochschild goes on to say, "At Codrington, as throughout the Caribbean, new slaves from Africa were first“ seasoned ”for three years, receiving extra food and light work assignments. Slaves were vulnerable during this early traumatic period when they were most likely to die of disease, to run away ... or to commit suicide. If you survived those three years, you were regarded as ready for the hardest labor. " Hochschild provides further detail about the policies of the SPG's managers, saying that by 1826, "As a result of changes, the Church of England's Codrington plantation, for example, had improved food, housing, clothing, and working conditions, and built a small hospital for sick and pregnant slaves. " Hochschild 2006: 63.
  11. ↑ Haynes 2002. passim.
  12. ^ Bennett, Hitchcock 1958: 131

literature