Creole Transformation From Slavery to Freedom : Historical Archaeology of the East End Community, St. John, Virgin Islands

"Expanding our perspective on the diversity and consequences of the African Diaspora, Douglas Armstrong explores life in the Virgin Islands for a distinctive black community that gained its freedom from slavery more than 40 years prior to emancipation in 1848." "Armstrong examines its transformation from a group of small cotton and provisioning estates to community-held and family-owned parcels, and he traces spatial and economic shifts over a period of more than 150 years. The author discusses the region's geography and history and also addresses topics such as maritime trade and exchange, gender roles, and community interrelationships. Utilizing information from extensive archaeological excavations at selected households, Armstrong analyzes an array of documents, including deeds, cash books, and census, tax, and harbor records." "Creole Transformation from Slavery to Freedom offers a rare glimpse of how a free Caribbean culture emerged from an 18th-century plantation society. Important to scholars interested in Caribbean peoples and their transformations, this illustrated book also will appeal to scholars of the African Diaspora."--Jacket. Table of Contents......Page 8 List of Figures ix......Page 10 List of Tables xiii......Page 14 Preface xv......Page 16 Part I. The East End Creole Community in Perspective......Page 20 1. Introduction to the East End Creole Community 3......Page 22 2. Historical Background 21......Page 40 3. The Transformation Model and an Activities Approach to Analytical Interpretation 61......Page 80 Part II. An Archaeological Examination of the East End Community......Page 98 4. Archaeological Exploration of the East End Creole Community 81......Page 100 5. A Changing Cultural Landscape: A Study of Community Formation 105......Page 124 Part III. Household Case Studies......Page 148 6. Windy Hill Site Complex (Hansen Bay) 131......Page 150 7. Pleasant Lookout 168......Page 187 8. Rebecca’s Fancy 204......Page 223 Part IV. East End Creole: Cultural Transformations......Page 252 9. Creolization and Transformation: A Composite Look at Assemblage-Based Analyses 235......Page 254 10. Transformation: Topical Issues and Thematic Interpretations 256......Page 275 11. Conclusion: Cultural Transformations and Broadening Perspectives on Caribbean Diversity 300......Page 319 Appendixes 323......Page 342 Notes 339......Page 358 References Cited 351......Page 370 Index 373......Page 392 Expanding our perspective on the diversity and consequences of the African Diaspora, Douglas Armstrong explores life in the Virgin Islands for a distinctive black community that gained its freedom from slavery more than 40 years prior to emancipation in 1848.

Armstrong examines its transformation from a group of small cotton and provisioning estates to community-held and family-owned parcels, and he traces spatial and economic shifts over a period of more than 150 years. The author discusses the region's geography and history and also addresses topics such as maritime trade and exchange, gender roles, and community interrelationships. Utilizing information from extensive archaeological excavations at selected households, Armstrong analyzes an array of documents, including deeds, cash books, and census, tax, and harbor records.

Creole Transformation from Slavery to Freedom offers a rare glimpse of how a free Caribbean culture emerged from an 18th-century plantation society. Important to scholars interested in Caribbean peoples and their transformations, this illustrated book also will appeal to scholars of the African Diaspora.

An exploration of life on the Virgin Islands in a distinctive black community that gained its freedom from slavery more than 40 years prior to emancipation in 1848. Douglas Armstrong seeks to expand our perspective on the diversity and consequences of the African Diaspora. "With the first study to address the development of a free, mixed-race Caribbean community using historical and archaeological evidence, Armstrong has provided a new direction for research and challenged accepted notions of Caribbean family structure