Scotland, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic world, 1750-1820

This is the first book-length study wholly devoted to assessing the array of ties between Scotland and the Caribbean that bound the Atlantic World together in the later eighteenth century. This is the first book wholly devoted to assessing the array of links between Scotland and the Caribbean in the later eighteenth century. It uses a wide range of archival sources to paint a detailed picture of the lives of thousands of Scots who sought fortunes and opportunities, as Burns wrote, 'across th' Atlantic roar'. It outlines the range of their occupations as planters, merchants, slave owners, doctors, overseers, and politicians, and shows how Caribbean connections affected Scottish society during the period of 'improvement'. The book highlights the Scots' reinvention of the system of clanship to structure their social relations in the empire and finds that involvement in the Caribbean also bound Scots and English together in a shared Atlantic imperial enterprise and played a key role in the emergence of the British nation and the Atlantic World. This book, therefore, will be of interest to scholars and students of Scottish, British, Caribbean, imperial and Atlantic history Front matter Dedication Contents List of tables General editor's introduction List of abbreviations Note on currency Acknowledgements Map of eighteenth-century Scotland Map of the Windward archipelago and the eighteenth-century Caribbean Introduction Scotland in the eighteenth century The eighteenth-century West Indies Scots on the plantations Mercantile connections Scots doctors in the West Indies Scots in West Indian politics Scots, the Caribbean and British imperial politics Repatriation from the West Indies Conclusion Bibliography Index