Category Archives: Revolution/War
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 17 January 1791
17/01/1791
As the abolition debate continued, Taylor’s frustration rose and his language grew more colourful. In his view, abolitionists were behaving unreasonably by interfering with a lucrative system that he thought was best left to the oversight and management of slave-traders and slaveholders. His reference to events in the French islands is probably to the failed […]
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Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 7 September 1790
07/09/1790
On 7 September 1790, Taylor wrote to Arcedeckne from his sugar plantation, called Holland, at the far eastern end of Jamaica. While a revolution by white slaveholders might have been an unlikely prospect for Jamaica in 1790, foreign invasion was not. And as the possibility of war with France loomed, Taylor described the outlook of […]
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Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 7 April 1788
07/04/1788
In April 1788 Taylor gave Chaloner Arcedeckne his early reactions to two phenomena that would define the remaining 25 years of his life: the French Revolution and the abolition movement. Political tensions in Paris were apparent throughout the Atlantic world by this time, and Taylor appears simultaneously to have relished the prospect of French weakness […]
Also posted in Abolitionism, Christianity, Defence of slavery, Enslaved people, France, Kingston, Revolution, Slave trade abolition, St Domingue/Hispaniola, The Letters Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 7 April 1788
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 30 March 1783
30/03/1783
Taylor’s comments here illustrate how far the uncertainties of war hampered planning in plantation management. With the cessation of hostilities, much remained to be decided, but Taylor felt relieved and able to make plans for the future, which included the purchase of enslaved Africans for Golden Grove. I would upon the presumption of a peace, […]
Also posted in Enslaved people, Kingston, Slave trading, Sugar, The Letters, War Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 30 March 1783
Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 16 January 1783
16/01/1783
At the beginning of 1783, Taylor looked forward to peace, hoping that the post-war British Atlantic would resemble that of 1775, even to the extent of bringing America back into the British empire. He showed irritation with both American patriots and British policy. And, although he had remained loyal to the metropole throughout the conflict […]
Also posted in British Government, Coffee, Kingston, North America/USA, Sugar, Taxes/duties, The Letters, Trade, War Tagged Chaloner Arcedeckne, Simon Taylor Comments Off on Simon Taylor to Chaloner Arcedeckne, 16 January 1783