Slavery in The British and French Caribbean - Women, Social Production, and Slavery in The British Caribbean

Women, Social Production, and Slavery in The British Caribbean

The primary reason for the presence of women in the Caribbean during the time of slavery was due to their labour value. In the early days of slavery, plantation owners attempted to produce healthy patterns of reproduction and encourage marriage, but found it was economically illogical to do so. Instead, it was more profitable to purchase new slaves from Africa (until the continued supply of female slaves being delivered from across the Atlantic was threatened by abolitionist pressure in the eighteenth century).

Girls worked on estates from the early age of four. Occupations for girls between the ages of 12-19 varied from field work, to stock work, to domestic work, to washing (e.g. clothing, dishes, etc.). Other forms of work for mature women included midwife, doctoress, and housekeeper. European plantation owners generally regarded most slave women as suitable for field work, which consisted of jobs such as digging holes for canes, weeding, and hoeing. In Jamaica, the majority of women between the ages of 19 and 54 were working in the fields.

By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, there were more women working in the field than men due to their lower mortality rates. Despite the common stereotype whereby men are stronger and more physically capable than women, it can be argued that women were as important, if not more important, to field work during the period of Caribbean slavery. The importance of women in the plantation economy is reflected in the price of female slaves between 1790 and the end of the slave trade. The price for a “new” male slave was approximately £50-£70, while the price for a new female slave was approximately £50-£60.

Apart from occupations such as doctoress, midwife, and housekeeper, which were considered to be higher employment positions for slave women during the time, the slave elite was nearly entirely made up of men. Women were confined to fighting for lower positions in the socio-economic hierarchy and were always excluded from the more prestigious and skilled jobs (i.e. carpentry). Among the limited amount of occupations available to Caribbean slave women, the most prestigious job was found to be nursing.

One way in which women slaves would occasionally amass income and resources for themselves was through prostitution. This was a common way for women slaves to save money for freedom, particularly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in countries such as Barbados. In Jamaica, the majority of enslaved domestic workers in towns were expected to support themselves through prostitution.