Biomaterial Database

Home-grown slaves: women, reproduction, and the abolition of the slave trade, Jamaica 1788-1807. 2011

Sasha Turner

Once the British transatlantic slave trade came under abolitionists' scrutiny in 1788, West Indian slaveholders had to consider alternative methods of obtaining well-needed laborers. This article examines changes in enslaved women's working lives as planters sought to increase birth rates to replenish declining laboring populations. By focusing more on variances in work assignment and degrees of punishment rather than their absence, this article establishes that enslaved women in Jamaica experienced a considerable shift in their work responsibilities and their subjection to discipline as slaveholders sought to capitalize on their abilities to reproduce. Enslaved women's reproductive capabilities were pivotal for slavery and the plantation economy's survival once legal supplies from Africa were discontinued.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007563	Jamaica	An island in the Greater Antilles in the West Indies. Its capital is Kingston. It was discovered in 1494 by Columbus and was a Spanish colony 1509-1655 until captured by the English. Its flourishing slave trade was abolished in the 19th century. It was a British colony 1655-1958 and a territory of the West Indies Federation 1958-62. It achieved full independence in 1962. The name is from the Arawak Xaymaca, rich in springs or land of springs. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p564 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p267)
D001723	Birth Rate	The number of births in a given population per year or other unit of time.	Natality,Age-Specific Birth Rate,Age-Specific Fertility Rate,Fertility Rate,Age Specific Birth Rate,Age Specific Fertility Rate,Age-Specific Birth Rates,Age-Specific Fertility Rates,Birth Rate, Age-Specific,Birth Rates,Fertility Rate, Age-Specific,Fertility Rates,Natalities,Rate, Age-Specific Fertility,Rate, Birth,Rate, Fertility
D003132	Commerce	The interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale, between different countries or between populations within the same country. It includes trade (the buying, selling, or exchanging of commodities, whether wholesale or retail) and business (the purchase and sale of goods to make a profit). (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, p411, p2005 & p283)	Business,Commercial Sector,Prices,Sales,Vendors,Businesses,Commerces,Commercial Sectors,Price,Sale,Sector, Commercial,Sectors, Commercial,Vendor
D006113	United Kingdom	Country in northwestern Europe including Great Britain and the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland, located between the North Sea and north Atlantic Ocean. The capital is London.	Great Britain,Isle of Man
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000349	Africa	The continent south of EUROPE, east of the ATLANTIC OCEAN and west of the INDIAN OCEAN.
D012922	Social Change	A shift, alteration, modification, or evolution of human behavior and culture, which over time, results in measurable consequences on societal values and norms.	Modernization,Social Development,Social Impact,Change, Social,Changes, Social,Development, Social,Developments, Social,Impact, Social,Impacts, Social,Social Changes,Social Developments,Social Impacts
D012940	Social Problems	Situations affecting a significant number of people, that are believed to be sources of difficulty or threaten the stability of the community, and that require programs of amelioration.	Labor Exploitation,Social Exploitation,Exploitation, Labor,Exploitation, Social,Exploitations, Labor,Problem, Social,Problems, Social,Social Problem
D014930	Women	Human females as cultural, psychological, sociological, political, and economic entities.	Girls,Woman,Women's Groups,Girl,Women Groups,Women's Group
D014933	Women's Rights	The rights of women to equal status pertaining to social, economic, and educational opportunities afforded by society.	Women's Liberation,Woman's Rights,Women's Status,Liberation, Women's,Right, Woman's,Right, Women's,Rights, Woman's,Rights, Women's,Status, Women's,Woman Rights,Woman's Right,Women Status,Women's Right