A New Map of the Island of Jamaica from an Actual Survey

Slavery and sugar in Jamaica during the 1770s.

This rather skeletal map of Jamaica, created anonymously, was published in London in 1773 as part of the Universal Magazine. The British public was eager to stay abreast of current events on the Caribbean island, whose exports of raw sugar made it among the most valuable colonies in the empire. Towns, churches, sugar works, roads, and parish boundaries are the elements identified in the accompanying key – all critical elements of British rule and subjugation. Geographic features are also labeled, with swamps and mountains reflecting the harsh and unforgiving landscape.

The sugar plantations of Jamaica were predicated on the slave labor of tens of thousands of Africans. It was a detestable, though immensely profitable, industry that required heavy machetes to chop the cane, which was then crushed by rollers and boiled in massive vats. Malnutrition, accidents, abuse, and disease resulted in a life expectancy of only about seven years upon arrival. These awful conditions resulted in significant unrest and numerous revolts. The First Maroon War (1728-1740) resulted in some concessions from the British (including the independence of Trelawny, Accompong, and Crawford’s Towns), but tensions remained high for the rest of the century and a Second Maroon War would break out in 1795.