Times of the Islands Spring 2020

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and forced to work as a slave on a cotton plantation in Louisiana. After friends secured his release that enabled him to return to New York, he worked with abolitionist groups to highlight the conditions he and other slaves were subjected to. The book and the movie graphically describe the horrific treatment at the hands of a slave owner, including sexual exploitation. It is fair to assume that Loyalist slaveholders, as a matter of course, continued to carry out such violence on Grand Caicos slaves, even if application varied. It could be argued that treatment of slaves on Grand Caicos may not have been as severe as on Grand Turk because slaveholders on Grand Caicos would have more incentive to manage them better in view of the difficulty of acquiring new slaves due to isolation. But beating slaves was such a regular part of slave life that it’s hard to believe the Loyalists would somehow become more amenable with changed circumstances, and there is little to suggest otherwise. While violence was the main tool for controlling enslaved people and extracting as much work as possible, slaveholders also had to deal with the prospect of a slave revolt. Indeed, slave rebellions had taken place in the American South and West Indies throughout the 1700s and early 1800s, culminating in the successful rebellion in Haiti in November 1803 that led to the establishment of the first black republic of former slaves. Loyalists were keenly well aware of these uprisings, especially the revolt in Haiti in view of its proximity to TCI—just 100 miles/160 km away. Ships sailing between northern Haiti and TCI greatly facilitated a flow of information to slaveholders and slaves alike about the struggle taking place in Haiti over the course of more than a decade. In order to mitigate the chances of an uprising and the risk of revenge, slaveholders often took measures to create divisions among slaves. One way was to acquire slaves from different parts of Africa who could not understand each other or mix them in with slaves who had been in bondage for many generations. The Loyalist purchase of slaves at markets in Nassau and Cuba to augment the slaves they had brought from the American South may well have had the effect of creating such divisions, though we don’t know if it was a deliberate strategy. A second way to split slave groups was to create hierarchies of slaves with special privileges. We know that some of the slaves brought by Loyalists had specialized skills such as carpentry and blacksmithing, thus indicating the strong possibility of “favored” slaves with more status that could cause resentment and sow disharmony to discourage unified action. In fact, no outright slave revolts took place in TCI. However, many slaves successfully escaped, mainly by taking boats from the beaches at night and sailing south to Haiti, a country that welcomed them as free people. (See Times of the Islands Fall 2018, “Sailing to Freedom” by this author.) Between 1822 and 1825, 128 slaves in the Turks & Caicos escaped, many of them from the Wade Stubbs plantation on North Caicos. We have no testimony on why they or any slaves from TCI escaped, though abusive treatment would seem to be the likely motivation to get away—bad enough to cause them forsake family and friends. Exploitation and sentiment One of the most debasing aspects of slavery was sexual exploitation of slave women by slaveholders that also involved violence or the threat of violence. While some slaves may have been accommodating to avoid repercussions, all were in some way coerced or forced. Stories of such abuse abounded. Mary Prince herself was almost certainly subjected to sexual exploitation by the slaveholder she refers to as “Mr. D” on Grand Turk. Some abolitionists, including those who supported Mary Prince, may have purposefully glossed over the more heinous and salacious accounts, as they felt it would distract from the larger objective of banning slavery. Of course, the awareness could not be hidden for long since the exploitation resulted in numerous births of mulatto children. A British-mandated census in 1834 in TCI classified 180 individuals (13.08% of the slave population) as “Mulattos,” which was defined as persons with both African and European bloodlines. Of these, according to TCI historian Nigel Sadler in his book Slave History of the Turks & Caicos Islands, 112 persons were under 20 years of age. It is not known if all of the mulattos were the offspring of slaveholders and slaves—some could have been the result of liaisons between white indentured servants or other white non-slaveholders and either slaves or ex-slaves. However, the high number of children and teens of mixed race, the close proximity of slaves to slaveholders in all the Islands and the long history of forced or coercive sexual relations by slaveholders strongly indicates that most, though maybe not all, mulatto offspring at that time were the result of slaveholder exploitation of female slaves. These abhorrent violations could take strange turns. In the 1760s and 1770s, a Jamaican slaveholder named Thomas Thistlewood kept a detailed diary of his relations with slaves. He even documented his own brutality 50 www.timespub.tc
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS against slaves, which historian Trevor Burnard called “sociopathic,” a term which could perhaps be applied to most slaveholders, including many on Grand Caicos. In a twisted but not uncommon way, Thistlewood also developed an affection for a few of the slave women. One woman in particular named Phibbah, with whom he had a son, apparently used his emotional connection to her (perhaps dependency mixed with jealousy) to turn the tables and gain favors to survive in an otherwise oppressive society. Phibbah even felt free to quarrel with Thistlewood and refuse to sleep with him without fear of repercussion. This brings us to the intriguing relationship between Dr. John Lorimer and his slave Rose on his Haulover Estate in Middle Caicos. Lorimer’s will, written in 1807, has been recorded as stating that on his death he would free all of his slaves. In fact, according to Mr. Sadler, the will was mistakenly recorded because Lorimer freed only one slave, referred to as his “faithful Negro woman slave Rose.” Rose first appears as “Rosana, property of John Lorimer Esq. born April 16th, 1795” and baptized in March 1800 in Grand Turk when Lorimer was there acting as the King’s Agent. Apparently, Rose is the only one of his slaves to be baptized, which raises the question of, “Why her?” The details of Lorimer’s will provide some context: “I wish my body to be carried to the grave by six of my Negroes (if I have any) dressed in white. For long service rendered me by the Negro woman Rose, I leave her free . . . [and] leave Rose any two of my young Negroes born and raised in the Caicos and Turks Islands, which she may choose.” Rose is later mentioned in an 1822 slave register as, “Rose Lorimer, free black woman” who owns two slaves, “Joe, male 30, Black. Turks Islands and Hannah, female, 30, Black. Turks Islands.” So it appears that Rose is free and has two slaves of her own, a rare gift for a former slave, which suggests a special relationship with Lorimer of some kind. It is telling that Rose is already referred to in Lorimer’s 1807 will as “faithful Negro woman,” and on track to be freed even though at the time she was only 12 years old (if she was in fact born in 1795 per the Grand Turk records). While not definitive, the shards of evidence seem to indicate that Rose is his daughter, prompting, of course, the second question about his relationship with Rose’s mother, most likely a slave under his control. By singling out Rose in granting her freedom and slaves, Lorimer ensured she would have far greater independence and a higher level of comfort in life. One can try to portray this act of kindness as a slaveholder’s “softer” Times of the Islands Spring 2020 51
Page 1 and 2: TIMES SAMPLING THE SOUL OF THE TURK
Page 3 and 4: EVERYTHING’S INCLUDED FOR EVERYON
Page 5 and 6: TurksAndCaicosProperty.com Bernadet
Page 7 and 8: Introducing the Boathouses The Boat
Page 9 and 10: The Last of the True Exotics IsFIRS
Page 11 and 12: World-Class Master Chefs 5-Star Glo
Page 13 and 14: TurksandCaicosRealEstate.com w/Dire
Page 15 and 16: getting to know From top: Gus walks
Page 17 and 18: PROVEN IN PROVO 435’ on Grace Bay
Page 19 and 20: while not at sea participating in h
Page 21: the TCI. Local members were now inv
Page 24 and 25: Here we are, some 124 years later,
Page 26 and 27: Ferry Fall 17_Layout 1 8/22/17 12:5
Page 28 and 29: creature feature MARTA MORTON — W
Page 30 and 31: green pages newsletter of the depar
Page 44 and 45: MARTA MORTON—WWW.HARBOURCLUBVILLA
Page 46 and 47: Exile and second chances The story
Page 48 and 49: many belonged to whom and the purch
Page 52 and 53: side. However, Lorimer still felt c
Page 55 and 56: feature Opposite page and above: Th
Page 57 and 58: Above: Hon. Edwin Astwood, TCI Mini
Page 59 and 60: campaign that would continue spread
Page 61 and 62: The SNAP Centre garden is sponsored
Page 63 and 64: astrolabe newsletter of the Turks &
Page 71 and 72: around the islands Lovey Forbes and
Page 73 and 74: about the Islands Map provided cour
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Page 81 and 82: dining Times of the Islands Spring
Page 83 and 84: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY You Can Count On

Times of the Islands Spring 2020

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