An Empire Divided: The American Revolution and the British Caribbean

O'Shaughnessy, associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, tells the story of the American Revolution, not from the perspective of the 13 colonies that rebelled but from that of the 13 that did not--the rich Caribbean sugar islands comprising the British West Indies. The islands were notably different from their northern neighbors, in part because they were wealthier--and more valuable to the Crown--than, say, Delaware, and Britain was not willing to antagonize them in the 1760s and 1770s, even as it levied heavy taxes on the North American colonies. Additionally, O'Shaughnessy argues, sugar planters' greater dependence on slavery (the islands' black slaves outnumbered the white population) reinforced ties between the island colonies and England. Even though Britain rewarded the sugar colonies for the loyalty with restrictions on trade with America, they never opted for the kind of unified revolt that the 13 ""original"" American colonies did. However, according to the author, the American Revolution did have an impact on the political, social and economic character of the islands. It helped to weaken the establishment of slavery there and changed the islands' relation with the mother country. And, after the war, continental black loyalists, who supported the Tories in the revolution, settled in the sugar islands and spread not a political movement but a religious one--a syncretic, rich Afro-Christianity. With his agile political perspective, O'Shaughnessy has crafted a study that promises to reshape the way Americans think of the Revolution. (July)