Eastern West Indies (1684–1827 CE): Sugar Frontiers, Revolt, and Revolutionary Shockwaves

Geographic & Environmental Context

The subregion of Eastern West Indies includes Trinidad, Saint Lucia, Barbados, most of Haiti, most of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Anchors include the Orinoco–Trinidad seaway, the Cordillera Central (Hispaniola), the karst valleys of Puerto Rico, and the volcanic arc from Saint Lucia through the Virgin Islands. Deep channels and steady trades funneled fleets, while fertile valleys and limestone plains supported plantation cores.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

The late Little Ice Age persisted, with devastating hurricanes—especially the Great Hurricane of 1780—and multi-year droughts alternating with flood seasons on Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Volcanic soils on windward islands buffered rainfall shocks; leeward cays suffered salinization and erosion after major storms.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Hispaniola: The Treaty of Ryswick (1697) formalized a split between French Saint-Domingue (west) and Spanish Santo Domingo (east). Saint-Domingue became the hemisphere’s premier sugar/coffee colony, powered by massive imports of enslaved Africans; the Spanish east emphasized cattle, small farms, and provisioning ports.

• Puerto Rico: Spain expanded towns, forts, and mixed agriculture (sugar, coffee, tobacco), relying on enslaved labor alongside free smallholders.

• Barbados: A mature British sugar colony dominated by estates; enslaved Africans formed the vast majority.

• Saint Lucia: A contested French/British battleground; sugar estates expanded under shifting flags.

• Trinidad: Spanish until 1797, then British; late but rapid plantation growth under the Cedula of Population (1783) attracted French planters and enslaved labor.

• Virgin Islands: Danish St. Thomas and St. John (and St. Croix after 1733) developed plantation complexes; neighboring British islands mixed small estates with maritime trades.

Technology & Material Culture

Wind- and later steam-powered mills, boiling houses, and curing ranges defined sugar landscapes. Fortified harbors (San Juan, Santo Domingo) mounted new artillery. African knowledge shaped cane field practices, provision plots, and foodways; maroon strongholds adapted mountain house forms. On Saint-Domingue, coffee terraces and aqueducts climbed steep slopes.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Atlantic slave trade funneled captives to Saint-Domingue, Barbados, Trinidad, and the Danish/British Virgin Islands.

• Convoy routes threaded the Windward Passage and Mona Passage, while inter-island smuggling tied Spanish east Hispaniola to French markets.

• Runaway corridors led into Hispaniola’s ranges and Puerto Rico’s cordilleras, feeding marronnage and maroon communities.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

Catholic and Protestant establishments framed public ritual, yet Afro-Caribbean lifeways dominated plantation quarters: vodou (Saint-Domingue), cabildos and cofradías (Hispaniola, Puerto Rico), drumming and ring-shout traditions across British and Danish islands. Maroon treaties in Jamaica (contextual neighbors) resonated with mountain communities in Saint-Domingue and eastern Hispaniola. Revolutionary slogans and catechisms later fused with African ritual speech.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

Provision grounds (cassava, plantains, yams) stabilized diets; inter-island provisioning cushioned hurricane losses. Coffee diversified steep lands; cattle in eastern Hispaniola buffered drought. Coastal towns rebuilt with thicker masonry, wind-smart roofs, and raised cisterns after great storms.

Transition

By 1827 CE, the subregion had been remade by revolution. The Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) shattered Saint-Domingue and birthed Haiti, catalyzing regional slave resistance and planter flight (some to Trinidad and Puerto Rico). Santo Domingo oscillated between Spanish rule and local movements, heading toward the Haitian unification (1822–1844) just beyond this span. British islands tightened plantation order yet faced rising emancipation debates. The Eastern West Indies stood at a pivot between the age of sugar/slavery and an era of abolition and post-plantation change.

Bartholomew Roberts was born in 1682 in Casnewydd-Bach, or Little Newcastle, between Fishguard and Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

His name was originally John Roberts, and his father was most likely George Roberts.

It's not clear why Roberts changed his name from John to Bartholomew, but pirates often adopted aliases, and he may have chosen that name after the well-known buccaneer Bartholomew Sharp.

He is thought to have gone to sea when he was 13 in 1695 but there is no further record of him until 1718, when he was mate of a Barbados sloop.

In 1719, he was third mate on the slave ship Princess, under Captain Abraham Plumb.

In early June of that year, the Princess had been anchored at Anomabu, at this time spelled Annamaboa, which is situated along the Gold Coast of West Africa (present-day Ghana), when she was captured by pirates in two vessels, the Royal Rover and the Royal James, led by captain Howell Davis.

Davis, like Roberts, is a Welshman, originally from Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire.

Several of the crew of the Princess had been forced to join the pirates, including Roberts.

Davis had quickly discovered Roberts' abilities as a navigator and had taken to consulting him.

He is also able to confide to Roberts information in Welsh, thereby keeping it hidden from the rest of the crew.

Roberts is said to have been reluctant to become a pirate at first, but soon came to see the advantages of this new lifestyle.

It is easy to understand the lure of piracy; in the merchant navy, Roberts' wage had been less than £3 per month and he had no chance of promotion to captaincy.

A few weeks later, the Royal James had had to be abandoned because of worm damage.

The Royal Rover had headed for the Isle of Princes, now Príncipe.

Davis has hoisted the flags of a British man-of-war, and is allowed to enter the harbor.

After a few days, Davis invites the governor to lunch on board his ship, intending to hold him hostage for a ransom.

As Davis has to send boats to collect the governor, he is invited to call at the fort for a glass of wine first.

The Portuguese have by now discovered that their visitors are pirates, and on the way to the fort Davis' party is ambushed and Davis himself shot dead.

A new captain now has to be elected.

Davis' crew is divided into "Lords" and "Commons", and it is the "Lords" who have the right to propose a name to the remainder of the crew.

Within six weeks of his capture, Roberts is elected captain.

This is an unusual move, since he is openly against his even being on board the vessel, and is probably due to his navigational abilities and his demeanor, which history reflects was outspoken and opinionated.

His first act as captain is to lead the crew back to Príncipe to avenge the death of Captain Davis.

Roberts and his crew spring onto the island in the darkness of night, kill a large portion of the male population, and steal all items of value that they can carry away.

Roberts captures a Dutch Guineaman soon afterwards, then two days later an English ship called the Experiment.

While the ship takes on water and provisions at Anamboe, a vote is taken on whether the next voyage should be to the East Indies or to Brazil.

The vote is for Brazil.

The combination of bravery and success that marked this adventure cements most of the crew's loyalty to Roberts.

They conclude that he is "pistol proof" and that they have much to gain by staying with him. (Yount, Lisa (2002) Pirates. p. 78. Lucent Books)

Bartholomew Roberts and his crew had crossed the Atlantic and watered and boot-topped their ship on the uninhabited island of Ferdinando.

They had then spent about nine weeks off the Brazilian coast, but had seen no ships.

They are about to leave for the West Indies when they encounter a fleet of forty-two Portuguese ships in the Todos os Santos' Bay, waiting for two men-of-war of seventy guns each to escort them to Lisbon.

Roberts takes one of the vessels, and orders her master to point out the richest ship in the fleet.

He points out a ship of forty guns and a crew of one hundred and seventy, which Roberts and his men board and capture.

The ship proves to contain forty thousand gold moidores and jewelry including a cross set with diamonds, designed for the King of Portugal.

The Rover now heads for Devil's Island off the coast of Guiana to spend the booty.

Roberts and his pirate crew head for the River Surinam, where they capture a sloop a few weeks later.

When a brigantine is sighted, Roberts takes forty men to pursue it in the sloop, leaving Walter Kennedy in command of the Rover.

The sloop becomes wind-bound for eight days, and when Roberts and his men are finally able to return, they discover that Kennedy has sailed off with the Rover and what remains of the loot.

Roberts and his crew rename their sloop the Fortune and agree on new articles, which they swear on a Bible to uphold:

Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment.

He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and shall use them at pleasure unless a scarcity may make it necessary for the common good that a retrenchment may be voted.

Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes, because over and above their proper share, they are allowed a shift of clothes.

But if they defraud the company to the value of even one dollar in plate, jewels or money, they shall be marooned.

If any man rob another he shall have his nose and ears slit, and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.

None shall game for money either with dice or cards.

The lights and candles should be put out at eight at night, and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.

Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass and pistols at all times clean and ready for action.

No boy or woman to be allowed among them.

If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall suffer death.

He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.

None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner.

At the word of command from the quartermaster, each man being previously placed back to back, shall turn and fire immediately.

If any man do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of his hand.

If both miss their aim they shall take to their cutlasses, and he that draw the first blood shall be declared the victor.

No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000.

Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in the service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.

The captain and the quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each.

The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only by right; on all other days by favor only.

Eastern West Indies (1720–1731 CE): Piracy, Conflict, and Agricultural Innovation

Pirate Menace and Naval Engagements

Between 1720 and 1731, piracy significantly disrupted maritime trade and colonial stability in the Eastern West Indies. In late February 1720, notorious pirate Bartholomew Roberts and his crew aboard the sloop Fortune allied temporarily with French pirate Montigny la Palisse, captain of the Sea King. However, this partnership quickly dissolved when confronted by two well-armed ships from Barbados, the Summerset and the Philipa, on February 26. The Sea King fled immediately, while the Fortune, severely damaged, escaped to Dominica for repairs, losing twenty crew members to injuries en route.

Additional patrols from Martinique intensified the pursuit, leading Roberts to swear revenge against both Barbados and Martinique. He adopted a new pirate flag symbolizing his threats: himself depicted standing atop two skulls labeled ABH (A Barbadian's Head) and AMH (A Martiniquian's Head). After repairs and careening at Carriacou Island, Roberts renamed his ship the Royal Fortune, initiating a legacy of vessels bearing this infamous name.

Piracy and Plunder Across the Region

Roberts boldly entered Basse Terra Road on St. Christopher’s (St. Kitts) with his fleet flying black flags, intimidating local ships into immediate surrender. Subsequently, Roberts and his crew found refuge in St. Bartholomew, where the French governor allowed them weeks of revelry and resupply.

Departing again on October 25, 1720, Roberts conducted aggressive raids near St. Lucia, capturing as many as fifteen French and British vessels within days. Among these was the Greyhound, whose chief mate, James Skyrme, defected to the pirates, later becoming captain of Roberts’ companion ship, the Ranger.

Confrontation with the Governor of Martinique

Roberts reputedly captured the governor of Martinique, de Hurault, by cunning deception—approaching his man-of-war under the guise of a French merchant ship before launching a surprise assault. Following a fierce battle, Roberts' crew boarded and seized the vessel, executing Governor de Hurault by hanging him from the yardarm of the Royal Fortune.

By 1721, Roberts' piracy had severely disrupted Caribbean maritime commerce, prompting his departure toward West Africa. His consort ship, commanded by Thomas Anstis, parted ways on April 18 to continue raids within the Caribbean.

Agricultural Innovation and Coffee Cultivation

Amidst these disturbances, significant agricultural progress occurred. In 1720, French naval officer Gabriel de Clieu introduced a coffee plant seedling from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Paris to Martinique, transplanting it successfully on the slopes of Mount Pelée. By 1726, the colony harvested its first coffee crop, marking the inception of an enduring agricultural enterprise that would significantly contribute to the region's economic diversification.

Conclusion

The era 1720–1731 in the Eastern West Indies was marked by rampant piracy, intense naval confrontations, and severe disruptions in regional trade. Yet, amidst these upheavals, innovations in agriculture—particularly coffee cultivation—began reshaping the economic landscape, setting the stage for future colonial prosperity and complexity.

Bartholomew Roberts and his pirate crew in the Fortune are joined by the French pirate Montigny la Palisse in another sloop, the Sea King, in late February 1720.

The inhabitants of Barbados have equipped two well-armed ships, the Summerset and the Philipa, to try to put an end to the pirate menace.

They encounter the two pirate sloops on February 26.

The Sea King quickly flees, and the Fortune, after sustaining considerable damage, breaks off the engagement and is able to escape.

Roberts heads for Dominica to repair the sloop, with twenty of his crew dying of their wounds on the voyage.

There are also two sloops from Martinique out searching for the pirates, and Roberts swears vengeance against the inhabitants of Barbados and Martinique.

He has a new flag made with a drawing of himself standing upon two skulls, one labeled ABH (A Barbadian's Head) and the other AMH (A Martiniquian's Head).

The Fortune now heads northwards towards Newfoundland.

After raiding Canso, Nova Scotia and capturing a number of ships around Cape Breton and the Newfoundland banks, ...

...Bartholomew Roberts raids the harbor of Ferryland, capturing a dozen vessels.