Surrendering Surinam: The Barbadian Diaspora and the Expansion of the English Sugar Frontier, 1650–75

Abstract

Before 1667, Surinam was the next major frontier for Barbadians who wanted to expand the sugar plantation complex. A proprietary colony under the control of Francis Willoughby, governor of Barbados, Surinam was occupied by the Dutch during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The English Crown, in a key moment of metropolitan intervention in the design of the empire, turned its back on the Surinam colony in the Treaty of Breda, trading it to the Dutch for Manhattan. The Willoughby family recaptured Surinam after the treaty was signed and encouraged the English state to retain it as a royal colony, but Charles II insisted on its surrender. The loss of Surinam changed the trajectory of English expansion in the Americas. Surinam’s English planters with capital for investment and agricultural expertise in sugar planting were redirected toward Jamaica, the colony favored by the crown. These planters faced labor shortages under Dutch rule and the vast majority left for Jamaica in 1671 and 1675. An increasing supply of slaves from the Royal African Company had made Jamaica a more attractive option. These Surinam migrants spurred the growth of the Jamaican sugar economy.

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