Skip to main content

St. Eustatius: The Nexus for Colonial Caribbean Capitalism

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Archaeology of Interdependence

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Archaeology ((BRIEFSARCHHERIT,volume 1))

Abstract

St. Eustatius in the Dutch Caribbean was at the nexus of an interdependent Atlantic World financial network at the end of the eighteenth century. Trading was so great on St. Eustatius that a significant proportion of capital made available to the burgeoning Industrial Revolution via investment banks was as a direct result of profits derived from this small island. A combination of economic theory, documentary and archaeological evidence helps to characterize the extent and value of St. Eustatius’ contributions to the Atlantic World economy during this pivotal period in the development of Capitalism as a global economic force.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 34.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbott, J. H. (1922). The Courtright (Kortright) family; descendants of Bastian van Kortryk, a native of Belgium who emigrated to Holland about 1615. New York, NY: Wright.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adams, J., & Donovan, F. R. (1965). The John Adams papers. Mead: Dodd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, D. V. (2006). East end maritime traders: The emergence of a Creole community on St. John, Danish West Indies. In J. Haviser & K. C. MacDonald (Eds.), African re-genesis: Confronting social issues in the African Diaspora (One world archaeology series, pp. 145–159). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, D. V., & Hauser, M. W. (2009). A sea of diversity: Historical archaeology in the Caribbean. In M. T & D. Gaimster (Eds.), International handbook of historical archaeology (pp. 583–612). New York, NY: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Augur, H. (1955). The secret war of independence. New York, NY: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barka, N. F. (1988). Archaeology of the Jewish Synagogue Honen Dalim, St. Eustatius, N.A.: An interim report (Report No. 4). Department of Anthropology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrera Coronado, L. (2000). Catálogo general de la moneda falsa española. Madrid: Artis Traditio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bealer, A. W., & McRaven, C. (1984). The art of blacksmithing (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braudel, F. (2002). Civilization and capitalism, 15th-18th century. London: Phoenix.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A. (1978). Hazard unlimited: the story of Lloyd’s of London. Peter Davies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruyn, F. de. (1984, April). St. Eustatius, golden link with the independence of the United States. De Halve Maen, 58, 9–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, P. J., & Hopkins, A. G. (1986). Gentlemanly capitalism and British expansion overseas I. The old colonial system, 1688-1850. The Economic History Review, New Series, 39(4), 501–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chase, P. (1994). The papers of George Washington. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Checkland, S. G. (1958). Finance for the West Indies, 1780-1815. The Economic History Review, New Series, 10(3), 461–469.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chernow, R. (2004). Alexander Hamilton. New York, NY: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. G. (1981). La Rochelle and the Atlantic economy during the eighteenth century. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crothers, A. G. (2004). Commercial risk and capital formation in early America: Virginia merchants and the rise of American Marine Insurance, 1750-1815. The Business History Review, 78(4), 607–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Luca, J. P. (1996). Influences from the periphery: The Caribbean and the American Revolution. Albany, NY: State University of New York at Albany.

    Google Scholar 

  • den Heijer, H. J. (1994). De geschiedenis van de WIC. Zutphen: Walburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dethlefsen, E., & Barka, N. F. (1979). A preliminary report on the historical archaeology and cultural resources of St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles. Williamsburg, VA: Department of Anthropology, College of William and Mary.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dethlefsen, E., & Barka, N. F. (1982). Archaeology on St. Eustatius: The Pompeii of the new world. Archaeology, 35(2), 8–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drake, F. S. (1873). Life and correspondence of Henry Knox: Major-general in the American revolutionary army. Boston, MA: S.G. Drake.

    Google Scholar 

  • Du Sart, G. (1791). Inventaris en Prisatie gedan maken van het navolgende bevonden op een behoorente tot de Plantagei de Goudsteen geleegen in het Quartier genaamd Concordia op dit Eiland St. Eustatius toebehooorende aan den Heer William Moore Burger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Equiano, O. (1999). The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavaus Vassa, The African. In Y. Taylor (Ed.), I was born a slave: An anthology of classic slave narratives (pp. 29–180). Chicago, IL: Lawrence Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenning, D., & Collyer, J. (1976). A new system of geography: Or, a general description of the world. Surrey: Unwin (Reprint of 1786 ed., Vol. 2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, S. H. (1988). Comparative economic systems (The Dryden Press series in economics). Fort Worth: Dryden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2002). Urban transformation and upheaval in the West Indies: The case of Oranjestad, St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles. In A. Green (Ed.), Society for post-medieval archaeology. Southampton: Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, Southampton University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2004). The archaeology of new world slave societies: A comparative analysis with particular reference to St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Archaeology, University College London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2006a). Urban transformation and upheaval in the West Indies: The case of Oranjestad, St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles. In A. Green & R. Leech (Eds.), Cities in the World 1500-2000 (The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology monograph, Vol. 3, pp. 83–96). Maney: Leeds.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2006b). All the documents are destroyed! documenting slavery for St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles. In J. Haviser & K. C. MacDonald (Eds.), African re-genesis: Confronting social issues in the African Diaspora (One world archaeology series). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2006c). Recovering the Jewish heritage on St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles. Archaeobrief: Vakblad voor de Nederlandse archaeologie. The Journal for Stitching voor de Nederlandse Archaeologie, 9(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2008). Mazinga warehouse: An architectural and archaeological survey at the Waterfront (Unpublished No. 8). Research Report. St. Eustatius: St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2009a). Blue Beads, Afro-Caribbeanwares, and Tumblers: International trade by enslaved Africans. Free-ports of the Caribbean. Curacao, Netherlands Antilles: National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2009b). St. Eustatius Lutheran Church: An architectural and archaeological survey (Unpublished No. 9). Research Report. St. Eustatius Netherlands Antilles: St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2010). A Roman Sesterius from Concordia Plantation (Unpublished No. 001). SECAR Spot Finds (p. 1). Concordia Plantation, St. Eustatius: St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G. (2013). Vernacular architecture in the Caribbean. In T. Clack (Ed.), Archaeology, syncretism, creolisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G., & Miller, D. (2011). The Jewish merchants of St. Eustatius: A Diasporic people’s contribution to the American war of independence. In Proceedings of 2010 Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850. Consortium on the Revolutionary Era.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, R. G., & Reid, B. (Eds.). (2013). The encyclopedia of Caribbean archaeology. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goslinga, C. C. (1985). The Dutch in the Caribbean in the Caribbean and the Guianas 1680-1791. Assen/Maastricht: Uitg. in samenwerking met het Prins Bernhardfonds Nederlandse Antillen door Van Gorcum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffis, W. E. (1893). Where our flag was first saluted. New England Magazine, VIII(5), 576–585.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartog, J. (1997). De Forten, Verdedigingswerken en Geschutstellingen van Sint Eustatius en Saba. Zalbommel: Europese Bibliotheek.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofman, C., & Society for American Archaeology. (2008). Crossing the borders: New methods and techniques in the study of archaeological materials from the Caribbean. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurst, R. (1996). The golden rock: An episode of the American War of Independence, 1775–1783. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jameson, J. F. (1903). St. Eustatius in the American Revolution. American Historical Review, VIII(4), 683–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karras, A. (2003). Transgressive exchange: Rewriting Atlantic Law in the eighteenth-century Caribbean. Seascapes, littoral cultures, and trans-oceanic exchanges. Washington, DC: Library of Congress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klooster, W. (1998). Illicit riches: Dutch trade in the Caribbean, 1648–1795. Leiden: KITLV.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavoie, Y., Fick, C., & Mayer, F. M. (1995). A particular study of slavery in the Caribbean island of St. Barthelemy: 1648-1846. Caribbean Studies, 28(2), 369–403.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matson, C. (1998). Merchants and Empire: Trading in colonial New York. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCusker, J. J. (1978). Money and exchange in Europe and America, 1600–1775: A handbook. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. (Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, VA).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCusker, J. J. (1999). Measuring colonial gross domestic product: An introduction. The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, 56(1), 3–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mease, J. (1811). The picture of Philadelphia, giving an account of its origin, increase and improvements in arts, sciences, manufactures, commerce and revenue. With a compendious view of its societies, literary, benevolent, patriotic, & religious. Its police—The public buildings—The prison and penitentiary system—Institutions, monied and civil—Museum. Philadelphia: B. & T. Kite.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menkman, W. R. (1932). Sint Eustatius’ Gouden Tijd. West-Indische Gids, XIV, 369–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, D. R. (2008). Breaking the mold: Sugar ceramics and the political economy of 18th century St. Eustatius. Williamsburg, VA: College of William and Mary.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, B. R., & Deane, P. (1971). Abstract of British Historical Statistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Reprinted).

    Google Scholar 

  • More, C. (2000). Understanding the industrial revolution. London, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, K. (1993). Bristol and the Atlantic trade in the eighteenth century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, A. (1774). Upper and Lower Town St. Eustatius Oranjestad.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, L., & Gilmore, R. G. (2005). St. Eustatius field report (Unpublished). Charlottesville, VA: Department of Historical Architecture, University of Virginia.

    Google Scholar 

  • NoĂ«l Hume, I. (1991). Martin’s hundred. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.

    Google Scholar 

  • NoĂ«l Hume, I. (2001). If these pots could talk: Collecting 2,000 years of British Household Pottery. Hanover: Chipstone Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prak, M. (2005). The Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century: The golden age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price, J. M. (1989). What did merchants do? Reflections on British overseas trade, 1660-1790. The Journal of Economic History, 49(2), 267–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, D. E. (1965). Ammunition supply in revolutionary Virginia. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 73(1), 56–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, C. J. (1987). Capitalism, slavery and bourgeois historiography. History Workshop, 23, 122–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salamanca-Heyman, M. F. (2004). St. Eustatius and the Caribbean trade system: A study of eighteenth and nineteenth century coins from the Caribbean.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schulte Nordholt, J. W. (1982). The Dutch Republic and American independence. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. (1776). An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. London: Cadell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stelten, R. (2010, May). Relics of a forgotten colony: The cannon and anchors of St. Eustatius. Master of Arts, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teenstra, M. D. (1836). De Nederlandsche West-Indische eilanden in derzelver tegenwoordigen toestand. Amsterdam: C.G. Sulpke.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Annual Register, or a view of the history, politics, and literature, for the year 1781. (1782). London: J. Dodsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Three Generations of the Clymer Family. (1885). The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 9(3), 353–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Truxes, T. M. (2005). Transnational trade in the wartime North Atlantic: The voyage of the snow “recovery”. The Business History Review, 79(4), 751–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Truxes, T. M. (2008). Defying empire: Trading with the enemy in colonial. New York, NY: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuchman, B. W. (1988). The first salute (1st ed.). New York, NY: Knopf (Distributed by Random House).

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Woude, A., & de Vries, J. (1997). The first modern economy: Success, failure, and perseverance of the Dutch economy, 1500-1815. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, G. (1968). New evidence on colonial commerce. The Journal of Economic History, 28(3), 363–389.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitworth, C. (1777). A register of the trade of the port of London; specifying the articles imported and exported, … with a list of the ships entered inwards and cleared outwards. Number II. April, May, and June, 1776: To be continued. By Sir Charles Whitworth, … London: Sold by G. Kearsly; W. Flexney; G. Robinson; J. Robson; J. Walter; T. Cadell; J. Sewell, 1777.

    Google Scholar 

  • Withey, L. (1984). Urban growth in colonial Rhode Island: Newport and providence in the eighteenth century. New York, NY: SUNY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. H. (2005). A history of central banking in Great Britain and the United States. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. G. Gilmore III PhD (Lond.), IFA, RPA .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gilmore, R.G. (2013). St. Eustatius: The Nexus for Colonial Caribbean Capitalism. In: The Archaeology of Interdependence. SpringerBriefs in Archaeology(), vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6028-2_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics