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Source Description
Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1494, Jamaica was a Spanish colony until 1655 when it was taken over by the British. The third largest island in the West Indies, it became the focus of British activity in the Caribbean. Its economy was dominated by sugar production based on slave labor imported from Africa. Details on this 1775 map by the British geographer and publisher Thomas Jeffreys record the racial segregation that was institutionalized during the British colonial regime. Underlining distinguishes what are referred to on the map as "Negro-towns," most of which are situated in the less hospitable mountainous interior. In contrast, the flatter coastal areas, which were more suitable for agriculture, are dotted with small squares and circles, symbolizing the British-owned sugar plantations and sugar mills. In addition, the map's two insets depict the topography and hydrography of the island's busiest ports, Kingston and Bluefields, which had become centers of British colonial administrative and mercantile activities.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
x633f9005
label
Jamaica, from the latest surveys
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
x633f9005
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
Jamaica, from the latest surveys
description
Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1494, Jamaica was a Spanish colony until 1655 when it was taken over by the British. The third largest island in the West Indies, it became the focus of British activity in the Caribbean. Its economy was dominated by sugar production based on slave labor imported from Africa. Details on this 1775 map by the British geographer and publisher Thomas Jeffreys record the racial segregation that was institutionalized during the British colonial regime. Underlining distinguishes what are referred to on the map as "Negro-towns," most of which are situated in the less hospitable mountainous interior. In contrast, the flatter coastal areas, which were more suitable for agriculture, are dotted with small squares and circles, symbolizing the British-owned sugar plantations and sugar mills. In addition, the map's two insets depict the topography and hydrography of the island's busiest ports, Kingston and Bluefields, which had become centers of British colonial administrative and mercantile activities.
date
["1775"]
year
1775
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
English
identifierLocal
05_04_000126
creators
Jefferys, Thomas, d. 1771
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
American Revolutionary War-Era Maps
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
Harbors--Jamaica--Bluefields--Maps--Early works to 1800
Harbors--Jamaica--Kingston--Maps--Early works to 1800
Harbors--Jamaica--Port Royal--Maps--Early works to 1800
Jamaica--Maps--Early works to 1800
subjectsGeographic
Bluefields
Cornwall (county)
Jamaica
Kingston
Kingston (county)
North and Central America
Port Royal
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
Jamaica
county
Cornwall
city
Bluefields
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
London
publisher
Printed for Robt. Sayer
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
dn39z222j
schema:latitude
18.166
schema:longitude
-78.026
extent
1 map ; 61 x 46 cm.
notes
Relief shown by hachures.
Soundings shown in fathoms.
Hand colored.
Prime meridian: Ferro and London.
Insets: The harbour of Bluefields [ca. 1:95,000] -- The harbours of Kingston and Port Royal [ca. 1:95,000]
Exhibited in “Faces and Places,” at the Boston Public Library, Boston, MA, October 2003 - September 2004. MB (BRL)
hasTranscription
no
dcId
x633f9005
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
7fc652f31383c508