Subordinate Economies Within The Barbadian Sugar Plantation Economy

Within the Barbadian sugar plantations of the 18th and 19th century, there existed multiple forms of economy. The typical economy, as described by historical texts, consists of sugar plantations exchanging sugar and molasses for goods from England and its North American colonies as well as for slaves from Africa. However, within the sugar plantation complex, a dense and layered sub-economy was impacting and being impacted by the day-to-day operations of the plantations themselves. At the core of this, not necessarily, “independent” economy was the production and exchange of non-staple items produced by in-house, plantation potters for use amongst planters and the enslaved laborers for the production of sugar, molasses and rum. This paper discusses findings at two such plantation sites (the Codrington Pottery Kiln site and the Pothouse site located in the parish of St. John, Barbados) and provides an analysis of production and exchange from within the plantation complex.