Project description
The ins and outs of illicit trade in the north-eastern Caribbean islands
In the early 19th century, the north-eastern Caribbean islands were involved in the illicit trade of goods, ships and people. With a focus on the period between 1816 to 1840, the EU-funded NDTD project will study the illicit trade between the Caribbean islands St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew and St. Maarten to bring to light why and how these places became actively engaged in the illicit trade network. The project will also seek to understand what archaeological evidence remains of these activities and their relevance to current 'theories of piracy' of the 21st century and illicit trade in these areas today.
Objective
The multidisciplinary project ‘No dollar too dark: free trade, piracy, privateering and illegal slave trading in the northeast Caribbean, early 19th century’ (NDTD) integrates maritime archaeology, history, geophysical survey and anthropology to investigate illicit trade between the Caribbean islands St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew and St. Maarten (5S) from 1816 to c.1840 with the aim of understanding why and how these islands were drawn into an illicit trade network, what archaeological evidence remains of these activities and why this is relevant to current ‘theories of piracy’ and modern illicit trade in the region.
NDTD has five Research Objectives (RO) to investigate:
RO1) Entanglements between international, regional and local factors that drove these islands to engage in illicit trade.
RO2) How these islands functioned together as a network for illicit trade, smuggling and laundering, the processes involved, and how long it occurred.
RO3) Dialectics between the acquisition of illicit goods, consumption of these goods, and race, class, and gender .
RO4) Archaeological evidence of these activities.
RO5) How illicit trade from this period informs the ‘theories of piracy’ proposed by scholars in the 21st century
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
CB2 1TN Cambridge
United Kingdom