Author: LEWIS, Matthew Gregory.
Title: Journal of a residence among the negroes in the West Indies.
Description: London, John Murray, 1845. Later half cloth. VIII,184; 16 pp. First edition. - Although opportunely printed in the year of emancipation, this work really comprises the journals of two earlier residences in Jamaica, in 1815-1816 and in 1817, respectively. It is, therefore, an interesting document dealing with the state of the island after the abolition of the slave trade and before the freeing of the blacks. ... Lewis fell heir to two Jamacan estates and visited them twice, as above stated, but died of yellow fever at sea on returning home in 1818. The author's viewpoint is that of a cultured English gentleman who has a sincere if somewhat misguided interest in the welfare of negroes who have suddenly become his property. The work shows the crying evils of absentee landlordism even when the owner was the best type, as Lewis unquestionably was (Ragatz p.227). Sabin 40821; Afro-Americana 5836.

Keywords: America Caribbean Central America Islands Jamaica slavery