West Indies

Overview

The William L. Clements Library’s holdings relating to the West Indies are particularly strong in relation to colonial administration, slavery, military engagements, cartography, and American travel and trade in the region.

Printed sources include travel narratives, contemporary reactions to the persistent imperial struggles in the region, satiric prints, historic views, and much more. Printed and manuscript maps highlight changes in European colonial control, information on military activity, and details of sugar production and slave plantations. 

Manuscript collections relating to the West Indies include papers of British politicians that illuminate colonial administration of the region (e.g. Shelburne, Lyttelton) as well as family and business papers that document daily life, plantation management, and economic activities (e.g. Tailyour, Charles Winstone, Tousard). Papers of military and naval figures illustrate key information about conflict in the region, particularly during the American Revolution (e.g. Castries, Vaughan).

Bibliography

“The West Indies,” The Quarto No. 36 (Fall-Winter 2011). 

Subject Headings

Search by individual place names (e.g. Dominica, Saint Vincent…)
Subdivision by place, e.g. Blacks–West Indies or Plantations–Jamaica

America–Discovery and Exploration–Spanish
Antilles, Greater
Antilles, Lesser
Blacks
Carib Indians
Caribbean Area
Danish West Indies
Indians of the West Indies
Natural History–West Indies
Plantation owners
Plantations
Race relations
Slave trade
Slavery
Slaves
Sugar
Sugar growing
Sugar trade
West Indies
West Indies–Maps
West Indies, British
West Indies, French

Online Resources