The Politics of Sugar: Caribbean Roots of the American Revolution

Date of Award

Fall 1-1-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

History

First Advisor

Peterson, Mark

Abstract

The origins of the American Revolution have long been treated as a nationalistic story, centered on the thirteen rebelling North American colonies and their relationship with Great Britain. The loyal Caribbean islands remain peripheral, despite their long-standing economic intertwinement with the Northern colonies through sugar and slavery. This dissertation reveals the central role of the Caribbean in propelling the American Revolution. By tracing an escalating history of conflict between Northern merchants and Caribbean sugar planters across the eighteenth century, it demonstrates how their trade was not only a source of commercial connection, but also of ideological contestation. From the Molasses Act of 1733 to the Sugar Act of 1764 and beyond, the two sets of colonists fiercely advocated for trade policies that advantaged their respective regions. As they did so, their arguments came to be grounded in much larger claims about the ideal nature of empire: Should Great Britain prioritize commercial, settler-colonial societies or extractive, plantation-based monocultures? Should colonies be valued for their similarities to the mother country, or their differences? The stakes of these inter-colonial debates intensified as imperial attention to America grew. Through analysis of colonial correspondence, pamphlets, and newspapers, this dissertation shows how Northern colonists became increasingly convinced that metropolitan policymakers were prioritizing Caribbean planters' vision of empire and devaluing Northern potential. In the critical decade of the 1760s, this perception came to powerfully shape their interpretations of newfound imperial oversight in America. Recognizing a long history of inter-colonial conflict, therefore, reveals the central role of the Caribbean in forging Northern colonists' revolutionary beliefs about their future within the British Empire.

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