“Jamaican law created a bifurcated system that divided the numerous castes into four classes: whites, who alone had access to English common law and it’s most sacred plank, trial by jury; free people of color having privileges granted by private acts; free people of color not possessing such privilieges; and slaves.
These castes dictated every aspect of life on Jamaica from things like the jobs you can get, the property you can own, to the inheritance you can give or receive. White men of English descent often own the biggest plantations and dominated the Council, Assembly, and militia leaderships. However, there was also a class of non English whites who arr slightly less privileged than English whites. These people included the Jews, Irish, and Scots. The Jews often found themselves the victims of tax attempts from the Aasembly. The Irish were considered the “poor whites” since they mostly came to the island as indentured servants. There were two classes within the free blacks: the mulattos and the Maroons, Africans who had escaped slavery brought by the Spanish. The mulattos were artisans, craftspeople, hucksters, and occasionally servants. Some were descendants of planters and became slave owners themselves. These people were deprived of any civil or political rights. The Maroons on the other hand, were classified by those who lived in clans and were hunter warriors, the Western Leeward Maroons, and the eastern Windward Maroons who followed a less rigidly structured leadership, and women had more political and ritual roles. Finally, there were the enslaved Africans. These people worked on plantations and in towns in many different occupations. They were deprived of almost all person liberties and properties and were considered chattel. This social hierarchy existed to enforce the roles each division could play, and reign white supremacy over people of color.
