The construction of race and gender in Jamaica during the 1800s was key to its success and prosperity as an English colony. Jamaica’s population consisted of many different groups including Irish, English, Enslaved Africans and Maroons. The Irish were slaves that had been kidnapped from Ireland and were forced to be servants and work in the fields along with the enslaved Africans. Enslaved Africans were acquired through the Atlantic Slave trade and Maroons were slaves who had been freed or had escaped and were living in prominent societies. The people of Jamaica lived under a hierarchy which had pure blood whites at the top while slaves and servants were at the bottom.
Many people believe that the slave force was made up of mostly men but women made up an equal and at times larger part of the slave population. Even though men were more commonly traded along the Atlantic Slave trade, women lived longer than men and were more immune to diseases. Slave owners in Jamaica were still willing to pay a higher price for men and were reluctant to buy woman even though it would seem to benefit them because a woman could bear children who would join the slave trade. This can be due to the fact that the slave owners felt it was an unnecessary burden to give women time to raise these children and they realized that it would be cheaper for them to buy a new adult male slave would be able to work right away rather than raise a child for many years hoping they would be able to help in the work fields.
Creole woman in Jamaica were seen as second class citizens who had little socioeconomic status but to European men and women Jamaica was a land of opportunity. Opportunities for European women included many different jobs including in taverns, opening breweries and being nurses. In 1748, Anna Hassalls had to take over her husbands business after he died. Her gender did not prevent her from taking action as she thrived in her global marketplace as she expanded outside of Europe and Jamaica (Pursuing her Profits). This is a prime display of how a European women’s gender did not stop her from succeeding in the 1700’s. There is an example of an opportunity for European women in the novel “Wide Sargasso Sea” when Rochester moves to Jamaica and marries Antoinette. It can be argued that the only reason Rochester had married Antoinette was to acquire the economic wealth that belonged to Antoinette. Being the second son of a wealthy man ,Rochester would not receive much of his father’s wealth. For Rochester marrying, Antoinette helped him gain his father’s respect along with money and power. Wide Sargasso Sea is a powerful book that helps us understand what Jamaica was like as a colony.