Genealogy Plus! Jamaica ltd.
Plantocracy in Jamaica
The Mimbo Wampo Series
During the 17th - 19th Century , it was very common place for 'white' men in Jamaica to have a 'negress' , as they were called at the time , as his mistress. Though the modern interpretation of these relationships almost always suggest that they were relationships of cohesion and rape. The truth is far more complexed. As with all human relationships there is never the proverbial black and white line , there were many shades of grey as well. Love , social mobility ,social advantage, and sex for financial gain or favour, was infact as equally prevalent as coercion and rape. As can be seen in this segment taken from a 19th Century Jamaican Cartoon strip.
Obeah or Witchcraft was practiced by all facets of Jamaican society in the 17th to 19th century , and to a major extent it is still practiced today by a wide cross section of persons , however visits to the obeah man or obi man were usually associated mostly with the art of acquiring a loved ones affections , love potions and love knotting spells were most common. But what is less known is that some White men were so enamored by the occasional 'Negress', that he too could be seen frequenting the dusty thatch huts of the 'Obi' man looking to gain her affections, through spells and potions , in Jamaican parlance ,' to tie her or him to you' usually forever, or so it was believed, was the order of the day .
Johnny Newcome, like so many white planters of his time, had a harem of ladies, a mix of enslaved women and free mixed race women, ranging according to the particular man's tastes from girls as young as twelve years old to as old as he wished. Jamaica's sexual consent laws were only changed in the late 20th century, from 12 years old to 16 years old. These women and young girls were often provided for variously, from the lofty status as Mistress of the Great House , if indeed there was no official wife present, to the well maintained enslaved girl who was allowed a small or large hut of her own on the estate, or the well looked after mixed race lady , with her beautifully constructed town cottage, however most only received minor financial assistance and a modicum of gift giving to appease the ladies heart. Such were the pleasures of Jamaica in the 17th -19th centuries, for a man of means or should I dare say just a man, for even the Overseer, Estate Carpenter, mason, or whatever trade to the lowly Book keeper could have his fair share of ladies. As long as his pocket could oblige.
To be continued
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