Enslaved Pearl Divers in the Sixteenth Century Caribbean

Abstract

Over the course of the sixteenth century, a unique and fluid labour regime, based at first upon Indian labour and later upon African labour, developed in the Spanish-controlled Caribbean pearl fisheries. As pearl profits decreased, the complexity of life and labour in the fisheries increased. By the end of the century, African, Indian, and European inhabitants engaged in constant negotiation over the control and management of pearls as well as the social boundaries of the Caribbean communities built around the pursuit of this commodity.