'Passengers only:' The extent and significance of absenteeism in eighteenth century Jamaica

Contemporaries and modern historians see absenteeism as a defining feature of British colonisation in the West Indies. Moreover, they have imbued absenteeism with a host of negative meanings, suggesting that it was the principal reason why West Indian colonies did not develop into settler societies as in British North America. Looking at Jamaica, this article examines the extent of absenteeism in the mid-eighteenth century and concludes that it was not as considerable as it has been presented in the literature. In addition, it assesses the long-term significance of the phenomenon and questions whether absenteeism was especially socially and politically deleterious.