1679–1860: Montserrat developed a robust sugar-producing sector that was entirely dependent on sustained slave arrivals between 1689 and 1730, primarily mana…

1679–1860: Montserrat developed a robust sugar-producing sector that was entirely dependent on sustained slave arrivals between 1689 and 1730, primarily managed by merchants from London and Bristol. Interestingly, many of the primary slaveholders on the island during this era were descendants of Irish indentured servants who had arrived in the seventeenth century. Other northern islands such as St. Lucia, Tortola, and the Bahamas exhibited a less systematic pattern of arrivals that were often concentrated during periods of war. These smaller territories relied heavily on Liverpool ships, with captives frequently originating from the Bight of Biafra or West Central Africa.