1786: Governor Parry of Barbados reported a significant increase in the number of enslaved people employed in navigating trading vessels.

1786: Governor Parry of Barbados reported a significant increase in the number of enslaved people employed in navigating trading vessels. He expressed concern to the British Legislature that this trend was throwing many English seamen out of employment. This demographic shift highlighted the essential role that black mariners played in the vital work of coastal commerce. Similar observations in Havana noted that free Negroes often served as commission merchants superintending ship loadings. The expansion of this class of skilled seaborne workers challenged the rigid racial hierarchies of the plantation system.