1800: Lord Balcarres, the Governor of Jamaica, described the city of Kingston as a “Pandora’s Box” filled with every kind of vice found in commercial towns.

1800: Lord Balcarres, the Governor of Jamaica, described the city of Kingston as a “Pandora’s Box” filled with every kind of vice found in commercial towns. He highlighted the presence of “turbulent people of all nations” and an “abandoned class of Negroes” with a general leveling spirit. Balcarres feared that this masterless population was primed for insurrection and ready to leave the town in ashes. His report reflected the deep anxieties of the enslaving class regarding the subversive potential of the Caribbean’s growing urban centers.