1801: A British traveler visiting the busy port of Kingston remarked on the “pernicious passion” for acquiring wealth without adequate exertion among its res…

1801: A British traveler visiting the busy port of Kingston remarked on the “pernicious passion” for acquiring wealth without adequate exertion among its residents. The observer noted a high proportion of “gamblers, swindlers, thieves, beggars, mountebanks and pedlars” throughout the city’s trade depots. This diverse and mobile panorama stood in stark contrast to the ordered and regimented life of the country plantations. To colonial authorities, the anonymity and masterless tenor of urban life represented a constant danger of sedition.