Barbados 1661: From Sugar to Statute Behind Washington Black

Barbados did not simply grow sugar; in 1661, it wrote a code that turned individuals into residential or commercial property and affected slave law throughout the British Atlantic. That is the world Washington Black is born into. Our brand-new brief explainer presents the Barbados Slave Code and why historians call Barbados Britain's first slave society. The post links the legal structure to daily reality in mills, boiling homes, and markets, and touches the Halifax trade routes that linked islands to northern ports. It is a vigorous primer for readers who desire the history behind the fiction without wading through a book. See the brief, then use the connected sources and maps to go deeper, from law and labour to the durable lives that endured.



Begin with the short video, then dive into sources and maps.

rogues in paradise