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Abstract
This dissertation presents a demographic analysis of the slave population of Trinidad in the period 1807-1815. The data come from the Trinidad Slave Registration of 1813, and the registration update 1.75 years later. This data is supplemented by plantation level information: crop, owner's nationality, and location. The analytic methods employed include model life tables, stable population theory, indirect estimation of fertility, and logistic regression analysis.
The first chapter surveys the history of Trinidad from 1498 to 1813 with an emphasis on the role of slavery in the political and economic development of Trinidad. The second chapter analyses the age and sex composition of the entire population and of the African and Creole subpopulations; slave household structure and the nature of slave agriculture are also examined. The Trinidadian slave population is compared with New World slave populations on the basis of the comparison is based upon estimates of the population crude birth, death and growth rates, the expectation of life at birth, and the total fertility rate. The third and fourth chapters focus upon the influence of an individual slave's personal characteristics and environment on his probability of surviving the 1.75 year inter-registration period. In the fifth chapter, an attempt is made to estimate the level and age pattern of fertility among the slaves; the mean birth interval is also estimated. The five technical appendices detail the estimation procedures used in the analysis.
The estimated expectation of life at birth was 16 years for male slaves and 19 years for female slaves. Estimated crude birth and death rates are higher than previously estimated: underreported births and deaths have been systematically compensated for. The estimated total fertility rate for all women appears extremely low (4.2); however, the estimate may be biased by the inclusion of women brought into Trinidad in 1813 with few or no children. The total fertility rate for women with at least one surviving child does not indicate low fertility (9.0). The estimated mean birth interval is 32 months, corresponding to a mean duration of breastfeeding of 21 months.
