Tobago’s economic challenges during the French occupation

Dr Rita Pemberton

THE DISLOCATION caused by the French capture of Tobago in 1781, negatively affected plantation operations on the island. During the attack some estates were completely destroyed while others were partially destroyed and required financial support for the necessary repairs to make them fully operational. In addition, there were uncertainties about the operation of the French administration and the relationship with their creditors in England.

While many British planters sought to save their properties by swearing allegiance to the French king, those who refused to take the oath lost their properties to new French owners. There was no smooth transfer of plantation operations, and the island could not immediately provide France with the expected economic returns.

The impact of the French Revolution on Tobago also took its toll on the island’s treasury, its defence system and plantation operations. Mutinous revolutionary activity, especially the fire which burnt Port Louis (Scarborough) and food stores and left only one barrel of flour, was costly. This left the French administration seeking donations to provide relief to those who were affected.

Military disturbances which spread from Martinique to Tobago led to a reduction of the French troops with 22 men deserting and going to Martinique. Another group of mutineers (four corporals and 69 soldiers) marched across the island to Courland Bay with beating drums and flying flags. They then boarded two ships in the harbour and sailed for Martinique.

Such a tense situation was created on the island that the Assembly, which was forced to shift its meetings from Port Louis to Lambeau, expressed concern that its weakened defences could stimulate resistance of the enslaved population. Under these conditions, the conduct of normal plantation operations was extremely difficult.

Eager to exploit Tobago’s agricultural resources, the French administration took annual economic surveys of the island regarding population size and composition, number of operating estates and production levels. It was noted that the figures recorded a decline in production which the administration sought to arrest.

The French planned to stimulate an increase in the French population on the island and raise revenue at the same time by developing Plymouth into a large town by the sale house lots. In addition, in 1789, Roume de St Laurent, ordonnateur, complained that the island’s commerce was “shrinking in quantity” every year. He pressed the French authorities to implement his proposal to boost the island’s commerce by establishing a free port in Tobago to open it up for trade with Trinidad. Neither of these plans materialised.

The French administration paid close attention to trade and finance, and taxation was a major problem during the course of French rule. Their taxes were higher than the British planters were accustomed to and in addition they had to pay their mortgages to the Brutish creditors. Because of the unsatisfactory condition of the island’s agriculture and commerce in 1789, planters received a reduction in the tax owed to France. However, two years later the finance issue became the source of a major controversy on the island.

It was claimed that the English capitalists were extorting a greater amount of interest from the colonists in Tobago than was allowed under the laws of Great Britain, which in 1712 and 1713 was fixed at five per cent, and that by various schemes the rate was raised by the capitalists to over ten per cent. The French king sought to revise all transactions, and by edict a committee called the Cours de Commission was established on July 29, 1789. Its members included the governor, the ordonnateur, three commissioners and the king’s attorney.

In 1791 the concerns of the English settlers moved to an all-time high. Creditors of the colonists in Tobago sent a memo to the Committee of Commerce and Colonies of the National Assembly, complaining against the edict of the Royal Council of State dated July 29, 1786, which created a Cours de Commission in Tobago.

The commission sat in Tobago and handled over 200 cases and decided to confiscate sums amounting to more than £500,000 sterling based on their argument that the creditors had exacted an interest higher than that allowed by English law. The commission decreed that all those who held contracts with people from Europe must submit copies of such contracts within eight months, and that failure to do so would incur a charge of 10,000 livres.

The creditors denied the charges against them and argued that this edict deprived them of the protection guaranteed by the terms of the capitulation and the subsequent treaty. They stated that the law was unjust and illegal, and they asked that the committee and its decisions be declared null and void.

St Laurent repudiated the claim of the creditors, which led to conflict with them. St Laurent then wrote a long memo to the National Assembly in France supporting the commission and justifying its actions. The Tobago Assembly, led by Messrs Todd and Francklyn, also condemned the Cours de Commission and registered their objections in a petition to the members of the National Assembly. St Laurent refuted their claims, and the petition was not entertained.

In August 1791, there were complaints that Tobago planters had not paid their dues to the French king for 18 months and as a result the treasury was short of funds so that the salaries of officials could not be paid. Officials were provided with bills which were drawn on the Treasury in France and which were discounted by merchants in Tobago at rates which varied from three to ten per cent.

In 1792, discord intensified in Tobago and the French administration found itself in a dire situation. In its bid to hold on to its possession, a French general, who was given wide powers to act as was deemed necessary, was sent to the island, but amid the confusion, on April 14, 1793 a strong British force landed on the island. The surprised French troops were no match for the British.

The French were unable to mount an effective opposition to the British because their planned strategy to unify their two units failed when the African guide of one unit ran away, leaving them in the lurch. The divided French force was easily overwhelmed by the British and the French commander was forced to surrender. Tobago was reclaimed as a British possession in 1793.

The French capture of Tobago did not bring economic rewards to France. For the entire period of French possession, the administration was unable to establish conditions which were conducive to the maintenance of normal plantation operations. Ironically, this occurred when market conditions were most favourable for the sugar industry. The island’s economy was therefore unable to sustain the cost of a defence system that was required to curb the expected British retaliation, deal with internal tensions between the French and British settlers, control the French revolutionaries on the island and their supporters in Martinique, as well as prevent the much-feared reaction of the enslaved population.

The French occupation of Tobago may have provided the French monarch with a short-lived boost of ego, having deprived the British of possession of the island, but it was a costly exercise to France, Britain, the plantation owners and their creditors, and the enslaved Africans who were caught in the melee.