Jamaica: A Socioeconomic Picture
 
Erin Dewan and Emily Stackhouse

Organizing Idea:  Jamaica's economic situation is poor.  Many people live in poverty and work as agricultural laborers.  The importation of slaves in the 1600s created a population that is primarily Afro-Carribean and Afro-European.  Their enslavement caused them to be confined them to the bottom of the social order.  They have lived lives surrounded in poverty, despite the abolishment of slavery in 1838.

(1) Jamaica's annual budget shows revenues of about $600 million; however, their expenditures are
    approximately $736 million.  The country is losing money each year, and the people become
    increasingly impoverished.
 

(2) Tourism is one of Jamaica's major sources of income and makes up about 40% of their foreign
    income.  Jamaica is known for its beautiful beaches and tropical climate.  Over one million people
    visit the island annually.
(3) Despite the jobs created by the tourist industry, the unemployment rate is approximately 16%.
     The majority of people live in poverty.  They don't have enough money to buy basic necessitates
    like food and medicine for their children.
(4) Another important area in the Jamaican economy is agriculture.  "More than 20 % of the total
    Jamaican labor force is engaged in agricultural production" (Encarta).  The chief crop is sugar
    cane.  They also produce bananas, citrus fruits, tobacco, coconuts, and coffee.
    (see link for more information: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/factbook/jm-e.htm)
 
 
 
(5) The history of Jamaica.  The agricultural aspect of Jamaican society caused the importation of
    slaves in the late 1600s.  Jamaica was under Spanish rule until May 10, 1655.  Under Spanish
    rule boat loads of slaves were brought from Africa.  They were used to grow and farm traditional
    crops such as cotton, tobacco, indigo, bananas, and citrus fruits.  However, with the English
    Conquest of 1655 the Spaniards "armed and freed their slaves, after terrifying them with stories
    about the "man-eating English."  The slaves they left behind were supposed to carry on guerilla
    warfare against the English invaders.... These freed slaves joined other runaway slaves in the
    mountains and became a semi-autonomous nation, the Maroons."  (Campbell, Russel G) Slavery
    was abolished in 1838 under English control.  "Labor shortages, bankrupt plantations, and
    declining trade resulted in a protracted economic crisis" (Encarta).  This resulted in "oppressive
    taxation, discriminatory acts by the courts, and land--exclusion measures ultimately caused
    widspread unrest among the blacks" (Encarta).

Connection to Omeros: Now, over one hundred years after their enslavement was ended they are
    still at the mercy of the white man.  They are still dependent on the white man for money.  They
    rely on the rich tourists to provide the income by buying their productions.  The only difference
    between the past and the present for them is a document saying that they can not be legally
    enslaved.  They are still financially and socially enslaved to the white man.

 

 
Works Cited

Campbell, Russell G.  "Jamaica, The Land We Love."  1997.
    http://home.netinc.ca/~campbell/japle.htm

"Carribean-On-Line."  http://www.carribean-on-line.com/welcome.html

"CIA Publications and Handbooks: Jamaica."
    http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/nsolo/factbook/jm.htm

"Colours of Jamaica."  March 9, 1997.  http://147.9.201.185/emile/index2.html

"Jamaica."  Microsoft Encarta 1997 encyclopedia.  1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.

"Light in the Darkness: A Photo Scrapbook of Hope and Need."
    http://www.foodforthepoor.com/photopg2.htm

"Meet the People."  http://www.jatoday.com.jm/ja_vacations.html

Tour Jamaica-Quick Facts.  Wyswyg://186/http://www.investjamaica.com/jp0110.html

Walcott, Derek.  Omeros.  New York:The Noonday Press, 1990.