By Eleanor Shearer, The GuardianFriday, December 12, 2025 READ FULL ARTICLE Luxury tourism in the Caribbean sells a kind of timelessness. A paradise of sun, sea and sand. But to step off the cruise ship or away from the all-inclusive resort is to see a more complex picture: a history of colonialism and a future … Continue reading In the news | ‘Rebranded plantations’: how empire shaped luxury Caribbean tourism
Jesup Library Event | Eden’s Other Sons: MDI Seafarers, Shipbuilders, and the Slavery-Based Economies of the West Indies Trade with Anna Durand on 8/8/24
Mount Desert Island’s shipbuilders, sea captains, and sailors hold a special place in our collective memory. Hardworking and self-reliant, these men (and occasionally their wives) created a living from the sea. But historical records also show that trading Maine-made products like salt cod and barrel staves for rum, sugar, and molasses brought MDI seafarers into economic partnership with the slave-holding plantations of the West Indies.
Maine Historical Society Event | Maine and the West Indies Trade with Seth Goldstein on 2/22/24
Hosted by the Maine Historical Society Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 7:00 pm ET Register here Seth Goldstein researches the economic ties between Maine and the luxury-producing plantations of the West Indies. In this talk, Goldstein will explore the various commodities, such as lumber, draft animals, and salt cod, that Maine supplied to West Indian … Continue reading Maine Historical Society Event | Maine and the West Indies Trade with Seth Goldstein on 2/22/24
Mainers in the Sugar Trade
Cipperly Good describes an 1837 trading voyage that took a 24-year-old Maine captain from West Prospect, Maine to Barbados, Trinidad, and St. Thomas, with stops at Puerto Rico and New York City.
Event | Portland’s Complicity in the Economics of Atlantic World African Enslavement on 1/29/22
Hosted by Spirits Alive Saturday, January 29 at 1:30 pm ET Register here Historian Seth Goldstein will discuss Portland’s complex relationship with Atlantic world African enslavement. Through a deep dive into what was known as “The West Indies Trade,” Seth will explain how various commodities like lumber and salt cod from Maine were shipped to … Continue reading Event | Portland’s Complicity in the Economics of Atlantic World African Enslavement on 1/29/22