44 ChapTEr 2 | Colonial north aMeriCa | period two 1 6 07–175 4Document 2.12 RiChaRd liGon, Map of Barbados
1657Richard Ligon (1585–1662) made this map of the British colony of Barbados to portray
the economic and social conditions on this Caribbean island for his British readers. Most
of the writing on the map (particularly the small labels along the coastline) delineates
individual plantation holdings by British sugar planters. Near the center of the island are
these words: “The ten thousand acres of land which belong to the merchants of London.”Slavery in the British Colonies
toPIc III
Courtesy of the John Carter Brownlibrary at Brown University.praCTICINg historical Thinking
Identify: List five types of details that the mapmaker has illustrated on the map.
Analyze: Based on these images of people, what can we infer about the social
hierarchy of Barbados? What images allow you to make these inferences?
Evaluate: Based on details that the mapmaker has chosen to illuminate, what are
the interests and concerns of the British colonists on Barbados?03_STA_2012_ch2_027-056.indd 44 11/03/15 12:38 PM