Edward Long

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For the US Senator from Missouri, see Edward V. Long; for the Maryland Congressman, see Edward Henry Carroll Long.

Edward Long was a British colonial administrator and historian, and author of an influential History of Jamaica (1774).

[edit] Life

Long's family had been long associated with Jamaica - his great-grandfather, Samuel Long, had arrived on the island in 1655 as a lieutenant in the English army of conquest - and the Long family established itself as part of the island's governing planter elite.^[1] His sister, Catherine Maria Long, had married Sir Henry Moore, 1st Baronet (Governor of Jamaica). It is believed that Edward went to Jamaica to become private secretary to Sir Henry.

Long was born on August 23rd, 1734 at St. Blazey, in Cornwall. He became a law student, going to Gray's Inn in 1752. Long was a resident of Jamaica from 1757 to 1769. He was a lawyer when he explored inside the Riverhead Cave, the Runaway Bay Caves and the Green Grotto. He explored these caves out of curiosity. ^[2]He became Lieutenant-governor, and later a judge in the local vice admiralty court. He was an influential and wealthy member of British society as well as an established Jamaican planter and slaver. In 1758, he married Mary, the daughter of Thomas Beckford. She was the widow of John Palmer of ‘Springvale’ in Jamaica. He returned to England in 1769 due to poor health.^[3] He died in 1813 at Arundel Park, Sussex, England, the seat of his son-in-law, H. Moyneux, Esq., M.P.

[edit] History of Jamaica

Long's History of Jamaica, first published in 1774 in three volumes but again in the 1970s^[4], was his greatest work. This book gives a political, social, and economic history with a survey of the island, parish by parish from 1665 to 1774. ^[5] It is a classic in its field and, even today it contains what is still one of the best and most complete accounts of colonial government in existence. The work is also important, because it presents a clear picture of conditions in the island on the eve of the American revolution which was destined to bring ruin to so many planters and slavers.^[6]

The book also contains an influential description of American Negro slaves during the Age of Enlightenment. Long's description of race discussed it as a more natural state compared to the Romantic period. ^[7]Long argues that American Negroes are characterised by the same “bestial manners, stupidity and vices which debase their brethren” in Africa. This race of people is distinguishable from the rest of mankind in that they embody “every species of inherent turpitude” and imperfection that can be found dispersed among all other races of men. Unlike the most “abandoned villain” to be found in civilisation, these peoples have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He echoes Hume and Kant and finds it astonishing that despite being subject to colonisation and integration into European society for hundreds of years, the Negroes have failed to demonstrate any appreciation for the arts or any inventive ability. He observes that throughout the entirety of Africa, there are few natives who “comprehend anything of mechanic arts or manufacture”, and those who do perform their work in the manner of some under-evolved ape. This is due to them being "void of genius".^[8] The book also contains descriptions of interracial marriage.^[9] In the book he included an anti-slavery poem by Francis Wiliams.^[10]

This map shows the racial classification scheme of the anthropologist Edward Long in his book History of Jamaica (1774).

European race Negro race Orang-utang race

[edit] References

1. ^ leMercier duQuesnay, Frederick. The Longs of "Longsville". 1964. August 25, 2006. <http://jamaicanfamilysearch.com/Samples/fred02.htm>.
2. ^ Jamaican Caves. The Underground World of Jamaican Caves - Part II (Guidance Part VI) 2003. August 25, 2006. <http://www.jamaicancaves.org/article_2.htm>.
3. ^ McGill Queen's University Press. The History of Jamaica. 2006. August 25, 2006. <http://www.mqup.mcgill.ca/book.php?bookid=1578>.
4. ^ Open2.net. History. 2006. August 25, 2006. <http://www.open2.net/historyandthearts/history/books_weblinks.html>.
5. ^ McGill Queen's University Press. The History of Jamaica. 2006. August 25, 2006. <http://www.mqup.mcgill.ca/book.php?bookid=1578>.
6. ^ The Fall of the Planter Class in the British Caribbean, 1763-1833 by Lowell Joseph Ragatz.
7. ^ Kitson, P.J. and Lee, D. Institute of Historical Research. Slavery, Abolition and Emancipation: Writings in the British Romantic period (Eight vols.). 1999. August 25, 2006. <http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/paper/johnmar.html>.
8. ^ Edward Long, The History of Jamaica (London: T. Lownudes, 1774), 2 vols., 2. 476;
9. ^ The History Cooperative. The William and Mary Quarterly. 2003. August 25, 2006. <http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/wm/59.3/br_9.html>.
10. ^ Parker, John. Society for the History of Discoveries. 2004. August 25, 2006. <http://www.sochistdisc.org/2002_book_reviews/krise.htm>.