An Inspector Calls: John Johnson's Reports on Slavery

John Johnson acted as special visiting attorney for absentee planter James Adam Gordon between 1824 and 1825. In addition to his detailed reports on Gordon's estates in Antigua and St Vincent, Johnson's private journals and correspondence have survived. Through detailed analysis of these records and related source material, it is possible to assess the impact of amelioration policies and review the practical operation of plantation management systems at the beginning of slavery's final decade in the British West Indies. The failure of Johnson's mission indicates that absentee owners were obliged to accept regulatory limitations, including restrictions on the use of independent inspection, at a time when the plantation system faced serious problems.