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Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876

From the American Antiquarian Society

A comprehensive primary resource for studying this important group of islands
Summary
Learn what makes this product unique
  • The largest collection of fully searchable 18th- and 19th-century Caribbean newspapers
  • The evolution of the region across two centuries chronicled within more than 140 titles from 22 islands
  • Essential for research on colonial history, the Atlantic slave trade, international commerce, New World slavery and related topics

Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876—the largest online collection of 18th- and 19th-century newspapers published in this region—will provide a comprehensive primary resource for studying the development of Western society and international relations within this important group of islands. This unique resource is essential for researching colonial history, the Atlantic slave trade, international commerce, New World slavery and U.S. relations with the region as far back as the early 18th century. 

Created in cooperation with the American Antiquarian Society—one of the world's largest and most important newspaper repositories—this collection  provides students and scholars with easy access to more than 150 years of Caribbean and Atlantic history, cultures and daily life. Featuring more than 140 newspapers from 22 islands, this resource chronicles the region’s evolution across two centuries through eyewitness reporting, editorials, legislative information, letters, poetry, advertisements, obituaries and other news items.

Most of these newspapers were published in the English language, but a number of Spanish-, French-, and Danish-language titles are also provided.  Countries represented include Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadaloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Bartholomew, St. Christopher, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Tobago, Trinidad, and the Virgin Islands. Also found within this resource are newspapers from Bermuda, an island not technically part of the Caribbean, but situated on shipping routes between Europe and this region and integrally related to this region.

New research and teaching opportunities 
This fully searchable collection of Caribbean newspapers opens a new world of research materials for scholars and students in departments such as history, international relations, regional studies and African American studies, in particular the African Diaspora. Caribbean Newspapers is fully integrated into America’s Historical Newspapers and the World Newspaper Archive for seamless searching with Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922; Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980; and Latin American Newspapers, 1805-1922.

About the American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) is both a learned society and a major independent research library. The AAS library houses the largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, sheet music and graphic arts material printed from the colonial period through 1876 in what is now the United States, Canada and the West Indies. The Society’s holdings of American printed materials dating from 1821 through 1876 are among the most comprehensive in existence.

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“…astoundingly important…”
“...reveal[s] the local color and spirit of the times of a region as fascinating as it is historically elusive.”
Deborah Jenson, Haiti Lab, Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University
Areas of Study
This product supports the following subjects
African American Studies
Caribbean Studies
World History
Title List
Reviews & Accolades

“This recently launched Readex collection brings together the digital representations of more than 140 newspapers from 22 islands in the Caribbean. Most newspapers included in this resource are in English; French, Spanish, and Dutch publications make up a smaller portion of the database. Images of the newspapers are of high quality, allowing researchers a highly satisfactory experience interacting with the text, much as it must have appeared over 200 years ago. This rich collection also allows students with an instinct for discovery to replicate the experience of combing through diverse types of primary-source materials, including advertisements of slave sales, shipping news, editorials, poetry, or public notices of local governments.”
 J. H. Pollitz, Southern Illinois University, in Choice (Dec. 2017)

"With more than 140 Spanish, French, Danish, and British titles, all available for the first time in a fully searchable database, Caribbean Newspapers promises to transform scholarship on the eighteenth and nineteenth-century West Indies.  It’s going to be a real game changer."
— Eliga Gould, Chair of the History Department and Professor of History, University of New Hampshire

"Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876: From the American Antiquarian Society is an astoundingly important new source for scholars of the Caribbean and familial genealogical searchers alike. For the first time, big data meets the intellectual and cultural history of the Caribbean. The multiplicity of islands in the Caribbean, with their diverse languages and colonial and postcolonial histories, have always presented a documentary challenge. But now, a scholar interested in the emergence of postcolonial medical systems in the Caribbean, or in ads for fugitive slaves in the colonial period, or nearly any other aspect of 18th and 19th-century Caribbean life, will be able to carry out this research without archive-hopping around the world. Families seeking news stories about relatives in the early period of the emancipation of the African diaspora will be able to mine this data for precious traces. From Antigua to Haiti, and Jamaica to Barbados, Caribbean Newspapers promises to reveal the local color and spirit of the times of a region as fascinating as it is historically elusive."
— Deborah Jenson, Haiti Lab, Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University

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