Acts of Assembly, Passed in the Charibbee Leeward Islands from 1690 to 1730.

<<First Acts relating to Jews in the New World.>> The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. The Leeward Islands became a British colony in 1671 and an important trading outpost of the British Empire. This volume is the first collected printing of British Laws for the Leeward Islands and a primary source on the administration of justice in the West Indies in the 18th century. After consolidating their power over most of the Leeward Islands the British set about instituting a uniform code of laws. Most of the laws were passed on and pertain to Antigua, the largest island in the group and the British colonial headquarters in the Leeward Islands. A handful of acts refer particularly to the island of Nevis. Many of the laws date to as far back as the 1670’s, including the establishment of a legal system, rules governing servants and laborers, weights and measures, agriculture, trade, and the local militia. Several acts address the issues of slavery. Of particular interest is an act against Jewish trade passed by the Leeward Island Council and Assembly on August 31st 1694 (p. 4), which is now, December 10th, 1701, “abrogated and repealed” (pp. 12-13.) The original law came about because the Jews were trading with black slaves on the Christian Sabbath - but more likely was due to resentment over the commercial success of Jewish merchants. Its repeal here came about because of the increasingly important role the Jews played in sugar planting and and their value to trading and economic life on the island of Nevis as a whole. See M. Arbell, The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean (2002) pp. 218-21; N. Zacek, Settler Society in the English Leeward Islands, 1670-1776 (2010) pp. 140-43.