Conversion, Power, and Agency: Anglican Missiology in Jamaica, 1825 to 1860

This thesis will explore historical Anglican missiology in Jamaica from 1825 to 1860. I use the term historical Anglican missiology to mean the process of planting the Church of England in British North America and the British West Indies from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, with the objective to "Christianise and civilize" non-Europeans. This process of planting the Church of England (CofE), happened in two broad phases. The first phase was from the seventeenth century, when England entered the fray of European colonial expeditions of capturing territories in the Americas. As the British moved into North America and the Caribbean, the CofE was planted in the territories they claimed. The second phase began after the American Revolution in the late eighteenth century, with the establishment of Anglican dioceses in the colonies. This thesis focuses on the Anglican missiological work in the Diocese of Jamaica, exploring the concepts of conversion, power, and agency in the missionary pursuits. The intersectionality of these theoretical perspectives will be explored by assessing the implications of encounters between the missiological pursuits of the Church of England in Jamaica and black and coloured people who lived on the colony.