The Diverted Dream: Community Colleges and the Promise of Educational Opportunity in America, 1900-1985 (Book Review)

Abstract

the government made an attempt to promote a small farm sector. But, as Satchell writes, "the success of this scheme, however, was extremely limited since by this period the government had granted, leased and sold the best portions of the Crown land it had held in its possession" (p. 2). Broadly, Satchell's results are consistent with the plantation school's argument that it was public policy that was primarily responsible for the survival and reconstruction of the plantation economy long after emancipation. The sale of private land produced a far less concentrated pattern than the sale of public lands, clearly suggesting that it was official concern to support the plantation sector which was responsible for its longevity. The data provided by Satchell thus point to the conclusion that it was British colonial policy more than the outcome of the market in land which produced the immense ownership concentration characterizing Jamaican agriculture.