TH E S U G A R

R EV O LU TIO N

SUGAR
By the 16th Century sugar was
fast becoming a necessity in
Europe.
Sugar was needed for a variety
of different things from distilling
and brewing to the making of
cakes and biscuits.

Origins of Sugar
The type of sugar cane which Columbus

introduced to the West Indies in 1493 originated in

India in about 3000 BC

It came to Europe by way of Arabia and was

known to the Spaniards in the eight century AD

The sugar taken to Hispaniola in 1493 came

directly from Cyprus to the Canary Island in 1491

and from the Canary Island to Hispaniola

Some Canary islanders were also transported to

help in cultivation

Change from Tobacco to Sugar

During the early years of settlement tobacco

was the primary crop. Several factors

accounted for the changeover from tobacco to
sugar cane cultivation:
1. West Indian Tobacco could not compete
neither in quantity nor in quality with that of
the American colony of Virginia.
2. Like tobacco, sugar-cane was a tropical
product and the growing of product was
conducive to the climate.
3. The production of sugar also presented no
real transportation problems as sugar was
not too bulky to be transported on the small

Change from Tobacco to Sugar

4.The introduction of tea and coffee to Europe
resulted in a greater demand for
commodities to sweeten these products.
5.The English colonists readily accepted sugar
as an alternative crop due to the efforts of
the Dutch. The Dutch were expelled from
Brazil by the Portuguese which led to
tremendous economic losses. In order to
regain these losses the Dutch not only
supplied the English with the know how to
produce sugar but they also supplied slaves
to work on the plantations as well.

Consequences ofthe Sugar Revolution

Sugar profoundly changed the economic
conditions, social structure and political
organization of the islands.
Previously tobacco was produced on
relatively small plots. These plots were
much to small to cultivate sugar. Hence
small estates adjacent to larger ones were
acquired.
As sugar became more profitable and the
demand for land increased so did the
price of land.

Consequences ofthe Sugar Revolution

The change to sugar also affected the

racial composition of the colonies.

Many of the whites who worked on the
tobacco plantations found new work as
inn keepers, clerks etc.
Others returned to Europe or migrated
to the United States .
Many of the European bondservants
who worked on the plantations also left.

Consequences ofthe Sugar Revolution

Sugar cultivation required a large

disciplined workforce. The

importation of negroes from Africa
began.
In 1640 in Barbados their was
approximately a few hundred slaves,
by 1645 their was over 6,000 and
1685 their were over 45,000.
In contrast the white population
decreased from 40,000 in 1645 to

Consequences ofthe Sugar Revolution

The cultivation of sugar also increased the

wealth to be obtained from the West Indies.

This led to a change in in the system of
governing the West Indies. The islands had
previously been neglected by the British.
However their recent profitability caused the
British to bring their islands in the West Indies
under closer control.
The increasing wealth of the West Indian
colonies also caused the other European
nations to attempt to wrestle the colonies
away from one another.

Scenarios
Ted Smart is a Tobacco producer in the

American colony of Virginia. He produces

large amounts of tobacco that is of a very
high quality.
Steven Wilson is a tobacco producer in the

island of Barbados. He to produces tobacco

however he doesnt produce as much
tobacco as Ted Smart, and the quality of
his tobacco is not of a high quality.

Scenarios
If you had the choice of buying

tobacco from either Ted or Steven

who would you buy tobacco from?
Do you think that Steven Wilson will
continue to produce tobacco?

Scenarios
Steven Wilson hears about a product

that everyone in Europe is using to

sweeten their tea and to bake. The
product is called sugar. Columbus
brought Sugar to the New World on
one of his voyages from the Canary
islands.
What would you do if you were in
Stevens position?

Scenarios
In order to produce sugar the Dutch

merchants tell Steven that he will

need large amounts of land and a
large labour force. When Steven was
producing tobacco he had a
relatively small labour force made up
of first Amerindians and then
European bondservants. He also
used a small piece of land to produce
tobacco.

Scenarios
Stevens neighbor Scott also plants tobacco

but he decides that instead of producing sugar

he will move back to Europe. Steven decides
that he will produce sugar. In order to do so he
decides to buy Scotts tobacco plantation.
Other tobacco producers in Barbados decide
to follow Stevens lead and they begin to look
to acquire more land to produce sugar.
What do you think will happen to the price of

land in Barbados?

Scenarios
Now that Steven has acquired more land he

now needs to acquire labour to work on the

sugar plantation. The Dutch merchants
advise Steven to use the Africans as a form
of labour. The Dutch merchants tell Steven
that he will need about 150 Africans to work
on his plantation. Steven agrees to this plan
and many of the other tobacco planter who
have decided to plant sugar follow his lead.
What will happen to the population of the
West Indian colonies?

Scenarios
Steven and his fellow sugar planters have now

begun to successfully produce sugar. Due to

the fact that there is a large amount of people
who wish to buy sugar Steven and his fellow
sugar planters make huge profits. The British
government who had previously neglected the
West Indian colonies, now decide to pay more
attention to them as the colonies are now
making immense profits.
The British government implement a system of
government that allows them to have more
control of the West Indian colonies.

Exercise
Based on the scenarios that you have just

heard about answer the following questions:

Identify two reasons why the West Indian
planters change from producing tobacco to
sugar?
Examine the changes that took place in the
West Indian colonies due to the change from
tobacco to sugar.
Which of the changes that took place fall
under the following headings:
Social, Economic and Political.

Sugar Revolution
Sugar Revolution should only be applied to the
change from tobacco to sugar cultivation which
took place:
In the mid to late seventeenth century
In the eastern Caribbean islands belonging to
the English and French
Where the monoculture of sugar became the
rule
Where the social changes were equally
revolutionary, e.g. small holdings were
swallowed by large estates; indentured
servants were dispossessed; black slaves

Sugar Revolution
There was no Sugar Revolution in the Greater

Antilles because:
Sugar cultivation and production developed
slowly
Sugar was never cultivated to the exclusion
of other farming
White urban and rural population always
remained a large population of the total
population
Cuba was so large that for two hundred years
the Spanish hardly needed another source of
sugar

Reasons for The Sugar

Revolution

West Indian tobacco prices fell when tobacco from Virginia, in

greater quantity and of better quality, began to be sold in
Europe

The Dutch who were loosing their colonies of Brazil between

1624 and 1654, helped the English and French colonies begin
sugar cultivation with capital, expertise, slaves and transport

Barbados changed from tobacco to sugar in the decade 1640

and 1650, the epitome of the sugar revolution

Concomitant changes were the increase in the size of land

holdings; fall in numbers of land owners; increase in land
prices; polarization of society into white planters and black
slaves; and a black to white ratio of at least 10:1

Other facts relating to The Sugar Revolution

The Leeward Islands experienced the sugar

revolution later than Barbados. It lasted longer

but was not so complete

Jamaica rapidly became a sugar island after

1670 but sugar was not replacing anything

St Domingue became the leading sugar

producer of the French islands but it was a

new colony

Martinique and Guadeloupe experienced

gradual revolutions over the period of 1670 to

1770, but these were incomplete as tobacco
growing and small holding remained

Cultivation of Sugar
Before sugar cane was cultivated the land had
Cane
to
be prepared

The ground had to be cleared of bush, shrubs

and grass and where necessary drainage and

irrigation canals dug
Because there were no ploughs tilling was done

by the slaves with heavy digging hoes

This process was called holing

Cultivation of Sugar
Cane
Holes were dug about 4 feet square
and from 6-9 inches deep
The hole was filled with manure, soil

and a cane cutting

In 12- 15 months the crop was ready

for reaping

Cultivation of Sugar
Cane
The reaping was usually done by
slaves using cutlasses and machetes
Cut canes were tied in bundles and
transported to factories in carts

Manufacturing of Sugar
At the factory the canes were passed

through mills consisting of rotating iron

rollers
The juice or liquid was extracted and
conveyed by gutters into receptacles
called siphons
The cane trash was collected, dried and
used as fuel under the various boilers
The siphons of juice were clarified by
heating, the impurities were skimmed
off and later used with molasses in the
distillation of rum

Manufacturing of Sugar
The liquor was transferred to a large

boiler where it was heated until it

became so thick that one drop would
stretch between ones fingers
The sticky substance was emptied
into a large shallow cooler where it
remained until it was almost cold
It remained in this position for 3 wks
during which the molasses dripped
out leaving behind sugar crystals

Labour force before African

slavery
The profits of the sugar planters depended

on having enough labor for the yearly

cycle of planting, hoeing, cutting, hauling,
crushing, boiling and packing
However it was becoming difficult to
recruit European labor on the most
desperate Europeans would leave home
for such plantation work
So the planters came to rely for their labor
on dishonest recruiters
The recruiters signed up simple youths
who had no idea where the sugar islands
were and what future to expect

Labor continued..
European suppliers often kidnapped

sailors and fishermen and hustled

them on board a ship bound for the
West Indies
Convicts and prisoners of war were
another means of acquiring labor
Convicts and prisoners did not meet
the growing demand of English and
French planters for more labor
therefore they turn to the Africans

THE END
Questions