The Changes 

Some Caribbean colonies did not experience the 

change around the same time. The first island to undergo 
a sugar revolution was Barbados in 1640-50. “Barbados 
replaced Hispaniola as a premier sugar-producing colony 
of the Caribbean” (Williams p. 114). “Barbados blazed the 
trail for the other Caribbean territories in the 17th 
century.” (Williams p.114). Other islands joined the sugar 
revolution in the late 1700s. According to B. W Higman, 
the characteristics of the sugar revolution or changes it 
brought by where the following; “a shift from diversified 
agriculture to sugar monoculture, from production on 
small farms to large plantations, from free to slave 
labour, from sparse to dense settlement, from white to 
black populations, and from low to high value per capita 
output.” 
​ Economic
● One of the most recognized change during the
sugar revolution was the shift from diversified
agriculture to mono-culture. Planters gained
higher profits from sugar cultivation and
because of this, they decided to solely focus
on one crop (sugar) and neglected other crops.
In other words, the Caribbean was then based
on the concentration of one specific industry
which was the sugar industry. Sugar became
‘king’ or the major cash crop replacing tobacco
and in return planters received high profits. By
1650, sugar cane crops were worth 3 million
pounds in Barbados.
● The transformation from small to large-scale
farming units.” For sugar to be economically
profitable, it needed large estates so avg size
was 150 acres” (Richard Ligon p.18). In other
words, small farming crops were amalgamated
into large estates for the growing of sugar.
● Free labour to slavery since the size of the
land increased, there was a requirement for a
larger labour force. The first labourers to work
on the plantations were the whites from
Europe. They were mostly beggars, vagrants,
the poor, prisoners, prostitutes etc. They came
to the Caribbean on a 5-year contract which
meant that they were free labourers to an
extent. They were actually the backbone
labour force of the Caribbean tobacco
industry. However, when the sugar revolution
occurred in the mid 17th century, sugar
demanded a larger and stronger labour force
and the few whites were insufficient or
unsuitable for cultivation of sugar cane.
Therefore the British turned to West Africa
where they heavily relied on Africans who were
imported from West Africa to the Caribbean
(via the middle passage). Africans were known
to be the best buy for European planters
because they were cheaper and prone to
diseases and tropical weather. According to Dr
Eric Williams, “it was not the colour of the
labourer but the cheapness of the labourer.”
The Dutch firstly supplied planters with slaves
until the British got involved in the slave trade.
As a result of their involvement, the British
triangular trade was established. The triangular
trade consisted of 3 activities; manufactured
goods from Britain were transported by sea to
the West African coast and there the goods
 would be exchanged for slaves, then these
slaves were shipped to the Caribbean to work
on the plantation (this journey was known as
the middle passage) and lastly, the raw
materials were sent to the North American
colonies to be manufactured and then back to
Britain to be sold in retail.

Social

● Sparse to dense settlements.​ Before the

sugar revolution, the colonies were scanty with
only a few whites. However, after the
introduction of the sugar industry, planters
began to import thousands of slaves as a part
of the slave trade. The Royal African Company
( a British Slave Company) imported increasing
numbers of enslaved Africans each year. Due
to this, there was a huge influx of blacks
working on the plantation which changed the
society ratio; blacks outnumbered the whites,
4: 1.
● The formation of a new social structure​.
With the presence of blacks, and hegemony
was established where the blacks maintained a
position at the very bottom of what is referred
to a social pyramid. This gave the whites an
opportunity to gain power and control over the
enslaved Africans. The enslaved Africans were
categorized based on their skin colour and
occupation; the lighter their skin determined
their subcategory in the social order. They
were divided into two groups; praedial and
non- praedial slaves. Praedial slaves were field
slaves and had to work on the plantations
while the non-praedial slaves were domestic
slaves who worked in their Master’s mansion
as cooks, seamstresses, nurses, housekeeper,
nannies etc. The non-praedial slaves had a
better lifestyle than the field slaves because
they lived in proper housing/shelter and ate
leftover food from their master’s family. In
addition, they were more properly dressed as
opposed to field slaves; clothes from the elites
were passed on to them. Furthermore, the
enslaved were able to mobilize up the pyramid
due to their freedom status; some runaway
 slaves or those who possessed skills such as
craftsmen/ artisans and worked in the city.

Political

● As a result of the profit margin of the sugar

industry, Britain gained supremacy or in other
words a lot of power and influence in the New
World. At that time mother countries fought for
territory and resources to build flourish their
royal empires. This allowed them the right to
take control and employ those of different
cultures and race ( considered to be pagans or
inferior). Therefore, the more Britain gained
from the sugar industry, the more respect and
power she maintained.
● This new power also leads to greed and
created new enemies. The introduction of
mercantilism and the Navigation Acts were
measures undertaken to obtain this aim for
power. The government of Britain issued its
Navigation Acts of 1651. The main intention of
the formulation of these two terms was the
 expulsion of Dutch presence. The Navigation
Acts were passed in parliament as an attempt
to tighten British control and borders in the
slave trade while removing the Dutch
involvement. British ships were forbidden to
facilitate trade with Dutch traders.

Figure 1. 

 
Figure 2.

Figure 3.