Questions

History Questions

1. State 3 reasons why tobacco cultivation was popular among the early settlers.

2. Explain why coco and cotton did not become a major commercial product in the Caribbean in
the 16th century. B vbm

3. List the territories that produced cotton and coffee in this period(16th century)

4. Compare the production process for logwood and mahogany with sugar.

5. Describe the organization of labor in the mahogany wood vs logwood

Answers:

3 reasons for the popularity of tobacco cultivation among the early settlers:

1. There was a need for it in england.

2. It was cheap for labour.

3. They used mostly outpost merchants to sell their tobacco to Scottish merchants, who then
resold the tobacco in northern Europe, where such tobacco was palatable.

2. Coco and cotton did not become major because:

In the 16th century sugar cane was brought to British West Indies from Brazil. At that time most
local farmers were growing cotton and tobacco. However, strong competition from the North
American colonies meant that prices in these crops were falling. The owners of the large
Caribbean plantations decided to switch to growing sugar cane.
3. Territories that produced cotton and coffee:

1. Trinidad
2. Spain
3. West Africa

4. India

4. During the period of chattel slavery in British Honduras (Belize), mahogany was its chief
product. There was a shift from logwood for various reasons because

(a) it was a cheaper raw material for dyeing and

(b) Europeans demanded mahogany furniture instead of those made from walnut.

5. Enslaved labor was utilised in a number of ways. Slaves were involved in the felling of trees,
cutting them into logs, clearing roads to the rivers, and stacking logs and loading them into
ships. Those felling trees would usually work in groups of up to 50 members. An integral worker
was the huntsman who would find trees before pitching a camp. The slaves would then fell the
trees, cut them into logs and clear a road to the river and then they were floated down to the
harbour. There, a group of slaves would stack the logs and load them on to ships. The slaves
would usually clear the road at nights, due to the heat of days.

Part 2

Tobacco Production

Sugar production

Land
Does not require as much as sugar

Requires a lot of land

Labour

Does not require as much as sugar

Requires more than tobacco

Capital

Does not require a lot

Does not require a lot

Social Structure

White
Amerindian

White

Black

Population size

Very small

Very large

Population Structure

Mainly Amerindian and White

Predominantly black

1. 3 Reasons for tobacco changing to sugar.

a. Tobacco sales decreasing, thus the need for new crops
 b. Europe needed a sweetner and hence the colonizers chose to move from tobacco to
sugar.

c. The change to sugar meant that larger plantations were needed than those used for
tobacco production.

2. Role of the dutch in the sugar revolution:

Sugar needed capital which the small planters of the eastern Caribbean did not have, but the
Dutch came to the rescue by supplying credit. A Dutch merchant would put up the capital on the
security of the crop. The Dutch took over the export and sale of the crop in return for providing
the initial capital.

3. 3 ways sugar impacted the caribbean and its towns:

1. Water pollution

2. It required a great labor supply

3. Loss and erosion of soils

References:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2598696?seq=1
The Economic History Review
New Series, Vol. 53, No. 2 (May, 2000), pp. 213-236 (24 pages)
Published By: Wiley

https://www.belizehistorysjc.com/uploads/3/4/7/0/3470758/csec_history_book_1.pdf

https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/tobacco-in-colonial-virginia/

http://countrystudies.us/caribbean-islands/8.htm

http://www.passmycxc.com/question_paper_twos/view/sugar-revolution/54#:~:text=This
%20transformation%20was%20caused%20by,those%20used%20for%20tobacco
%20production.

https://www.pressreader.com/jamaica/jamaica-gleaner/20170131/282626032408848

https://www.pressreader.com/jamaica/jamaica-
gleaner/20170131/282626032408848#:~:text=During%20the%20period%20of
%20chattel,mahogany%20was%20its%20chief%20product.&text=There%20was%20a%20shift
%20from,of%20those%20made%20from%20walnut.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zjyqtfr/revision/2