Caribbean

Economy and
Slavery
 Theme 2 focuses on:
Theme 2: • The change from tobacco to sugar in the British
Caribbean West Indies (Sugar Revolution). The introduction
of African slavery.
Economy and • The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Middle
slavery Passage.
• The theme covers life on the typical 18th century
sugar plantation as well as the social life of the
enslaved African.
• The focus of this theme is slavery in the British
West Indies
 The Sugar
Revolution in
the British
West Indies
1600s
 • Revolutions are the great turning points

What is a of history. A revolution is a tumultuous

and transformative event that attempts

Revolution to change a nation, a region or society –

and in some cases even the world

?
 • In the seventeenth century both in the English and
to a lesser extent in the French islands, a change
occurred in the basic cash crop.

• The revolution first started in the British colonies of

The Sugar Barbados and St. Kitts and the French colonies of

Revolution Guadeloupe and Martinique.

• The sugar revolution is most clearly demonstrated

in the history of Barbados where it occurred in
roughly one decade, 1640 to 1650. It was not quite
so rapid in the other islands

• The Sugar Revolution was the change from tobacco

 Causes of the Sugar
Revolution

• Commercial viability of sugar

• Competition from Virginia tobacco

• Demand for a cheaper alternative to honey

• Part played by the Dutch

• Planters facing financial crisis

The Commercial
Viability of Sugar
There were more
advantages to selling
sugar than as it was not:
1. Too bulky as tobacco
2. It could be
transported in small
ships
3. It was not a
perishable product
 • Johns Rolfe introduced tobacco to Virginia, USA in 1613.
• In the 1630s, John Rolfe began mixing several strains of tobacco to
Competition create a more potent form. Johns Rolfe introduced tobacco to
Virginia in 1613)
From Virginia • The Virginia tobacco was of a better quality. This led to an increase
Tobacco demand for Virginia tobacco over West Indian tobacco.
• The increase demand for Virginia tobacco caused the price of West
Indian tobacco to fall putting farmers out of business.
 Growing Demand for a Cheaper
Alternative Sweetener in Europe

• Coffee and tea were becoming increasingly popular in Europe

and hence the demand for sugar as a sweetener for these
drinks.

• Sugar was a cheaper alternative to the more expensive honey

which was the popular sweetener at the time

• Since the Europeans were aware sugar cultivation in the

Mediterranean, they started to demand it for use.

• Sugar had to be grown in a tropical or subtropical climate and

the West Indian islands were favourably situated for its growth.
 The Dutch contribution was so great that it can be
said they made the change possible.
• About 1640 the Dutch were easily the greatest
The Role of traders in the Caribbean Region, almost having a
monopoly of the carrying trade.

the Dutch • The Dutch traders and captains were looking for
ways by which to increase their trade and they
saw that encouraging the planting of sugar was
a great opportunity.
• The Dutch we expelled from Pernambuco, Brazil
which caused them to end up in the Caribbean
and increase trade
• Sugar needed capital which the small planters of
the eastern Caribbean did not have, but the
Dutch came to the rescue by supplying credit.
 Planters Facing
Financial Crisis

• The tobacco planters in the

British West Indies were
facing financial crisis due to
the decline in demand for
West Indian tobacco. This
led them to try another crop
 Consequences of the
Sugar Revolution-
Political
The system of government change from
proprietorship to representative system.
Under proprietorship government, an individual or
group was granted full rights of self government.
The new system- representative government, differed
dramatically as there was the introduction of a
governor, appointed by the British government, who
administers the colony with the officials appointed
(the governor).
This meant that The British government had a direct
influence on governance in the various colonies
 • Monocrop-sugar was the main/dominant
Consequences of the Sugar crop being cultivated in the British West
Revolution-Economic Indies.

• Large scale farming- Because of the profit

that could be obtained from cultivating sugar,

sugar was being cultivated on a large scale. It

was being done on estate made up of

hundreds of acres with several buildings and

several acres of land for sugar cane

cultivation.
 Consequences of the Sugar Revolution-
Economic
• Increase in the price and size of land- Under the impact of the sugar revolution the price of land
leapt up, in some parts of Barbados by a much as thirty times. For example, a parcel of land of
about 10 acres had been sold for £25 in 1630, which gives an average price of under £3 an acre. In
1648, when the sugar revolution was almost complete in Barbados, land was over £30 an acre

• There was the dramatic increase in the size of Caribbean landholdings. A revolution many farmers
produce tobacco which could be done on a small parcel of land however, sugar cane production
was different as large lands were needed to undertake its processing- sugar required expensive
buildings livestock and machinery and large quantities of land for production
 Consequences of the Sugar Revolution-
Social

• Absenteeism- The sugar revolution in the British West Indies

created absentee plantation owners. They often reside in the
mother country while and overseer managed the plantation
while they were away. These absentee planters visited the colony
throughout the year.
• Shift in the racial composition- The sugar revolution led to a
dramatic shift in the racial demographic of the Caribbean islands
before the sugar revolution the population of the airlines were
predominantly white it comprised many Europeans what worked
as indentured servants. Since Africans were use on sugar
plantation the racial composition shift from being majority white
to a majority black (enslaved) population
 Reference
• Debbie Hyman (2018). The Economic Revolution. Youthlink Study
Guide. The Gleaner