...The Sugar Revolution Slaves at work in the sugar fields 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. This change was so rapid and far-reaching that ‘revolutionary’ is a fitting word to describe it. It ranks in importance with emancipation, for the sugar revolution changed the Lesser Antilles completely. It was not just that sugar replaced tobacco as the chief crop: the population changed from white to black; the size of landholdings changed; and eventually the West Indies became ‘the cockpit of Europe’. The list of changes the sugar revolution brought is almost inexhaustible. 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. For example, Jamaica changed to sugar slowly and less completely at a much later date. However, in each island ‘revolution’ can be used to denote the startling economic, social and political changes that occurred. Causes of the sugar revolution Fall in West Indian tobacco prices The forces which brought about the change from tobacco to sugar all came together about 1640. Tobacco, the crop on which the economy of the Lesser Antilles was founded, started to decline as a result of competition from Virginia tobacco. In 1613 John Rolfe had introduced tobacco to Virginia, the earliest of the North American colonies. A variety imported from Trinidad...
Words: 2650 - Pages: 11
...What was the Sugar Revolution? The Portuguese and the Dutch were at war over the mainland South American colony Brazil from 1624 to 1654. The war raged on until the Dutch realized they were outmatched retreated to the Lesser Antilles as refugees, bringing with them their expertise in Sugar Production. On arrival they introduce Sugar cane, sparking what is now know today as the ‘Sugar Revolution’. The Dutch were easily the greatest traders in the region at the time, therefore with the introduction of sugar cane, as it was a bulky crop, would provide the Dutch with extensive revenue since they would be in charge of the shipping and sale of the processed sugar on arrival in Europe. The Dutch supplied the prospective farmers with advice, capital, knowledge and apparatus of sugar production. In this way the Dutch were foster fathers of the movement. The ‘ Sugar Revolution’ began in the Eastern Caribbean around 1640, specifically starting from the British colony of Barbados. The sugar is defined as the changeover from the then chief crop tobacco to sugar cane and all the effects that came with it. The term ‘revolution‘ means a drastic or complete overhaul or change, this directly speaks to the Sugar Revolution as it included dynamic changes in economic and political situations and social aspects of life in the lesser Antilles, as evidenced by changes in the cost of landholdings, social stratification, Absenteeism and Monoculture upon many others...
Words: 282 - Pages: 2
...During the 1700 _ 1750 Sugar Cane was the main cultivated crop in Jamaica which was the number one leading cultivator, this is due to the well fertile soil and tropical climate. In the 17th century the typical layout of a Jamaican sugar estate was set with the mills in the centre of the estate for easy access for slaves to transport the reaped crop to convert the cane to sugar after they were harvested before fermentation process would occur. So on the plantation the mills was the first stop for the cut cane in specific lengths know as fraggots, here it was crushed between heavy iron rollers to extract the juices. “On the estate there were three types of mills the Water mill, Wind mill and Animal mill where the estate could benefit from the swift flowing rivers which water wheels were built to drive the mills”. ( Beckles and Shepherd 128 liberties lost) . Due to the mills planters profits increased substantially because more sugar was produced in a shorter time because slaves wouldn’t have to manufacture the sugar totally by hand which took a longer time and produced smaller quantities. In the division of the labour force on the estate it was divided into two main groups for production the White employees which occupied the managerial and supervisory positions on the estate whose duty was to ensure that all the material, equipment and the other necessities for the production process is right on the plantation. The slaves who had various task...
Words: 552 - Pages: 3
...the USA. Because there were so many slaves being traded, there was plenty of sugar being exported from the sugar plantations to Britain (3,750 tons in 1951 to 9,525 tons in 1669) due to the increase in labour. This trade of sugar had a big impact on the British economy. Because of the large quantities of sugar being produced by African slaves, sugar was able to become a staple food in Britain. “The poorest English farm labourer’s wife took sugar in her tea” which suggests that even the poorest of people in Britain could afford sugar and were paying sugar tax that could flow back into the economy. A poor British family on average would dedicate 6% of their income towards the purchase of sugar. Without imports like sugar, the economy in Britain wouldn’t have been boosted in this way as before the slave trade, only the rich were able to afford sugar. Also without the slave trade another big product, tobacco, would not have made it to Britain in such large quantities. This is because without the slaves to increase labour, tobacco could not have been produced on such a large scale. Tobacco, like sugar, was another tropical staple export that thrived in Britain. Again, tobacco was available to the British public in places like ale houses, coffee shops and markets. Smoking was very popular amongst all classes of men which meant many businesses were able to make money from its demand. Much like sugar, tobacco became easily available to the poor meaning that a higher percentage of Britain’s...
Words: 692 - Pages: 3
...The Plantation Sugar – The New Age The sole cash crop that crushed the exportation of cotton and tobacco and reigned in the Caribbean for the next two hundred (200) years was sugar. Dutch colonists in Brazil were the 1st to grow sugar extensively. They then taught the English, in Barbados, ways of cultivation and manufacture in 1644 and soon “sugar was king”. By 1650, Barbados was the primary sugar-producer and was known as “the brightest jewel in the crown of King Charles II”. Other French colonies soon followed Barbados. The Sugar Revolution Definition Sugar Revolution – drastic change from producing a variety of crops to sugar cane ONLY. Implications of the Sugar Revolution/ Changes brought about by the Sugar Revolution: a) New Methods of producing sugar – The English and French began inventing new and better ways of processing sugar cane. b) The Labour Force – Planting and processing sugar cane required extensive labour force. The planters wanted work to be done using the cheapest labour force, which in the end, would mean greater profits for them when the sugar was sold. Thus, an increasing number of African slaves were used. c) Increase in the price of Land: Great sugar plantations developed by buying the small plots of land that were used to cultivate tobacco. As sugar became more profitable, the demand for land increased, which caused the price of land to increase. d) Change in governance – As the English French and Dutch colonies...
Words: 1472 - Pages: 6
...British Economic History Supervision 4 ''Qualitative aspects of living standards, such as the disamenities of urban living, have become the decisive factors in evaluating whether the English working classes benefited from Industrial Revolution''. Introduction One of the most controversial issues of British Economic History is the living standards during the industrial revolution. ''Pessimists'' against ''optimists'' oppose their ideas about whether the standards of live during the industrial revolution improved,deteriorated or remained stable. On the one hand,optimists like Jeffrey G.Williamson, held the view that although some workers suffered from harsh working conditions and were working more days,the increase in real wages could offset these disamenities and as a whole,the majority of people lived from 1760 to 1850 benefited from the industrial revolution in terms of standards of life. On the other hand,pessimists like Charles H. Feinstein argued that the living standards of life deteriorated for the working class in early industrialisation. The main difference in the perception of judging the living standards between optimists and pessimists is the distinction between the importance of qualitative and quantitative factors that influenced the lives of workers during industrialisation. On the ''quantitative side'',optimists base the arguments on real wages,life expectancy and on the move to the cities away...
Words: 2221 - Pages: 9
...advancements that took place in the 19th century. Consequently, there were both many positive and negative effects that occurred as a result of these changes. However, these developments affected the North and the South in great ways. The differences between the two eventually caused a good amount of tension because they were moving in completely different directions with culture, political views, and economies. As a consequence of poor farming conditions and a mass amount of immigrants coming into America, the Northern states developed into an economy based on industry and manufacturing. The North was mountainous with rocky soil and rapid rivers. It had long cold winters and mild summers which were not suitable for cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, sugar, rice, etc. They had to focus heavily on industrialization due to the resources they had available to them, such as iron and coal that was abundant. Using these resources as an energy source, the North constructed factories that produced textiles, furniture, tools, etc. Since factories were producing a mass amount of goods in a short amount of time, they exported their goods to the West and South. Trade was easier in the North, due to the amount of canals and railroads that connected major cities and towns to one another. To keep these factories running, they needed unskilled workers who would monitor the machines, work for low wages and lengthy hours in hazardous conditions. Many of these factories used woman and child labor, and...
Words: 1161 - Pages: 5
...movement in the Caribbean really didn't grow until the 1840s and 50s, so from the Berbice/Coffy Revolt (1763) to the uprisings in Haiti (1791), there was relatively little abolitionist sentiment in the Caribbean. * Some would argue what the rebellions actually did was scare slave owners in the Caribbean, and lead to a series of legal reforms and slave codes designed to make revolts more difficult. * Slave owners through-out the region suffered massive destruction of property and loss of lives. Positive Effects of slave revolts in the Caribbean * Antislavery movements grew stronger and bolder, especially in Great Britain, and the colonial slaves themselves became increasingly more restless. * The impact of the Haitian Revolution (1791) was both immediate and widespread. The antislavery fighting immediately spawned unrest throughout the region, especially in communities of Maroons in Jamaica, and among slaves in St. Kitts. * Most important, in the Caribbean, whites lost the confidence that they had before 1789 to maintain the slave system indefinitely. In 1808, the British abolished their transatlantic slave trade, and they dismantled the slave system between 1834...
Words: 3125 - Pages: 13
...Britney Statum HIS 103 3/1/16 Economics in Early America Early America was shaped and transformed by the economy. There were many factors and purchases that happened throughout that aided in the upbringing of the American economy we know today. We know some events of American history, for example, the finding of Native Americans already on America, slavery throughout history, wars, and inventions were all factors of shaping the economy for us. Before there was such a thing as the “New World,” there were millions of people living in America. The indigenous people of America had been there for thousands of years before the Europeans had arrived. Money was not an issue for these groups of people. They relied on the land and trade between the different tribes. The economy consisted of hunting, gathering and a complex agriculture system. They did not have the need for the money like the outside European world did. They relied on each other and the tribes around them. Different tribes were able to specialize in certain areas and then they could trade what they needed. While they did not have the sophisticated economy like the Europeans had, they were doing much better than after the Europeans arrived and started to try to change their way of life. Thomas Morton stated “, that the natives of the land lived so poorly in so rich a Country.” 1 There were so many things that the Native Americans did that Morton could not believe they did because all the travelers saw was vast...
Words: 1627 - Pages: 7
...(city proper) Other large cities: Santiago de Cuba, 554,400; Camagüey, 354,400; Holguin, 319,300; Guantánamo, 274,300; Santa Clara, 251,800 Monetary unit: Cuban Peso National name: República de Cuba Current government officials Language: Spanish Ethnicity/race: mulatto 51%, white 37%, black 11%, Chinese 1% National Holiday: Triumph of the Revolution, December 10 Religions: predominantly Roman Catholic and Santería (Afro-Cuban syncretic religion) Literacy rate: 99.8% (2002 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2009 est.): $111.1 billion; per capita $9,700 . Real growth rate: 1.4%. Inflation: 4.3%. Unemployment: 1.6%. Arable land: 33%. Agriculture: sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock. Labor force: 4.82 million; note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2006 est.); agriculture 20%, industry 19.4%, services 60.6% (2006). Industries: sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals. Natural resources: cobalt, nickel, iron ore, copper, manganese, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land. Exports: $3.25 billion (2009 est.): sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products,...
Words: 624 - Pages: 3
...What exactly defines an industrial revolution? The industrial revolution that took started in England around the 1750’s and lasted until the 1870’s had a significant impact on the American colonies in several different ways. Even as the colonies were beginning to establish themselves across the ocean from England, they were sure to be affected by increases in the demand for more agricultural exports caused by the changes taking place in their parent country. This Industrial Revolution led to innovations in machinery, steam engines, “lathes for shaping wood, jennies and looms for spinning and weaving textiles, and hammers for forging iron” (A. 120). These advances led to increases in production of textiles and chinaware and other goods. A major downside was that as these machines increased productivity, the factories would make workers try and keep up with the machines thus making them work long hours in dangerous environments. Parliament then enacted a series of acts called the “Enclosure Acts”, which essentially forced any landowner to fence or “enclose” their grazing land at their own expense or be taken over by the government. This forced many poor farmers to have to work in these factories along with their wives and children in order to survive. The colonies at this point in time were able to export tobacco, rice and wheat to England to have it manufactured since they did not have many manufacturing capabilities themselves. They were essentially being supported solely by...
Words: 601 - Pages: 3
...Atlantic Chattel Slavery Through the progression of slavery, we see a gradual but dramatic change the way people viewed slaves. Many factors aided the deterioration of treatment towards slaves from a people to property mindset. Whether it was the beginning of the African Slave Trade, the economic driven cash crops, British laws passed to control slaves or the development of British Low Country each factor belittled the human aspect of a slave. To understand how one gets labeled as “cattle” we must understand where it came from. We first look at the beginning treatment of slaves to gather a comparison on how it differed from Atlantic Chattel Slavery. Slaves in the early east Africa were generally war captives of conquering dynasties. Islamic religion helped to maintain the humanity of these war captives. They were accepted as a member of the family (nation) but the lowest ranking one. Islamic members who owned slaves had obligations to educate and convert them to Islam. They also made it illegal to sell children from their parent which in turn was a cultural device to bring outside people into the society. After two generations of slavery these families were accepted into the society. Slaves during this time would also live to the same standards as their owners. This means a slave owned by a wealthy person would have a better lifestyle (clothes, food, etc.) than a poorer one. Slavery was still not a positive experience but when we compare to the lifestyle of Caribbean/America...
Words: 1126 - Pages: 5
...established sugar colonies at virtually the same time in the Caribbean, at the start of the second quarter of the 17th century (Dunn, 1972). For the most part, their management strategies, agricultural methods, and technological innovations were relatively uniform (Goodwin, 1987). After brief stints growing tobacco and other produce, sugar soon became the dominant crop, especially on the British islands, which had developed into a true monoculture by the 18th century. Britain’s main sugar colonies were Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, and St. Kitts. Many other islands. St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, and Tobago changed hands frequently between the two powers, especially during the numerous wars and treaties of the 18th century. In the early years, Britain and France competed fiercely for the European market, but around 1740, France successfully took it over due to their cheaper prices (Mintz 1985: 39; Rogoziński 1992: 108). British sugar colonies were characterized by large self-contained plantations worked by enslaved Africans. In the 17th century, 100 slaves working 80 acres of cane could produce 80 tons of sugar a year (Dunn 1972: 191). Many poor white colonists who did not have the capital to invest in planting were absorbed into the plantation system as clerks, tradesmen, or overseers. The owner, if he lived on the plantation (absenteeism was quite common), typically lived in a great house that mimicked the style of the gentry back in the metropole. The sugar planter...
Words: 1293 - Pages: 6
...governor who had advisors working under him (“A Brief History”). John Rolfe was an Englishman who wanted to go to the new world to start growing tobacco. Although tobacco is native to Virginia, Rolfe wanted to grow his own from seeds he obtained from the Spanish. In 1609, he and his family set sail from England onboard a ship called the Sea Venture. While on the trip they ran into a fierce storm and the boat was shipwrecked on a reef near Bermuda. They were shipwrecked for several months. The survivors built two small ships and they headed for Jamestown. When they finally arrived, Jamestown looked grim. But, the colony survived with the help from the shipwrecked survivors and when the ship from England, carrying provisions, finally arrived (“Colonial America” 2012). While at Jamestown, Rolfe started growing a sweeter variety of tobacco from his seeds he brought with him from England. This sweeter variety became popular in England. Therefore, this was profitable for Virginia. Other farmers started growing this sweeter tobacco and exported it to England, as well. Thereafter, many tobacco plantations were started along the James. This made it easier to export the tobacco (“Colonial America” 2012). In 1613, tobacco had become a cash crop. Colonists were not successful in making profits for Virginia, until then. Running a tobacco plantation required much labor; so therefore, more indentured servants were needed. In 1619, the first African indentured servants arrived. ...
Words: 1288 - Pages: 6
...In the Chesapeake Bay colonies, after the Bacon’s Revolution, a conflict between the impoverished small farmers and lordly planters, elite farmers looked for less troublesome laborers for their large plantations of sugar, cotton, tobacco, and rice. Thus, slave labor accounted on the basis of the plantation colonies’ economy, the social status of these southern colonies are established based the amount of land and slaves one owns. Additionally, because of the fluctuating prices of cash crops, the farmers relied on slaves for a large amount of export for profit. On the other hand, the New England colonies consist of small farmers and rely more on fishing, lumber trading, and shipbuilding that require fewer slaves. Notwithstanding the fact that they also make a profit on slave trading, there were more merchants and manufacturers on fish and ship industries rather than...
Words: 498 - Pages: 2
