Sugar & Slavery in the Caribbean

Kristina, Piper, & Deagen

Sugar Colonies

main focus

Why were sugar colonies important?

➢ Economy➢ Labor force➢ Landscape

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economy

➢ Wealth from the sugar trade attracted new capital and new slaves➢ Use of government troops to attack settled islands➢ Jamaica

○ 36,000 tons of sugar per annum○ 1740: Jamaica is the premier English producer○ Example of monoproduction ○ Sugar accounted for ¾ of the value of all other exports

➢ Diversified commercial food production for local consumption➢ Saint Domingue

○ Powerful class of free colored people○ Recognized as efficient and productive○ Population and production increase was more rapid than Jamaica

➢ Barbados○ Focused on tobacco and indigo, later shifting to sugar in 1640

labor force

➢ 1700: About 50 slaves per plantation ➢ 1730: About 100 slaves per plantation➢ Jamaica

○ 1740: average estate had 99 slaves ○ ¾ of the island’s slave population was employed because of sugar○ 1770: average estate had 204 slaves

➢ Saint Domingue○ More diversified economy○ Harshest slave system in the Americas

➢ Barbados○ British laborers as indentured servants○ Influenced elsewhere in the Americas

➢ 75% of slaves were involved with sugar and 95% worked in rural areas

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amount of slaves per annum

Saint Dominique

➢ 1680 - 2,000 slaves➢ 1687 - 27,000 slaves➢ 1703 - 45,000 slaves

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Jamaica

➢ 1680 - 3,600 slaves➢ 1720 - 74,000 slaves➢ 1768 - 167,000 slaves

Non-Iberian Caribbean

➢ 450,000 slavesBrazil

➢ 600,000 slavesSpanish

➢ 400,000 slaves

North America

➢ Fewer than 30,000 slaves

landscape

➢ 1670: average estate was 327 acres ➢ 1724: average estate was 1,147 acres ➢ Over ¾ of the land was held by planters who owned more than 1000

acres➢ Saint Domingue

○ 1701: total of 122 mills and plantations

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Slaves Work in the Sugar Cane Process

The Dutch

in the beginning

➢ 1580 - 1640 Portugal→Spanish Crown￫ Contact with Dutch￫ Slaves in Spanish America

➢ Dutch were powerful￫ Emerged in the 1600￫ Aggressive￫ Strong rivals of Iberia

➢ Gained independence from Spain￫ Dutch Independence wars were very

costly￫ They had a new commercial power in

European trade ￫ Used their dominance to start war in

Iberia￫ Meant disappointment in the Spanish

and weakening in system

➢ Twelve Year Truce￫ 1609-1621￫ Antwerp Treaty￫ Spanish embargoes lifted￫ Shipping costs fell￫ Obstacles preventing trade with

Mediterranean were removed￫ Dutch had huge involvement in Brazil’s

sugar industry￫ Dutch left Portuguese America alone

￫ As long as the Spanish didn’t interfere with the International trading of the Dutch

￫ Spanish eventually attacked ships headed to Brazil

➢ Retaliation: Portuguese African settlements and Brazil plantations

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➢ Antwerp￫ Now day Belgium

➢ Publication of Antwerp Treaty➢ White men gathered➢ 1609➢ Shows the uniting of two competitors

￫ Set all hostilities aside

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➢ East Indies Company￫ 1602 in Netherlands￫ Purpose: Protect trade routes in

Indian ocean and to seize Portugal’s Asian spice trade

➢ Not peaceful￫ Many attacks on the Portuguese

and the shipping units

➢ West Indies Company￫ Dutch creation in 1621￫ Purpose: attack Portuguese and

Spanish via economic warfare￫ Colonies in West Indies, South

America, West Coast of Africa➢ The Dutch decided to compete directly with

the Portuguese￫ Via Africa and America

➢ First Fleet￫ Sent to the South Atlantic in 1624￫ Temporary capture of Salvador

including the second largest sugar producing province-Bahia in Brazil

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continued...

➢ The Spanish and Portuguese armada took back the province

➢ Second fleet￫ Attempt at taking Brazil’s Recife-

premier sugar port and Pernambuco- richest sugar plantation in the colony

￫ They failed, taking the Spanish silver armada instead￫ This made the West India

Company much more wealthy￫ The second attempt resulted in

capture of Recife￫ This created a strong base in

sugar production

➢ The Dutch were in direct competition with Brazil, former partners￫ They began to deny slaves to Brazil￫ This gave the Dutch a dominant

position in the Atlantic slave trade➢ They captured El Mina in 1638 causing

Luanda to fall in 1641➢ In Brazil, the lack of slaves and the absence

of Bahia caused…￫ Use of indigenous peoples as slaves￫ Replacement of Bahia with

Pernambuco➢ The use of indigenous people opened up

an interior giving room for expansion into a thriving settlement

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➢ The Dutch colony in Brazil became the source of slaves, tools, and techniques for America￫ End of the Brazil monopoly in

European markets￫ This allowed for American colonies

under French and english rule to become wealthy

➢ Eventually, the West India Company used up its resources causing a decline in power

➢ Pernambuco created a large wealth for the Dutch￫ Olinda(Recife) became multiracial

and multireligious￫ Prince Nassau

➢ Planters revolt and War for the interior of Pernambuco in 1645￫ These led to a decline in production￫ Bahia emerged as Brazil primary

zone of sugar production➢ The Dutch continued to have a hold on the

slaves and the prices rose￫ The Spanish Crown temporarily

permitted the use of indigenous peoples as slaves

￫ Not reliable due to shortages➢ Bandeirantes, hunters from Sao Paulo who

were looking for slaves.￫ This caused the exploration

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➢ Brazil could not produce sufficient sugar for the European demands ￫ Search for additional land ￫ Arrived in Barbados, Martinique,

and Guadeloupe-1640’s￫ They introduced their new milling

techniques➢ The Dutch provided the slavers credit to

buy slaves￫ In return they took the sugar they

produced and shipped it to Amsterdam

➢ Pernambuco and Olinda fell to the Portuguese in 1654￫ Mass migration of Dutch to their

new land

➢ These Dutch were able to effectively implant sugar plantations on the new lands

➢ The French and English began taking land not fully settled by the Spanish and Portuguese￫ They used white laborers such as

indentured servants￫ Tobacco was the first commercial

crop￫ Then followed indigo and finally

sugar due to costs➢ Triangle of Trade

￫ Africa traded slaves to America￫ America traded crops and goods

such as indigo, tobacco, and sugar to Europe

￫ Europe traded rum, textiles, and manufactured goods to Africa

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photo

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➢ Dutch sugar mill in Brazil➢ Slave and Ox powered➢ Demonstrates the use of slave

labor and views ➢ Later Dutch traveler said that

the slaves were an essential part of the mechanics

➢ Thought enslaving people was unavoidable in order for economic progress and efficiency

➢ Demonstrates technology

Division of Slave Labor

labor division

➢ 50-60% of the slave population worked on the plantations themselves➢ All plantations’ divisions of labor were similar in structure➢ There were three gang/ateliers (how they divided the plantation slaves) on a typical plantation→Grand,

Second, and Petit￫ Predominantly female (75% or ¾) and were all related to crop production on plantations.￫ Were ranked by age and physical characteristics

➢ Plantation laborers prepared the soil, planted, and cut the cane, but other responsibilities included transportation of goods and working in the sugar mills.

➢ A notable aspect within Caribbean slavery was there was little distinguishment between genders. The only time there was a difference was during their prime years which was influenced by physical potential as well as reproductive abilities.

➢ Most plantations used a 100 slaves and had the most effective economy with 80% of the population actively employed, compared to the current 55% of the Third World agricultural figure.

￫ Jamaicans used a 200 slave-model while the Spanished used a 50 slave-model

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(25, 41, 43, 43a, 43b, 44, 45, 45a, 45b)

the various cases

Jamaica

➢ 60% of the slaves on the plantations, 10% in the sugar mills (typically men), 2% served the household, and the rest were charged with transportation.

➢ Had four gangs with women representing 60% of the population of each one.

St. Dominique

➢ Absence of mills and factories on coffee plantations meant a larger population of men worked on the plantations.

➢ 60% of the slaves were placed in ateliers, shifting the majority towards men.

The French Islands

➢ The laborers were into ateliers with the strongest in the grand atelier, the less adapted in the second atelier, and the petit atelier consisted of 8-12 year olds who would perform tasks like weeding.

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(26, 27)

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The Sugar Revolution

the sugar revolution

Cause➢ A demographic revolution was required to

supplement for sugar production’s high labor demand.

➢ The British monarch invested in the Company of Royal Adventures in 1672 for the pursuit of the lucrative slave trade. The company was later succeeded by the Royal Africa Company in.

￫ The inability to meet the increasing demands resulting in private merchants entering the trade.

￫ 3.5 million slaves were sent to the Americas and 40% of them worked on the plantations.

➢ Sugarcane cultivation spread between islands and the mainland causing even greater demands for African slaves.

Fall➢ Anti Slavery societies developed in Britain and

France, all using the secular, rationalist arguments of the Enlightenment. They challenged the moral and legal basis of slavery.

➢ In 1772, the British Chief of Justice, Lord Mansfield, ruled slavery illegal. This ruling freed 15,000 slaves.

➢ The British Parliament was forced to abolish the slave trade in 1807 and encouraged other states to follow suit.

￫ This ultimately ended the prosperity of the Caribbean sugar industry since they lost their access to African slaves.

➢ Another cause for the fall of the industry was the that the main source of food and supplies was cut off by the American Revolution

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(39, 40,42, 47, 49)

The Establishment of

Sugar Estates

the establishment of sugar estates

Development➢ Settlers first arrived on Nevis from St. Kitts in 1628

and cleared dense forest to make room for farmland to be worked by relatives and indentured servants.

➢ Sugar was introduced to St. Kitts from the other Caribbean islands, most likely Barbados and sugar and molasses production grew to form 92% of the island’s economy in 1770.

➢ The Europeans found the fertile soil and tropical climate were the ideal conditions for sugar cultivation.

➢ It became a highly profitable crop with very rich rewards and became Nevis’s most important export in 1655.

➢ Wealthy landowners would buy up farmland and would often combine them to make larger plantations.

Costs➢ The costs for establishing a sugar plantation were

massive and only the richest could succeed in the endeavor.

➢ Multiple estimations have been made regarding the initials costs before profits could be made on the estate.

￫ Richard Ligon calculated the costs of the land, construction of buildings, and the payment for slaves and servants to add up to 1,000 pounds (1650).

￫ Thomas Tryon estimated that a plantation owner would have to spend 3,000-10,000 pounds before they could make hundred weight of sugar worth 12-14 shillings in 1770.

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Kahoot

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https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/65806d9a-35bf-443c-ab6e-b5d129e32fbc