Colonial Maryland and West Indies Sugar Economy

Vocabulary flashcards covering Maryland's founding, the Act of Toleration, and the sugar-driven slave economy in the West Indies and its link to American slavery.

Maryland colony

A British colony founded by Lord Baltimore for Catholics as a haven and for profit, in a Protestant-dominated England.

Act of Toleration (1649)

Maryland law granting freedom to worship for Christians; paradoxically less tolerant of non-Christians.

Lord Baltimore

English Catholic noble who founded Maryland to protect Catholics and pursue profit.

Catholics in Maryland

Religious group seeking a safe haven; targeted in Protestant England; supported by the colony's founding.

Sugar economy of the West Indies

Caribbean sugar production was labor-intensive, required many workers, and relied on enslaved labor, enriching sugar planters.

Slave system

Coerced labor system that developed with sugar production and spread to North America, sustained by enslaved Africans.

Labor intensity: sugar vs tobacco

Sugar required more labor and capital than tobacco, with multiple harvesting steps, leading to greater enslaved labor.

Caribbean food imports from North America

West Indies depended on North America to supply food for sustaining sugar plantations.