Britain and the Caribbean

What was the importance of Tropical Crops?

• The sugar cane plant was the main crop produced on the numerous plantations throughout the Caribbean during the 18th and 19th Centuries.

• The trade in sugar increased dramatically due to the increasing popularity of sugar to sweeten drinks such as tea and coffee.

• Sugar was required to supply the growing demand for alcohol such as rum.

• With the increase in living standards in Britain, more people could afford sugar and so demand grew. This increased the demand for African slave labour on Caribbean sugar plantations.

What percentage of the sugar consumed in Western Europe was created on Caribbean Plantations

Caribbean plantations produced 80-90 per cent of the sugar consumed in Western Europe.

What was the impact of the Caribbean Trade on the British Economy

• Work was provided in many ports as men were employed as sailors, shipbuilders and dock workers.

• The profits made from the slave trade were also invested in the development of other British industries, particularly banking, ship-building, and textiles.

• Wealthy colonial families built huge mansions in many of the British cities where they traded.

• Many important government buildings in British cities were constructed using the profits of the slave trade.

• Banking and insurance businesses grew, especially in London. Lloyd’s of London, Barclays and The Royal Bank of Scotland are long-established companies with connections to transatlantic slave trading.

How the the Caribbean trade impact British Ports?

• Slave produced goods such as sugar and coffee were imported into British ports helping them to become rich and powerful trading centres.

• Glasgow’s economy benefited from the tobacco trade, while slave cotton provided work for the mills of Lancashire.

• The slave trade transformed struggling ports into rich and prosperous trading centres (eg Bristol, London, Liverpool).

What was the negative impact of the slave trade on the Caribbean?

• The slave trade established racist attitudes and beliefs – in particular the view that Black Africans were physically and intellectually inferior.

• Destruction of native communities – indigenous people were used as slave labour and driven to extinction.

• The Caribbean became more violent, with a culture of punishment and cruelty along with a fear of rebellion. Slave codes replaced existing laws to maintain order and obedience.

• Factories were also set up on the islands to refine the sugar and working conditions were harsh and dangerous.

• New diseases were brought to the islands from Europe/Africa and native people had no natural resistance.

• Natural beauty of the island landscape was damaged by the growth of the plantations.

What did each Caribbean Island become reliant on during the Slave Trade?

Each Island became reliant on one crop eg, 93% of Barbados exports were sugar. If prices fell internationally, the local economy would be damaged.

How was the Jamaican Economy impacted by the Slave Trade?

• The concentration on sugar production did lasting damage on Jamaica’s economy which relied upon sugar until the 19th century

• Any fall of the international price of sugar was disastrous for the island

• Small farm holdings became less common

• White settlers would often work as plantation overseers rather than owning thier own land

Who were the Arawaks?

• The Arawaks were the native people of the Caribbean Islands

• They were wiped out by European diseases such as small pox and measles

• They were replaced by West Africans who worked on Plantations

• They outnumber the white population 20-1