Caribbean History: Sugar Revolution and Slave Society

Vocabulary flashcards covering the economic and social history of the Caribbean sugar industry, the transatlantic slave trade, and plantation life.

Tobacco

The first major crop grown by early European settlers in the Caribbean.

Barbados

The first English colony to cultivate sugar.

Monoculture

A major result of the sugar revolution in the mid-17th century, where the economy shifted to producing primarily a single crop.

Sugar Revolution

A 17th-century changeover from tobacco to sugar in the West Indies that brought significant economic and social changes, including the use of machinery and a rise in land prices.

Glut

An excess supply over demand in the European market for tobacco during the mid-seventeenth century, caused by production in Virginia and the West Indies.

Manufactured goods

The items loaded onto ships in England to be transported to West Africa as part of the Triangular Trade.

Middle Passage

The journey of enslaved Africans from Africa to the West Indies.

Seasoning

The period on arrival in the West Indies during which new enslaved Africans were made to get accustomed to the environment.

Enslaved Artisans

Skilled workers on the plantation including carpenters, masons, and coopers.

January to June

The busiest time of year on a typical British West Indian 18th-century sugar plantation.

Slave Society

A society where the enslaved peoples make up the majority of the population.

Processes of Sugar Production

A series of eighteenth-century procedures including milling, clarifying, and curing.

Molasses and Rum

By-products of sugar that were exported from the British Caribbean to Europe.

Agent

The planters' sales representative located in England.

St. Domingue (Haiti)

The French colony that received the largest number of enslaved Africans (approximately $864,300$) between 1451 and 1870.

Jamaica

The British colony that received the largest number of enslaved Africans (approximately $747,500$) between 1451 and 1870.

Teache

The smallest and hottest boiler used in the sugar production process.

Hogsheads

Wooden barrels used for storing and shipping sugar.

Great Gang

The strongest people in the fields responsible for the heavy labor.

Plant Cane

Sugar cane that has a higher sucrose content than ratoons.

Anansi

The spider hero who is a part of African oral tradition.

Amalgamation of Estates

A result of the Sugar Revolution in the British Caribbean where smaller lands were joined into large estates.