Caribbean Colonies Flashcards
which lord received the charter for the Caribbean?
Lord Carlisle
where was the first effective settlement? what year? who did the English share it with?
St. Kitts in 1624, shared with the French- worked with the French who were settling in the same region
when was Barbados settled? why was it attractive?
1627- there no Caribs, it was far east so it was protected by the trade winds
what were the foundations of the Leeward Islands?
Nevis, Antigua and Monserrat
what was the cause of expansion?
tobacco
what were indentured labourers?
worked for the man that paid for their crossing to the colonies- passage cost about £6 (a year’s wages), repayment took about 4-7 years
when did tobacco reach it’s peak?
1630
during the Civil War 1642-49, what did the Dutch persuade the English to do? why?
grow sugar instead of tobacco
they were hoping to absorb the English West Indies
what was different between sugar and tobacco?
growing sugar and preparing it for shipping was harder than cultivating tobacco- a larger labour force was needed
what was the easiest way to assemble a larger work force?
buying slaves
how did sugar transform Barbados and later the West Indies?
transformed life socially and racially
where did they continue to grow tobacco instead?
Virginia
what did the success of sugar mean?
land prices rocketed and displaced indentured workers who hoped to be individual farmers
as a result of employees leaving the islands, who was tansported? when?
1650s, royalist prisoners transported as convict labour
how many Englishmen were there in the West Indies?
beginning of the switch to sugar- 25k Englishmen
by 1660s, increased to 40k
