Issue 2: Britain and the Caribbean Flashcards
Why did sugar become so important to the Caribbean?
- Difficult to 2. Growing pop 3. Hot 4. British colonies 5. Well positioned 6. Became dependant
It was difficult to grow sugar cane in Europe which meant that there was a shortage of supply worldwide.
• Growing population and wealth in Europe meant that there was an increasing demand for sugar, so anyone who could grow it could sell
it.
The Caribbean had a hot tropical climate which made it ideal for growing sugar cane.
The Caribbean islands were largely uncultivated and European colonists cleared forests to make way for sugar plantations rather than taking over existing farms growing other crops.
• The Caribbean islands were well positioned to share in the Atlantic Slave Trade. The triangular trade brought enslaved Africans to the islands and took away sugar for export to Europe. This provided the sugar plantations with a cheap workforce.
As sugar was so profitable, other forms of agriculture and manufacture were neglected. The Caribbean islands became economically dependent on the production and export of sugar.
What impact did the Caribbean have upon the British economy?
- Britain rich 2. Deman for 3. Demand for finance 4. Government with 5. Wealthy businessmen 6. Created employment
The Caribbean trade made Britain rich as most of the Atlantic Slave Trade passed through Britain. Other European countries such as France, Spain and Portugal also participated in the transatlantic trade but not to the same extent.
The Caribbean trade created a demand for ships. This led to a boom in Britain’s ship building industry.
The Caribbean trade created a demand for financial services such as loans and insurance. This led to the development of Britain as a major banking and financial centre.
The Caribbean trade provided the government with income from customs duties and other taxes on the trade.
Wealthy businessmen invested in the slave trade and even bought plantations in the Caribbean, the profits enabling them to lead lavish lifestyles.
The Caribbean trade created employment - for ship builders, sailors, dockers, road and canal builders, and for industrial workers processing the raw imported goods when they arrived in Britain.
What impact did the AST have on the Caribbean?
• The native population - the Arawaks - died out due to disease and overwork as a result of European colonisation and clearing the islands for sugar plantation.
In their place, large numbers of enslaved Africans were brought to the Caribbean, eventually creating an imbalanced population of 20 Africans to every 1 white slave owner or overseer, with no social mobility.
This population imbalance led slave owners to fear revolt, and a harsh set of laws and punishments were introduced to help keep enslaved Africans under control, which had a brutalising effect on society.
• On one island, the French plantation colony of Saint-Domingue, the enslaved Africans rose up in rebellion and set up a free independent country, which they called Haiti. This intensified fears among slave owners on other Caribbean islands that they would also be overthrown if they did not maintain harsh discipline on their plantations.
The Caribbean islands became over-dependent on Sugar production. This meant that, every time worldwide sugar prices dropped, the Caribbean economy would suffer a dramatic downturn.
• The intensive farming required for sugar production also exhausted the Caribbean soil and made it difficult to grow other crops there.
• After the slave trade, and then later slavery, was abolished, a long term legacy of racial tension and bad feeling between Africans and Europeans continued on through the 19th and 20th centuries.
