West indian history Essays - Racism, Apprenticeship, Debt Bondage

West indian history Question: Examine how the sugar revolution altered the development of the Caribbean. The sugar revolution altered the development of the Caribbean in a variety of ways, The sugar revolution has affected the Caribbean drastically as a result of the sugar revolution, there was a labour problem which was caused by the change from Tobacco to Sugar. The manufacturing and Sugar cultivation needed some workers to do manual labour .There were people who tried to get workers like the Spaniards who tried to get the Arawaks to work as slaves or through the Encomienda system hence resulting in a drastic change in the countrys system. The sugar revolution may be defined according to the oxford dictionary as the change from tobacco cultivation to sugar cane cultivation which began in the 1640s, the sugar cane revolution is the process in which the English and to a lesser extent the French islands experienced a change in their basic cash crop from tobacco to sugar in a rapid, and far reaching extent. The Sugar revolution led to the plantation society, it causes a dramatically change, the changes were wide because it impacted on other areas of the society and not only the crops that changed, According to Barry Higman there are 6 elements which are regarded as products of the sugar revolution. It was not just that sugar replaced tobacco as the chief crop the population changed from white to black; the size of landholdings changed; and eventually the West Indies became the cockpit of Europe. The list of changes the sugar revolution brought is almost inexhaustible. The sugar revolution socially, politically and economically altered the development of the Caribbean. The sugar revolution to have 5effects, which is that it generated a massive boast to the Atlantic slave trade, provides the engine for a variety of triangular trades, altered European nutrition and consumption, increase European interest in tropical colonies and contributed to the industrial revolution in Europe. The social effects of the sugar revolution led to society rigidly structured, increased crown control and mercantilism, there were a lot of whites and the society was democracy As a result of the Sugar Revolution, the Dutch's power became greatly reduced because their power was based on trading. The amount of whites reduced because the indentured labourers from Europe stopped coming in. Some whites left to live elsewhere and many white farmers sold their tobacco estates and moved to North America. According to Shepherd and Beckles (1995) pg 207 The majority of slav es in society was discriminated against since Slavery was the main system of labour and they were unfree. The colonies became very wealthy and prosperous and the price of land incease with the sugar revolution. The islands became monocultural colonies. Plantation economy was most drastically changed through the sugar revolution. Higman describes the various ways in which Caribbean society was transformed during the seventeenth century. Sugar monoculture, that is the production of sugar as a singular crop commodity, was a major factor in changing the Caribbean landscapes. Agricultural and land areas were typically characterized as small farms producing diverse agriculture (such as tobacco, cotton, etc.) operated by free slaves, which switched upon the introduction of sugar monoculture, into densely populated, large plantations, producing only sugar, and operated by slave labour.(Higman. B.W, The Sugar Revolution; p. 213-236). The plantation slave labour system presents an interesting social change, where a master and slave relationship emerges with societal interaction which is different than before, in that it is a forced relationship that was fully created through the plantation social structure. The mixing of white and black in colonies where intermarriage and concubinary existed, resulted in Mulatto children, whom were considered to be the in-between, although inferior to each race of the class distinction. Stereotypical notions of intelligence and sexuality were developed within this structure, based on the various levels of skin colour. For example, black women were thought of as sexually aggressive, mothering, and passionate; whites were thought of as graceful and intelligent (note nothing of sexuality is remarked about,) mulattoes were thought of as strong, intelligent, beautiful and very sexual. If it were not for the use of black concubines, this social structure would not have