BRITISH CONTROL OF THE SUGAR COLONIES IN THE WEST INDIES

British control of the sugar colonies in the West Indies

British control of the sugar colonies in the West Indies

Introduction

Today there is a raging debate, about whether or not the empire was a positive or negative experience. According to some historians, the motive for the British expansion was in search of raw materials and cheaper labour. The sugar colonies survived because of a large supply of forced migration of African slaves, who together with the indigenous population of the West Indies formed the labour force on the sugar plantations. Britain acquired territory in the West Indies through force from the Spanish explorers and it was perceived as Catholic versus Protestant war. For many of the “British West Indian Colonies were organised to produce wealth not contentment”. The majority of the British that arrived in the West Indies sought wealth as quickly as possible and very often lacked reputable position in Britain. The lack of a comfortable position and wealth in Britain meant the main driving force, for migrating to the West Indies was to accumulate wealth at any cost in order to return to Britain wealthy. The aim of this essay is to evaluate West Indian society at the time of the forced migration African slaves and the arrival of the British colonizers.

Discussion

The Atlantic slave trade was the capture and transport of black Africans into bondage and servitude in the New World. The slaves were one element of a three-part economic cycle—the Triangular Trade and its infamous Middle Passage—which ultimately involved four continents, four centuries and the lives and fortunes of millions of people.

Records of the era were kept erratically, if at all, but contemporary historians estimate some 12 million individuals were taken from west Africa to North, Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands by European colonial powers.

Origins

The slave trade originated in a shortage of labour in the new world. The first slaves used were Native American people, but they were not numerous enough and were being decimated by European diseases. It was also impossible to convince enough Europeans to immigrate to the colonies, despite attempts at coercive tactics such as indentured servitude. The massive amounts of labour were needed for mining, but especially for the growing of sugar This article deals with sugar as food and as an important, widely traded commodity; the word also has other uses; see Sugar (disambiguation A sugar is a form of carbohydrate; the most commonly used sugar is a white crystalline solid, sucrose; used to alte. Sugar could not be grown profitably in Europe, but the prized commodity grew well in the warmer areas of New World. Growing sugar was an extremely labour intensive process. To meet this demand for labour European traders thus turned to Western Africa, especially Guinea is a traditional name for the region of Africa that lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It stretches north through the forested, tropical, regions and ends at the ...