Assess the contributions of the Dutch to the development of the Caribbean.
The incorporation of the Dutch into the Caribbean during the latter half of the 16th century and early 17th century came on the heels of them seeing the prosperous economic opportunities at the time dominated by the Spanish. In the Caribbean, the Dutch concentrated on wrestling from Portugal its grip on the sugar and slave trade through attacks on the Spanish treasure fleets on their homeward bound voyages.
Though the prime and most active time for the Dutch in the Caribbean lasted for about one hundred years, they were able to damage the monopoly the Spanish blissfully enjoyed by their; privateering attacks this created a diversion so that the English and French
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According to the Dutch innovators, sugar was best grown on land that was near the coast where the soil was naturally yellow and fertile. The sugar colonies of Barbados and Jamaica grew to become jewels of the British Empire during the 1700s. The sugar cultivated on the plantations sweetened the teas of Europeans in the 17th century.
Evidently, sugar needed capital which the small planters of the eastern Caribbean did not have, but the Dutch came to the rescue by supplying credit. A Dutch merchant would put up the capital on the security of the crop. In this way many planters started. The Dutch took over the export and sale of the crops in return for providing the initial capital. Here we see the Dutch concocting a deal with planters who are not entirely financially equip to sustain a sugar plantation by offering loans on credit to planters in return the Dutch exported and sold the cultivated sugar back to Europe.
Furthermore, early sugar plantations had an extensive use of slaves because sugar was considered as a cash crop, and it was most efficiently grown on large plantations with many workers. As a result, slaves were imported from Africa to work on the sugar plantations, the Dutch responded to the needs of the plantations in the Caribbean by supplying the labor that was needed following the failure of previous labor systems used on the British and French colonies such as the use of indigenous
The colonies didn't quite meet the required conditions for cane sugar to grow, but it seemed to work out. In document 2, it states the cane sugar needs at least 80-90 inches of rain water. How did they do this when Jamaica and Barbados did not meet the requirements in climate? Well, it is simple, and it appears that they would've had to water the canes in order for them to grow, and in Barbados, maybe they even mixed the soil. This most likely made the job
In doc. 1, a map is shown. This map shows all of the islands and larger land masses that are perfect for the growing of sugarcane in central America. Many countries decided to take advantage of this and made central America the capital of the sugar trade. Thousands of plantations took root and out of them came the flourishing sugar trade. Without the fertile land, the trade would never have started and because of the land, the sugar trade was driven forward to become an enormous industry. To continue, in document 2 it shows just how perfect the land was for growing sugar cane. The climates of two islands, Jamaica and Barbados are almost exactly alike to the ideal climate for growing. In that same region there were tens of more islands, all perfect for growing sugar. Without this perfect land and climate, the sugar trade would never have developed or driven forward and without the sugar trade, England would never have become the global empire that it
To start, in Brazil the Portuguese become convinced that full-scale exploitation of the land was imperative for the safety of their entire overseas empire. Sugar cultivation was the ideal crop to guarantee the existence of a profitable colony. As a result, the Portuguese dominated the Atlantic slave trade. Various slaves from different parts of Africa were brought to Brazil and experienced difficult working and in living
The rise of sugar as a commodity in England situated England as the world’s leading consumer. The increasing popularity of coffeehouses among middle-class English people, as well the introduction of tea from China, fueled the counties. England’s growing interest in coffee and tea greatly increased the demand for sugar leading to a significant effect on Africa and its people. The high English demand for sugar required land to expand sugar plantations, and an efficient source of labor to produce, creating a connection between all three. For example, if there was not enough demand, there would have been no point in planting sugar and if cheap labor could not be obtained, it would not be worth doing so on such a large scale because it would have been expensive and unprofitable. Since they had all these contributing factors in their favor the British were able to gain profit from sugar plantations, which worked as a significant contributor towards their economy. To meet the land requirements the British picked their Caribbean colonies because of their control of that region and its climate. After finding the land for plantations, England had to find the source of labor to work these plantations. The English turned into Africa for cheap slave labor. The British had tried the local Caribbeans to work on the plantations but these people were already affected by the diseases that were brought to the area by Europeans. As a result, there were not many Caribbean people to work the
By the mid-1500s in Spanish Caribbean islands and Portuguese Brazil, colonists had turned to the quick and highly profitable cultivation of sugar, a crop that required constant attention and exhausting labour. They tried to recruit native Americans, but many were sick and eventually died from diseases brought by Europeans, such as smallpox, diphtheria, and
When the Americas were just beginning to form, spirits accelerated their colonialism. At first, sugarcane production was introduced to the Western Indies or Caribbean Islands by Christopher Columbus. The West Indies land was not suitable to grow wine vines or grains for beer, instead Columbus introduced sugar canes to the Indies, creating a major sugar plantation in the West
Although there are many more factors that could be taken into account I believe that the increase in demand for sugar, the low price of slaves in West Africa, and the amount of islands under British control with tropical weather are the main reasons why the sugar trade was
The sugar trade succeeded due to the increasing demand for the product, along with the advent of European colonization of the Caribbean, and the use of slavery as an efficient workforce. The rise in demand for sugar was partially a result of the addictive properties it had, which caused people to want more of it. The islands on which the Europeans were colonizing were ideal for the growth of cane sugar, the plant that is processed into the finished sugar product. With the use of slaves, the production of sugar was happening at a much quicker and cheaper rate than before, thus creating more sugar to supply the demand. During the sixteenth century, the Europeans colonized the Caribbean islands, which were perfect for running sugar plantations.
Due to the efforts to colonize the Caribbean islands, by 1750 they were almost all owned by Spain, France, or England, meaning these countries now had access to and control over this area that they did not previously; they took advantage of this newfound power (Doc 1). Sugar requires a specific climate to grow plentifully (i.e. 68°-90°F) and this was something the Caribbean islands provided the Europeans with; if European countries had not had taken control in the Caribbean islands the sugar industry would not have survived (Doc 2). At this time, the Caribbean islands were the only location that the Europeans had access to that provided the correct climate. The landscape was ideal and led to a high crop yield and without it the consumers would be at a loss (Doc 8). Through the 1700s and into the 1800s, in Barbados, Jamaica, Saint-Domingue, and Cuba, sugar production rates escalated, but this vast increase was made possible only by the natural conditions of the Caribbean islands (Doc 10).
Because of Britain’s colonies’ land and climates, they were more efficiently producing sugar. Britain had a perfect trade route for trading sugar, and had two particular places that were perfect for growing/making sugar (Doc 1), which were Jamaica and Barbados. Jamaica and Barbados had the perfect setting for sugar making. They had the correct temperature, latitude, soil, and rainfall amounts (Doc 2). The land was a sugar making machine. Because of Jamaica, Barbados, and their trading route, Britain had an advantage in the Sugar Trade. They could grow sugar in places where others couldn’t even get close to the right setting.
Sugar has been a staple in the diets of Europeans for centuries. From desserts to tea, sugar has been added to everything. While it is unhealthy in large doses, the demand for the saccharide does not falter. Before sugar could be mass produced by machines, much of the labor was done by slaves. While this benefitted white Europeans, they were the only ones to have profited from this new sugar craze. The African population suffered immensely from the sugar industry as the working conditions of sugar plantations were brutal and they had no civil rights as slaves.
We first look at the advent of slavery and the main propulsion of it. As the trade routes opened, new types of items were found and shared in new countries. Two of the most wanted and profitable crops were sugar and tobacco. In order to grow the large amounts of these crops many people were needed and in order to secure a profit, instead of paying people to work,
Large amount of land and labor were required in the Tobacco agriculture. At first, these workers were mainly come from England itself and the promise of land attracted many workers. Later, the industry of Tobacco spread from Caribbean to Virginia. As a reason, colonists spread from one colony to another. At that time, the Dutch slave traders enslaved Africans to fill the needs of labor. This model was followed by the English. Many Africans became slave involuntarily and the first African slaves arrived in mainland North America in late August of 1619 when a ship carrying slaves from Africa docked in Jamestown, Virginia. They were different from indentured workers by their endless term of service.
By the mid-sixteenth century, Portugal had succeeded in establishing a sugar economy in parts of the colony's northeastern coast. Sugar production, the first large-scale colonial agricultural enterprise, was made possible by a series of favorable conditions. Portugal had the agricultural and manufacturing know-how from its
The Sugar became population in the West Indies. The English, French colonies who settled Caribbean island such as St.kitts in the early 16th grew tobacco in order to make money. For a little while they were able to make the profit. However by 1640’s the faced different competition from tobacco grower in virgina had certain advantages which are virgiana had large lots of fertile land. Virginia tobacco was cheaper and the quality was better. The English and French colonists found themselves in quandary as virgana tobacco was out selling their tobacco which meant they earned less money. Tobacco prices fell. the abundance of tobacco governs caused a glut on the