Tobacco Cultivation and the switch to Sugar.
We have earlier learnt that Columbus and the Europeans upon coming to the New World
occupied the Greater Antilles because of
 It offered more resources such as gold.
 The waring Kalinago resisted their occupation in the Lesser Antilles and chased
them out.
 The English occupied the Lesser Antilles challenging Spain in 16th century.
The Spanish were too busy mining gold to concentrate fully on agriculture. They simply
grew food for themselves, seized the indigenous people’s food OR brought cattle to the
New World to offer meat.
Tropical Crops grown for Export in Caribbean
o
Cotton-Worn by Tainos. Grown for profit by English when they came. Degraded too
quickly by pests, weevil. Insufficient sales. Low demand. Preferred wool.
o
Cocoa-Used by Mayan people. Exported by Spanish as beverage & confectionery
1783-1870. Declined with competition in 1800s and 1900s.
o
Coffee-Got competition from tea. Introduced into Martinique. Grown extensively in
St Domingue before Haitian Revolution. Little profit.
o
Logwood/Mahogany-Produced in Belize (British Honduras). Enslaved Africans
brought in to cut wood 1724. Gangs of axers, huntsmen, cattlemen. It was too bulky.
o
Tobacco -sold by Spanish and introduced by indigenous people. 1st export crop of
the English in the Lesser Antilles. Said that English chose to have colonies here to
grow their own tobacco themselves and cut out middleman.
o
Sugar-replaced tobacco and introduced Africans as slaves to the Caribbean
TOBACCO Tobacco seemed to be the ideal crop having experimented with some of crops
named above
 Fashionable to smoke.
 Tobacco had no issues about insufficient demand, bulky.
 The ideal crop had to be small or high priced or high demand or nonperishable (not
spoiling easily to make a profit.
Advantages of Tobacco:
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It was not perishable once leaves cured.
A good quality could be stored in small packages for transport.
It was easy to grow with as few labourers as possible: family
It did not need a large investment in machinery, buildings or livestock.
Smoking tobacco was fashionable among the rich in Europe.
 Tobacco could be sold to merchants for ready money quickly and ready crops
cultivated.
WHY THE SWITCH TO SUGAR? THE SUGAR REVOLUTION 1640
Sugar cane had now overtaken tobacco as more profitable and in 1640 there was a Sugar
Revolution.
Competition from Virginia’s tobacco-Tobacco’s demand was declining since they now had
competition from cheaper and better quality sugar from Virginia USA. Larger plantations,
Virginia was shipping 225,300 kilos annually to England while St Kitts and Barbados jointly
shipped 45,300 kgs. Even the Dutch gave West Indian tobacco competition since they
were also selling tobacco at Araya in Venezuela and later Curacao. It made no sense to
switch to sugar.
Change in tastes- Sugar was in high demand since Europeans found honey becoming too
expensive and wanted a substitute as a tea sweetener.
A glut on tobacco market-Too much tobacco was being produced. The English and French
was now planting it enthusiastically causing a glut in the market where supply began to be
more than demand.
Assistance from the Dutch “Foster fathers”-The Portuguese expelled the Dutch from
Brazil and the Dutch sailed up to the eastern Caribbean (Barbados) as refugees bringing
with them their expertise, knowledge of technology, capital, machinery in sugar
production and a large supply of labour. They offered this to the West Indies. They
were the only ones with experience and equipment. Whilst the Spanish did bring sugarcane
to the New World Caribbean, they could not afford to set up factories.
SUGAR REVOLUTION 1640:
Was the above a change? A transformation? A revolution?
QUESTIONS:
1, Besides sugar and tobacco, list some of the tropical crops that were experimented with
in the Caribbean.
2.Why was cotton no longer the export crop?
3. List one reason that tobacco chosen as the export crop and not lumber.
4. Give three (3) other reasons why tobacco was the crop of choice.
5. Explain four reasons why the shift to sugar was made.
6. IN YOUR opinion why do you think this switch was known as a Sugar “Revolution?”