Caribbean History From
Colonialism to Independence
AM217
David Lambert
Lecture: Sugar revolutions
Tuesday 27th October,
11am-12pm
Sugar revolutions
1. The circum-Atlantic world
2. Precursors to the Caribbean plantation and
early experiments
3. European settlement of the eastern Caribbean
4. Case study: The ‘sugar revolution’ in
Barbados
5. Later ‘sugar revolutions’
The circum-Atlantic world
As it emerged from the revolutionizied economies of the late
seventeenth century, this world resembled a vortex in which
commodities and cultural practices changed hands many times.
The most revolutionary commodity in this economy was human
flesh… [S]lave labour produced huge quantities of the addictive
substances (sugar, coffee, tobacco, and – most insidiously –
sugar and chocolate in combination) that transformed the world
economy and financed the industrial revolution…The concept of a
circum-Atlantic world…insists on the centrality of the diasporic
and genocidal histories of Africa and the Americas, North and
South, in the creation of the culture of modernity. In this sense, a
New World was not discovered in the Caribbean, but one was
truly invented there.
Joseph Roach, Cities of the Dead (1996), p. 4, emphasis added.
The Caribbean in the
circum-Atlantic world, c. 1750
‘Sugar revolution’
The term ‘sugar revolution’ has been used for decades to
describe the transformations brought about by sugar, slavery,
and plantations. According to historian Stuart B. Schwartz, as
the sugar plantation complex moved westward into the
Caribbean, it brought with it traditions of ‘close attention to
economies of scale’ and ‘the institution of regimented gang labor
for slaves.’ In all locales, he concludes, ‘the result of the process
was a rapid transformation of the regions, often from white or
indigenous to black population, from small farms to large
plantations, from sparse to intensive settlement, and from small
farmers and free workers to slaves’.
Hilary Beckles, ‘Servants and Slaves during the 17th-Century
Sugar Revolution’, 2011, p. 207.
‘Planting’ Ireland
Sugar cane
Voyages of Columbus, 1492-1504
16th-century sugar plantation in Hispaniola
The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
Piracy and privateering
Settlement of eastern Caribbean
St. Kitts, 1624
Settlement of eastern Caribbean
Barbados, 1627
Settlement of eastern Caribbean
Montserrat and
Antigua, 1627
Settlement of eastern Caribbean
Nevis, 1628
Settlement of eastern Caribbean
Curaçao, 1634
Settlement of eastern Caribbean
Guadeloupe, 1635
Settlement of eastern Caribbean
Martinique, 1635
Barbados
Barbados, 1627
The ‘sugar revolution’ in Barbados
1536 – Portuguese navigators ‘discover’ an uninhabited island.
They name it ‘Barbados’ but did not colonise it
1627 – English colonists arrive with the intention of establishing a
permanent settlement there
1641 – sugarcane cultivation introduced from Brazil
The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
The ‘sugar revolution’ in Barbados
1536 – Portuguese navigators ‘discover’ an uninhabited island.
They name it ‘Barbados’ but did not colonise it
1627 – English colonists arrive with the intention of establishing a
permanent settlement there
1641 – sugarcane cultivation introduced from Brazil
1647 – first sugar sent from island to England
The creation of plantations
The rise of sugarcane monoculture
This Island is one of the Riches Spotes of ground in the
wordell and fully inhabited. But ware the pepell Sutabell to
the Illand it ware not to be compared: it is a most rich soile,
all wayes Grone and baring fruit, and the Chefest
commoditie…they now plant is Shuger…
[This Island is one of the Richest Spots of ground in the
world and fully inhabited. If the population were suitable to
the island, it would be beyond compare: it is a most rich
soil, always growing and bearing fruit, and the chief
commodity…they now plant is Sugar…]
Henry Whistler (1654) quoted in R. Sheridan, Sugar and
slavery (1973), p. 124.
The expansion of plantations
(map of Barbados, mid 17th century)
The ‘sugar revolution’ in Barbados
1536 – Portuguese navigators ‘discover’ an uninhabited island.
They name it ‘Barbados’ but do not colonise it
1627 – English colonists arrive with the intention of establishing a
permanent settlement there
1641 – sugarcane cultivation introduced from Brazil
1647 – first sugar sent from island to England
The ‘sugar revolution’ in Barbados
1536 – Portuguese navigators ‘discover’ an uninhabited island.
They name it ‘Barbados’ but do not colonise it
1627 – English colonists arrive with the intention of establishing a
permanent settlement there
1641 – sugarcane cultivation introduced from Brazil
1647 – first sugar sent from island to England
c. 1660 – enslaved Africans form majority of the population
Number
Population of Barbados, 1655-1830
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
1655
1705
1755
1805
Year
Whites
Slaves
Free people of colour
The ‘sugar revolution’ in Barbados
1536 – Portuguese navigators ‘discover’ an uninhabited island.
They name it ‘Barbados’ but do not colonise it
1627 – English colonists arrive with the intention of establishing a
permanent settlement there
1641 – sugarcane cultivation introduced from Brazil
1647 – first sugar sent from island to England
c. 1660 – enslaved Africans form majority of the population
1670s – 65% of all the sugar consumed in England produced in the
island
Bridgetown:
The busiest port in the Americas
Resistance to slavery in
17th century Barbados
The ‘sugar revolution’ in Barbados
1536 – Portuguese navigators ‘discover’ an uninhabited island.
They name it ‘Barbados’ but do not colonise it
1627 – English colonists arrive with the intention of establishing a
permanent settlement there
1641 – sugarcane cultivation introduced from Brazil
1647 – first sugar sent from island to England
c. 1660 – enslaved Africans form majority of the population
1670s – 65% of all the sugar consumed in England produced in the
island
1675 – a plot to overthrow slavery uncovered; the African
ringleaders executed
1687 – second plot uncovered
1692 – third plot uncovered
Barbados: A plantation society
• The ‘original and quintessential’ sugar colony (Michael
Craton, 1982).
• The society was dominated by plantations.
• The island’s plantation system provided a model that was
reproduced across in the Caribbean.
• By the end of the seventeenth century, Barbados had been
surpassed by Jamaica as England’s richest sugar colony.
Copying Barbados:
Guadeloupe and Martinique
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Later sugar revolutions: Jamaica
Jamaica
Later sugar revolutions: St. Domingue
St. Domingue
Later sugar revolutions: Grenada
Grenada
Later sugar revolutions:
Cuba and Puerto Rico
Cuba
Puerto
Rico
Mid-19th century Cuban plantations
Mid-19th century Cuban plantations
Mid-19th century Cuban plantations
The ‘repeating’ plantation
I think that the arrival and proliferation of the
plantations is the most important historical
phenomenon to have come about in the
Caribbean, to the extent that if it had not occurred
the islands of the region might today perhaps be
miniature replicas – at least in demographic and
ethnological terms – of the European nations that
colonized them.
Antonio Benítez-Rojo, The Repeating Island
(1992), pp 38-39.