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Barbados 1625 -1687
Barbados began planting sugar in 1640. Learning from Brazilian plantation increased production resulted in 1700% growth in wealth. The slave population of the island increased from 6,000 in 1645 to 40,00 in 1667 (Guerra y Sanchez, 1964) . The Barbados slave Act of 1661 implies slaves are Chattel (Dunn, 1972). -
Sugar - Driver of the Slave Trade
Sugar- sweeter, more powerful, and more deadly than gold. Unlike gold, sugar could be grown, it provide the possibility of unlimited wealth
Life expectancy for an enslaved worker on early sugar plantation was seven years. Mortality rates were 3o percent
The amount of the worlds sugar produced by enslaved Africans in 1787 was 90 percent
Ships carried 80,000 tons of sugar in 1720, 200,000 tons of sugar in 1770 and 175,000,000 tons of sugar in 1800.
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San Domingo - Haiti
The most profitable colony the world has ever known; to the casual eye the most flourishing and prosperous possession on the face of the globe; to the analyst a society torn by inner and outer contradictions which in four years would split that structure into so many pieces that they could never be put back together again (James, 1963, p. 57). Toussaint L'Ouveture led the black people in a revolt that gained thier freedom and established the first independent Caribbean Nation. -
