Colonial Sugar Plantations

Colonial Sugar Plantations

British sugar plantation in Antigua, depicting the sugar cane grinding process.

During the colonial period many European nations took advantage of the favorable climate and environment for sugar production in the Caribbean. Sugar is still an extremely valuable crop to this day in the region, and the production process is extremely labor intensive. In order to lower prices and sustain increasing production quotas to feed growing markets in Europe plantations brought in many slaves from Africa to work in harsh conditions producing sugar. Sugar plantations developed a culture of their own surrounding the life cycle of sugar cane and its refining process, and there was a high likelihood that workers could be injured or even killed because of accidents or reprisals from overseers. Sugar was an extremely valuable crop and produced a variety of goods such as rum or molasses, and during the colonial period colonies such as Hispanola and other Caribbean islands were some of the most valuable colonial holdings for European nations.

William Clark

Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons

1823

Public Domain