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Class 16-Plantation Economy

The document discusses the concept of a plantation economy, which is characterized by large-scale agricultural production reliant on enslaved labor, particularly in the context of cash crops like sugar and cotton. It details the transatlantic slave trade, the conditions faced by enslaved Africans during transport, and the economic exploitation of both Africa and the New World to support European industrialization. The document also highlights the historical significance of sugar cultivation and the shift in sugar production methods following the abolition of slavery.

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Yohance JA solomon
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12 views2 pages

Class 16-Plantation Economy

The document discusses the concept of a plantation economy, which is characterized by large-scale agricultural production reliant on enslaved labor, particularly in the context of cash crops like sugar and cotton. It details the transatlantic slave trade, the conditions faced by enslaved Africans during transport, and the economic exploitation of both Africa and the New World to support European industrialization. The document also highlights the historical significance of sugar cultivation and the shift in sugar production methods following the abolition of slavery.

Uploaded by

Yohance JA solomon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Mrs. K.

Maharaj CSEC English B Anansi- Alistair Campbell

PLANTATION ECONOMY
 It is important to understand what a plantation economy is because this is the
type of economy that fuelled slavery and exploited African slaves as a source of
“free” labour.

 A plantation economy is an economy based on agricultural mass production,


usually of a few commodity crops.

 Crops are grown on large farms and worked by labourers or slaves.

 They relied on the export of cash crops as a source of income. Prominent crops
included cotton. Rubber, sugar cane, tobacco and rice.

 The larger a crop’s harvest period, the more efficient plantations became.

 This type of economy was purely based on ECONOMIC TURNOVER.

 Plantation economies are factory-like, industrialised and centralised forms of


agriculture owned by large corporations or affluent owners.

 Enslaved Africans were transported from Africa by European slavers/slave traders


to Europe’s colonies in the Western hemisphere.

 They were shipped from ports in West Africa to the New World. The journey from
Africa across the Atlantic Ocean was called “The Middle Passage”.

 An estimated 10 million Africans were brought to the Americas with only about 6%
ending up in North American colonies while the majority were taken to the
Caribbean colonies and South America.

 A reason many did not make it to the colonies at all was because of disease and
illness. Underneath the slave ship’s decks, Africans were held chest to chest and
could not do much moving.

 There was waste and urine throughout the Hold which caused the captives to get
sick and die of illnesses that could not be cured. Their bodies were subsequently
dumped overboard.

 As the plantation economy expanded, the slave trade grew to meet the growing
demand for labour.

 Western Europe was the final destination for the plantation produce.

 At this time, Europe was starting to industrialise and it needed a lot of materials to
manufacture goods.

 Being the power centre of the world at the time, they exploited the New World
(North America and South America). The label came about in the wake of
European voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. It was called The New World
because these two continents were discovered in the late 15 th century, so to
Europeans, these lands were new compared to the older civilisations.

 The New World and Africa provided “services” to fuel Europe’s industrialisation.

 Africa supplied slaves for the plantation and the New World produced raw
materials for industries in Europe.
Mrs. K. Maharaj CSEC English B Anansi- Alistair Campbell

 Manufactured goods, of higher value were then sold both to Africa and the New
World.

 The system was largely run by European merchants.

 Sugar has a long history as a plantation crop. The cultivation of sugar had to
follow a precise scientific system to profit from the production. Sugar plantations
everywhere were disproportionate consumers of about, often enslaved because of
the high death rate of slaves.

 The slaves working the sugar plantation were caught in an unceasing rhythm of
arduous labour year after year.

 With the 19th-century abolition of slavery, plantations continued to grow sugar


cane, but sugar beets, which can be grown in temperate climates, increased their
share of the sugar market.

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