Fifteen years after Columbus’ initial visit, Spanish colonists settled in St. Ann’s Bay Area. The area remained a poor colony until the British invaded and took the island over in 1655. On May 10, 1655 Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables led a successful attack on Jamaica. The Spaniards did not stand a chance and so they surrendered to the English and immediately fled to Cuba. The English settlers only concerned themselves with growing profitable crops that could be easily sold back in England. Out of all the crops that were grown, sugar quickly became the main crop, which led to hundreds of plantations to sprout up across Jamaica in the 18th century. With the use of all these new plantations, there was much need for labor and that was when the slave trade boomed in Jamaica. The slave trade became very profitable for the English colonists. The slaves, however, were