Slave Plantations In Haiti And Dominican Republic

Words: 1206
Pages: 5

The work done by slaves was long and difficult and for a while was done by the natives who were conquered through material advantages and local alliances. Labor shortage ensued due to the devastation of the Amerindian population. However, this did not damper the ambitions of Europeans to grow their empires. Soon slave labor was imported from Africa, particularly West Africa which was closer to the American coast. On the mainland, the Spanish and Portuguese had nearly decimated the native population, however on the islands, the native populations were completely wiped out. Hispaniola, today’s Haiti and Dominican Republic, was one of the most successful European colonies. After Spanish contact, there were no Amerindians to resist, making the …show more content…
Europe’s war capitalist ideals aided in the dependence of raw goods and forced labor, allowing for the growth of cotton plantations and the slave trade. The British were able to establish plantations in the 17th century and solidify the need for slaves in the Caribbean. Islands acquired by the British soon became drop-off points for slaves who immediately got to work tapping into the vast riches of the land. These drop-off points became small ports were slaves could be purchased and sold. Slaves arrived and were sent to other countries/territories in the region. These slaves were brought to the New World through the triangular trade. To keep up with popular demand of Caribbean goods, the Middle Passage was used to unwillingly transport enslaved Africans to British ports. Europeans living in the islands created sugar estates in hopes of building capital and growing rich. Those living in the Caribbean’s amounted debt to the creditors who gave them money to purchase land, slaves brought in were used to work the land and pay off the …show more content…
Slaves were used for all types of work from working as shopkeepers to agricultural works. They were crucial for the continuous thriving of the islands such as Jamaica and Barbados. Since plantations worked seasonally, there was a constant need for more slaves to work in planting, harvesting and tending to the crops which were ten transferred over to sugar factories were slaves worked on processing the goods and shipping them back to Britain. The British grew a dependence on the workforce and goods from the Caribbean and did all that it could to maintain the constant production that made their economy