Soon after Europeans colonized these islands, it was discovered that sugarcane grew very well in this region. Originally the sugarcane industry was so profitable due to the use of slavery on the fields. This leads to the argument that cash crops led to the increase of slavery.
What is the relationship between slavery and cotton?
Growing more cotton meant an increased demand for slaves. Slaves in the Upper South became incredibly more valuable as commodities because of this demand for them in the Deep South. They were sold off in droves. This created a Second Middle Passage, the second largest forced migration in America’s history.
What is the relationship between the industrial revolution and slavery?
Slavery provided the raw material for industrial change and growth. The growth of the Atlantic economy was an integral part of the growth of exports – for example manufactured cotton cloth was exported to Africa.
Why was cash cropping so popular in Africa?
Without Russia funding wars against capitalist America in Africa, most African states have turned to the exploitation of their natural resources with borrowed money and ideas from the West. And since they have very little to export save their rare minerals or petroleum, Africans continue the colonial tradition of cash cropping.
How did cash crop colonialism undermine African agriculture?
Evaggelos Vallianatos shows how cash-crop colonialism has undermined African agriculture. Now is the time for a return to indigenous food plants. In 1769, J. H. Bernardin de Saint Pierre, a French royal officer, said he was not so sure that coffee and sugar were ‘really essential to the comfort of Europe’.
Why did Sugar grow as a cash crop?
Sugar also did not have the nutritional value to be a staple crop for local consumers, like wheat or rice. Instead it was a supplemental, luxury good that had to be grown for a widespread consumer base to become a profitable cash crop. This launched a demand for long-distance trade networks, as well as significant labor and land resources.
How did slavery affect the economy of the New World?
Slave labor and the African slave trade formed the backbone of the American colonial economy. Discuss the historical trend of slavery, the increasing demand for slave labor in the New World, and the various groups that resisted slavery
