Although sugar was the most important crop in the Caribbean, other crops such as coffee, indigo and rice were also grown.
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What did the British Empire get from the Caribbean?
After unsuccessful experiments with growing tobacco, the English colonists tried growing sugarcane in the Caribbean. This was not a local plant, but it grew well after its introduction. Sugarcane could be used to make various products. There was sugar, of course, which went well with tea, coffee and chocolate.
Why was the Caribbean so important to the British Empire?
It also revealed that Britain regarded the economic well being of the Caribbean colonies was more important than that of the American colonies. The small sugar islands were producing disproportionately more wealth for their size than any of the North American colonies.
What role did the Caribbean colonies play in the development of British North America?
As they fought for dominance in the Caribbean, their economies became increasingly dependent on the rich exports from the region, which helped finance further expansion and solidify British dominance in North America.
What did the West Indies produce?
They collected “country produce” from outlying farmers at their stores in exchange for imported goods: English cloth, iron, glass, and crockery; East Indian silk, tea, and spices; and West Indian sugar, molasses, rum, salt, fruit, and coffee.
What Caribbean islands were part of the British Empire?
The British West Indies (BWI) were the British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
What was the main economic crop produced by the British in Jamaica?
The sugar crop
The sugar cane plant was the main crop produced on the numerous plantations throughout the Caribbean during the 18th and 19th centuries.
What did the British contribute to Jamaica?
Jamaica also became one of Britain’s most-valuable colonies in terms of agricultural production, with dozens of processing centres for sugar, indigo, and cacao (the source of cocoa beans), although a plant disease destroyed much of the cacao crop in 1670–71.
How was the Caribbean formed?
The largest group of the Caribbean Islands were formed by volcanoes erupting from the ocean floor while many other islands broke off the North American continent millions of years ago. Several of the smaller islands are a result of coral buildup peeking through the ocean’s surface.
How did Jamaica become part of the British Empire?
England gained formal possession of Jamaica from Spain in 1670 through the Treaty of Madrid. Removing the pressing need for constant defence against Spanish attack, this change served as an incentive to planting.
How did the colonies benefit from the British Empire?
English institutions, such as the common law, property rights security, contract enforcement, and banking and trading practices provided a positive basis for economic growth in the colonies that has persisted.
What Caribbean nation was the first to gain independence?
Haiti
Haiti the former French colony of Saint-Domingue on Hispaniola, was the first Caribbean nation to gain independence from a European power in 1804.
When did the British came to the Caribbean?
The first Carribean islands to be settled by the British were St Kitts (1623/4) in the north-east and Barbados (1627) in the south-east corner of the Caribbean Basin. When this island filled up, English-speakers left for other locations, especially for Jamaica after it was taken by the British from the Spanish in 1660.
What products were traded from the West Indies to the thirteen colonies?
The West Indies supplied slaves, sugar, molasses and fruits to the American colonies.
What did the West Indies export?
By the 1770s, West Indian planters were exporting nearly 100,000 tons of sugar and 2 million gallons of rum to Britain and the North American colonies, the combined value of which reached almost £4 million.
What goods did the colonies in North America send to Europe?
The North American British colonies sent raw materials like rice, tobacco, and lumber to Europe. Europe sent manufactured goods and luxuries to North America. Europe also sent guns, cloth, iron, and beer to Africa in exchange fro gold, ivory, spices and hardwood.
What islands do Britain own?
The British overseas territories (formerly known as British dependent territories or Crown colonies) are: Anguilla; Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean Territory; British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands; St
Is Nevis part of the British Virgin Islands?
The British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the British Leeward Islands or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an administrator representing the British Government on the islands. The islands gained separate colony status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967 under the new post of Chief Minister.
What food did the British bring to Jamaica?
The British led the island from the year 1655 until we gained independence in 1962. They introduced breadfruit, otaheite apples, ackee, mangoes, rose apples, oranges, mandarin, turmeric, black pepper and coffee.
What popular beverage was made from the Barbados cash crop?
Pieter Blower was the first man to bring sugar cane to Barbados in 1637. Initially, it was only grown on a small scale and used as feed, or to create rum. However, with the weakening tobacco cash crop, in 1642 the Barbadian planters started to grow cane for use as sugar.
In which Caribbean island was the sugar Revolution most evident?
Barbados. The Sugar Revolution, as it is called, had momentous social, economic, and political consequences. The elite in Barbados chose a form of sugar production that yielded the greatest level of profit—but at great social cost.
