Black History Month October celebrates abolition of slaves whose wealth enrich G7 Western Europe and America but deprived slaves of their dignity and long life so slaves became traumatized.
Triangular trade from Europe on ships to Africa to Carribean to America back to Europe. G7 member nations enslaved Africans. Belgian King Leopold invited them jointly to divide and own Africa.
Almost a thousand years black slavery continued despite official abolition law. Slavery produced sugar, cocoa, coffee, cotton for “triangle merchants” of slave trade in Britain, Africa and West Indies.
Triangle trips carried guns, goods from England to Africa for slaves from Africa to Caribbean. Sugar, coffee, cotton and rum to England for commercial slavery by supply and demand on plantations.
Atlantic crossing from Africa Middle Passage shows cruelties of plantations in the British Caribbean. Africans were herded on slave ships and branded with irons labels people property of owners.
Portuguese also built sugar plantations in 1550’s off the coast of their Brazilian settlement colony, located on the island Sao Vincente. Portuguese and Spanish colonial presence in Caribbean Iberian Peninsula wealth cultivated cash crops.
The economic boom of these plantations began colonizing remaining American territories to capitalize on the lucrative cultivation and trade of native’s natural resources. Sugar is the most important crop in Caribbean but other crops such as coffee, indigo, wheat and rice grown.
The coastal sugae cane was best grown on the flat land near coastal waters as the soil was naturally yellow and fertile. The mountainous parts of islands were used for sugarcane cultivation industry.
The coastal placement of commercial ports gave imperial states a geographic advantage to ship the crop throughout the transatlantic world. Sugar Slavery trading of the Africans highly profitable not paying slaves for enforced labour.
Slaves lived in appalling conditions but masters indulged in excessive luxury by toils of slaves. Triangular trade profits prospered the West but underdeveloped blacks made poor despite the hardwork.
Manufactured goods were traded to the West African coast for slaves, who were shipped to the sugar colonies by middle passage. Sugar, molasses, rum, shipped from these islands back into England.
Sugar was the main crop produced on plantations throughout Caribbean in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Most of the islands were covered with sugar cane fields and mills for refining sugar.
The main source of labour was enslaved Africans. After the abolition of slavery, indentured labourers from India, China, Java migrated to Caribbean to work on sugar plantations. Plantations produced 80 – 90% sugar used in Western Europe.
Sugar enabled slave labour for profits with tragic consequences in Caribbean. Imperial powers forced West Africans to cultivate sugar by slaves. Exploited labour, natural world created imperial conflicts in these Caribbean regions.
Use political and economic control they create to divide and rule people policy of animosity. Conflicts among English, Spanish, French and various indigenous people was used for territorial gain.
European states exploited environment, resources so sugar production began to stagnate. Due loss of trees for timber in the sugar refinement process, European imperial powers competed and fought over Caribbean in middle 17th century.
European settlers’ entry into Caribbean world caused changes. The indigenous populations died due to influx of world diseases of colonists. Population losses from 8.4 – 112.5 millions of these native populations cleared way for plantation industry and less conflict for Europeans and all these indigenous peoples too
Colonial arrival of sugar cane culture impact societie’s economy in Caribbean. Increased ratio of slaves to freemen and increased the sizes of slave plantations. Sugar plantation use of slaves affected cash crop economies in cultivation. The large plantations with the slaves Africa imported worked on plantations.
Prior to 1650 three-quarters of island’s population was of European descent. In 1680 plantation in Barbados increased to about 60 slaves. So sugar plantations expanded transatlantic trade prospers. In 1832, plantation in Jamaica had 150 slaves one in four lived with 250 slaves.
About 100 years, Barbados was richest European colony in Caribbean region. Then sugar cane production expanded to larger colonies Saint-Domingue and Jamaica. Mass sugar industry sugarcane processed commodities: rum, molasses, and falernum. West India Interest was formed in 1740s by British merchants to West Indian sugar planters.
British and West Indies shared profits or costs. needs. This first sugar-trading company was powerful in Parliament. In 1740s Jamaica and Saint Domingue or Haiti world’s main sugar producers.
Increased production in St. Domingue used irrigation system French engineers built. Reservoirs, diverted dam levees aqueducts and canals. Improved mills and varieties of cane and grasses helped increase profits. St. Domingue in 19th century Haiti and Cuba sugar plantation Caribbean did better than British island.
In the 19th century, sugar dominated Martinique, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Croix, Barbados, Leeward Islands, Saint Domingue, Cuba, and other island run by French, British, or Spanish owners. During late 19th and 20th centuries the sugar cane industry dominated Puerto Rico‘s economy by colonial rule of Spain and under United States.
After slavery, sugar plantation labour was workers imported from colonial India, Southern China. In 20th century, large-scale sugar production using wage labour continued in many parts of the region. Sugar cane industry’s negative impact affected the environment as this industry grew in Caribbean countries.
These include the destruction of forests, water pollution, loss of fertility, erosion of soils. These problems on a different scale in Dominican Republic in the 16th century; Lesser Antilles in 17th century; Jamaica, Haiti in 18th century, Cuba and Puerto Rico in 19th century. The nations impacted by sugar on the environment.
The deterioration natural environment, had socio-economic consequences. And took its toll on Africans an integral part to cultivation, production of sugarcane. Slaves toiled in fields, boiling houses to supply huge amounts of labour sugar required. Four million slaves survived Caribbean sugar plantations.
Conditions were harsh, mortality rates high through all stages of slaves’ lives. Some sugar colonie’s slave population ten times less than the European slave uprisings ever-present fear of planters. Slave trading highly profitable triangle of trade of Atlantic manufactured goods traded to West African coast for slaves shipped to sugar colonies of the middle passage and sugar, molasses, and rum were shipped from islands to England.
Slavery in England deemed illegal since 1772. The slavery in sugar colonies was vigorously pursued in Parliament and publication throughout last quarter of eighteenth century to time of abolition of trade in 1807, emancipation in 1833.
Abolitionists arguments against slavery was support in England and in America. Abolitionist movement boycotted slave-grown sugar by protests is celebrated as key component of abolition’s success.
Boycott from writings to educate sugar is derived from blood, sweat and tears of slaves pollutes the body. The planters by prospect of abolition emancipation, attack on their financial interests, place in empire argued in favour of slavery.
William Beckford, large-scale Jamaican planter wrote about the island unable to inherited plantation debt. Plantations profit dwindled by later plantation era so planters were compensated for their loss of earnings. Slaves never received compensations, restitution or apology.
Instead suffer racism from the people who sent ships thousand of miles to drag them from their homeland into strange lands. Many slaves after the wars were sent from America to Liberia and Sierra Leone in western Africa.
It was a problem their roots could not be traced having been renamed by force despite protests of Kunta Kinte. Natives discriminated against them because they were not indigenous citizens. And residue from slavery and colonialism is institutional racism still directed black people today.
Invincible chain of slavery, colonialism racism hatred propaganda promote the harassment of black people. Western countries built by slave labour, natural resources usurped controlled by West. African economies are still owned by Western nations exploiting resources. Yet conqueror parasites play the victim despite depending on African slavery and ccolonialism. Kings like Prempeh exiled to Sierra Leone and Seychelles for resisting slavery and colonialism.
Nelson Mandela was incarcerated many years others like Lumumba killed for fighting back. Kwame Nkrumah was toppled by coup detat directed by West replaced by stooges to control Africans. Africans enslaved and those colonised are both victims of the West exploiting them. African resources: diamond, gold, in Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Songhai empire Mansa Musa Aldrisi supersized gold tied to horse taken by whites. Gold abundant it was dished out freely to loyal citizens. Gold taken over as diamonds. Africans did not gain from slavery to enrich the kings as people claim. But stripped of natural resources owned by Western countries. Africa never had economic independence is still controlled by the Western nations today. West markets all finished goods processed from natural resources from Africa back to Africans. Forced dependency on West sabotages Africa’s self-sufficiency stops revenues of multibillions of dollars for the West. Average person consumes 24 kilograms (53 lb) of sugar a year or 33.1 kilograms (73 lb) in Western developed countries, over 260 food calories per day. As sugar consumption grew in the 20th century, a diet high in refined sugar damages human health. Excessive consumption causes obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and tooth decay. The World Health Organization recommend adults and children reduce their intake of sugar to less than 10% encouraged to reduce to below 5%, total energy intake.