Slavery began in the mid-fifteenth century when the Portuguese shipped slaves from Africa to work on the sugar plantations. This leads to Columbus bringing sugar to Hispaniola and creating plantations there. To work the plantations, colonists begin importing African slave since all of the Indians had been killed in warfare. The demand of sugar in Europe starts to rise becoming available for both rich and poor. To keep up with this demand England and France start seeking West Indian sugar colonies. England creates Barbados and the French turn Martinique into high profitable sugar colonies. By 1655 the English take over the islands of Jamaica and in 1670 the French took control over Hispaniola and renamed it to Saint Domingue. At this point Caribbean
