With the increasing demand for food and durable goods, most of which were imported from England as per the Navigation Acts, made it possible for English existing and new industries to grow rapidly. Massive quantities of commodities were exported to Barbados on a yearly on board English ships. On July 23, 1653, during a council meeting at Whitehall, the council permitted for to export a number of desired good to Barbados annually. The list included “12,000 doz. of shoes, there being at least 25,000 Christians in the island; shirts, drawers, caps, arms, ammunition, horses, tools and implements, all sorts of provisions and liquors.” The annual exports of goods are likely to have increased as the number …show more content…
The ship building industry had to manufacture bigger and better vessels to accommodate more slaves and cargo. This demand allowed the ship building manufacturers to employ more workers, purchase more ship materials from other factories and obtain credit from banks or raise funds from investors in the absence of working capital. It has been estimated that 3.4 million or more African slaves were transported to the Americas aboard English commissioned ships. Most if not all of these vessels were built by English companies at English shipyards. The materials for the manufacturing of the vessels were likely to have been manufactured by other English factories. Even if the shipyards imported some of the materials from Europe and other places, they were likely to have generated profits when the vessels were sold. Undoubtedly, the ship building industry was one of the most profitable industries of the period. By 1653, “at least 100 vessels employed to the English plantations.” At this point, merchants sponsored at least two hundreds voyages per annual to Barbados to deliver slaves and products, and to bring back to England loads of muscovado sugar, refined sugar, molasses, rum and other tropical products. From 1640 to 1700, the records from the 132,172, entered Barbados on abroad 471 voyages on at least 237 …show more content…
There are several factors that contributed to the demise of Barbados as the major sugar production, one of which was the restrictions imposed on colonies under the Navigation Acts which prohibited the colonies from trading directly with England’s enemies and required that all goods imported to the colonies must arrived onboard ships commissioned by England. The planters saw profits sharply reduced because the prices of sugar on the global market as a result of the economic calamity of the period. The fertile soil of Barbados conducive for the harvesting of the sugar plant was showing signs of exhaustion and the devastation of crops caused by the caterpillars and worms