When looking at the history of labour in various Caribbean islands there is a noticeable shift from the use of white indentured servants to the use of African slaves. The reasons for using indentured servants, the changes that occurred in relation to indentured servants and the Sugar Revolution all contributed to the shift in the type of labour used in the Caribbean between the sixteenth and nineteenth century. When examining all of these elements, along with smaller factors, it becomes clear as to why the English colonizers would shift to a different, but better, workforce.
When looking at the history of labour in the Caribbean it is important to begin by examining the types of people who were first used in the process of colonization and …show more content…
Slavery had disappeared from the English social culture and therefore English settlers were not familiar with the relationship between slavery and the production of agriculture commodities. White indentured servitude was seen as a training ground for English settlers who could obtain the necessary skills and attitudes that would allow for a quick and unproblematic transition into the use of African slave labour in the late 1640s. Therefore, during the beginning stages of colonization in the Caribbean, English settlers used white indentured servants from Europe because it was the easiest thing to do.
Furthermore, during the seventeenth century the slave trade from Africa was not fully established because of the monopoly held by the Iberians and the Dutch. The high price of slave labour from Africa combined with the unfamiliarity to African slavery on the side of the English help to create the dependence on indentured servitude. It would not be economically viable for the plantation owners and English settlers to pay the high price of African slave labour when they were able to get free or low cost labour from indentured …show more content…
was placed under contract to work for another over a period of time, usually seven years.” Meaning that after the contract was finished the indentured servant would be free from their previous labour obligations. During the beginning years of colonization in the Caribbean indentured servants were promised a plot of once their labour contract was finished, but as the production of sugar began to use more land, plantation owners did not want to give their indentured servants the slowly dwindling land resources that were left on any given Caribbean island. This was one cause for the switch to African slave labour, the plantation owners were able to force the Africans to work for their entire life and there was no need to provide them with any of their own personal land. Indentured servants were still European citizens and therefore there was a limit to the amount of forced labour and violence that could be inflicted upon them contributed to the switch to African slaves. Once all of these factors came together the plantation owners and English settlers needed access to large amounts of cheap labour because indentured servitude was no longer a viable
When looking at the history of labour in the Caribbean it is important to begin by examining the types of people who were first used in the process of colonization and …show more content…
Slavery had disappeared from the English social culture and therefore English settlers were not familiar with the relationship between slavery and the production of agriculture commodities. White indentured servitude was seen as a training ground for English settlers who could obtain the necessary skills and attitudes that would allow for a quick and unproblematic transition into the use of African slave labour in the late 1640s. Therefore, during the beginning stages of colonization in the Caribbean, English settlers used white indentured servants from Europe because it was the easiest thing to do.
Furthermore, during the seventeenth century the slave trade from Africa was not fully established because of the monopoly held by the Iberians and the Dutch. The high price of slave labour from Africa combined with the unfamiliarity to African slavery on the side of the English help to create the dependence on indentured servitude. It would not be economically viable for the plantation owners and English settlers to pay the high price of African slave labour when they were able to get free or low cost labour from indentured …show more content…
was placed under contract to work for another over a period of time, usually seven years.” Meaning that after the contract was finished the indentured servant would be free from their previous labour obligations. During the beginning years of colonization in the Caribbean indentured servants were promised a plot of once their labour contract was finished, but as the production of sugar began to use more land, plantation owners did not want to give their indentured servants the slowly dwindling land resources that were left on any given Caribbean island. This was one cause for the switch to African slave labour, the plantation owners were able to force the Africans to work for their entire life and there was no need to provide them with any of their own personal land. Indentured servants were still European citizens and therefore there was a limit to the amount of forced labour and violence that could be inflicted upon them contributed to the switch to African slaves. Once all of these factors came together the plantation owners and English settlers needed access to large amounts of cheap labour because indentured servitude was no longer a viable