Sugar cane became the most important crop throughout the Caribbean, of course other crops were still grown such as coffee, indigo, and rice. Sugar cane became the number one crop to grow due to the decline in the cotton and Tabaco market occurring from the u.s. taking control of growth and trades. During the colonial period, sugar culture deeply impacted the local society and economy in the Caribbean. It dramatically increased the ratio of slaves to free men, and increased the average size of slave plantations greatly. Early sugar plantations made use of slavery because sugar at the time was considered a cash crop that exhibited economies of scale in cultivation, it was most efficiently grown on large plantations with many workers. Usually
