Barbadian Economy...

Switch to Sugar:

The greatest change to the economy on the colony of Barbados was the switch to one based almost exclusively on sugar production. Early on in its history settlers in Barbados attempted several different crops to yield a profit from the Barbadian soil. Indigo, cotton, and tobacco were precursors to sugar production, though all proved insufficient for various reasons. Dutch settlers from Brazil were responsible for bringing the technology necessary to produce sugar on a large scale to Barbados. The switch to sugar, while lucrative, would have an undeniable effect on the island.



Changing Demographics:

In the early years of sugar production mainly white indentured servants were used to carry out the work. By 1701 there was a strong push to limit the amount of white immigration to Barbados to strictly those indentured to work sugar plantation. By this time, however, the use of West African slaves had become an attractive option pursued heavily by the planters on Barbados. Where originally there were many thousands of Irish being shipped to the island, soon there were the same numbers and even more West Africans coming to the island to work in the sugar plantations. The effect this had was to create a large number of poor whites on Barbados, existing somewhere in between the wealthy planters and their slaves. Once a colony with one of the largest White populations of any England possessed, Barbados saw its African population rise almost two-fold between the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century.



Works Cited:

Population and Social Patterns in Barbados in the Early Eighteenth CenturyPatricia A. Molen The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Apr., 1971), pp. 287-300

Slavery and Economy in Barbados By Dr Karl Watsonhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/barbados_01.shtml