Colonisation in the Caribbean

What was the role of the Caribbean in the British Empire?

Traders or businessmen also set up plantations in the West Indies, on islands such as Barbados and Antigua.

Why was the Caribbean colonised?

There were three important reasons why the Caribbean was colonised.

• ❖ As Britain's empire expanded ever further into North America and India, there was less need for the use of privateers, because they did not need to steal from other nations.
• ❖ Piracy was eventually banned, and pirates were driven out of the Caribbean.
• ❖ Instead, Britain turned to profit-rich crops, such as tobacco and sugar, which could only be grown in the climate of the Caribbean and North America.

What was the economic impact of the Caribbean in the British Empire?

Britain benefitted immensely from the Caribbean colonies - from profits from the sugar plantations, and also from the growing trade in enslaved Africans who worked on the plantations.

• ❖ The Royal African Company was a large slave-trading company which transported over 60,000 slaves from 1680 to 1688.
• ❖ Many different types of workers benefitted financially from the slave trade. Ship builders, bankers, traders, and many others made money directly or indirectly from the slave trade.
• ❖ From 1761 to 1808 the British Slave Trade made around £60 million, which made Britain the most powerful and wealthiest country in the world.
• ❖ Port towns such as Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow made a lot of money from the slave trade and grew into larger cities. Many of the beautiful buildings in these cities were built by money gained from the slave trade.
• ❖ Vast wealth was created in the sugar plantations of the Caribbean.