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Though Spain had originally colonized a majority of the Caribbean by the 1800s, Britain’s influence over the island plantations steadily increased. The British possessed Jamaica, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Anguilla, Trinidad and Tobago, British Honduras, Turks and Caicos, and the Cayman Islands. These lands were ideal for growing sugarcane, which was in high demand in Britain in the eighteenth century. Growing sugar cane requires hard work, so Africans were stolen from the West Coast of Africa and forced into slavery to work the Caribbean plantations. The “Slave Coast” of Africa from which slaves were being taken included Senegal, Sierra Leone, Congo, and Angola.
This video, "History of the Caribbean: Every Year," details the history of the colonization of the Caribbean. Although this video includes time before and after the Transatlantic Slave Trade, it is important because it shows which islands were colonized by Britain and when. (Ollie).
Slaves Harvesting Sugar Cane
Enslaved Africans cutting cane in Antigua (1823)
The sugar industry and its rapid growth led to a plantation economy that relied on the labor of imported enslaved Africans who were forced to work tirelessly in the heat and humidity. The work of the enslaved Africans enabled plantation owners and slave traders to become fantastically rich while the slaves suffered and were treated like non-human commodities. This is a picture of slaves working the sugarcane fields in Antigua ("Slavery in the Caribbean").
Sugar Cane Mill
Crushing the Cane Print (2001) by Bruce Williams
This print is in the Hope Museum, Antigua and depicts slaves unloading the cut cane and feeding it into the crusher of a wind powered mill. The plantation manager appears to be supervising the task ("Crushing the Cane Print").
Slave Village on Plantation
Montpelier estate, Jamaica (1825) by James Hakewill
This contemporary illustration shows that slave villages were often built in wooded areas. Several sugar plantations in Jamaica had slave villages that were set within wooded areas. The wooded area served not only as shade but also provided fruit to the enslaved populations. Below is a picture of an estate and slave village in Jamaica ("Slavery in the Caribbean").
Map of Slave Trade Routes
“The Three Legs of the Slavery Voyage.” Port Cities Bristol.
This map shows the Triangular Trade Route that slave ships traveled between Britain, Africa, and the Caribbeans as people and materials were being exchanged (Portcities Bristol).