What crop initially increased the demand for African slaves in the Caribbean?
1 Answer
The Carribbean had several crops that created a demand for slave labour, and sugar was the foremost of them.
Explanation:
The Spanish settlement of much the Caribbean was facilitated by slavery... except that American Indians did not take well to the heavy pace of work or the disease environment that came with the Europeans. The Spanish were already familiar with the concept of African slavery (thanks to the Portuguese) and turned to that source.
While the Spanish were first focused on general agriculture and -- most keenly -- finding precious metals, through the 16th Century it slowly dawned that sugar was a valuable cash crop for export back to Europe. Tobacco was a close second at first. The 17th Century saw the demand for sugar soar, and the British, Dutch and French also muscled their way into the trade.
Plantation slave labour succeeds with labour-intensive, low-technology crops. Sugar certainly qualifies, tobacco less so; and cocoa's popularity had to wait until the Swiss learned how to combine it with sugar and milk. The European settlers also introduced cotton, rice and Indigo in the 18th Century) as well as coffee.
