Editing History of Barbados (section)

===Sugar cane and slavery===
{{Main|Slavery in the British and French Caribbean}}
[[File:African Slaves working in a sugar plantation in Barbados, 1807-1808.jpg|thumb|African Slaves working in a sugar plantation in Barbados, 1807-1808]]
[[File:Saint Lucy, Barbados 007.jpg|thumb|upright|Ruins of a plantation in Saint Lucy, [[Barbados]].]]

[[Sugar cane]] cultivation in Barbados began in the 1640s, after its introduction in 1637 by Pieter Blower. Initially, rum was produced but by 1642, [[sugar]] was the focus of the industry. As it developed into the main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates which replaced the small holdings of the early English settlers as the wealthy planters pushed out the poorer. Some of the displaced farmers relocated to the English colonies in North America, most notably [[South Carolina]].<ref>[http://www.sc-heritagecorridor.org/the_connection/ South Carolina National Heritage Corridor (SCNHC)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307022357/http://www.sc-heritagecorridor.org/the_connection/ |date=7 March 2012 }}</ref> To work the plantations, black Africans – primarily from West Africa – were imported as slaves in such numbers that there were three for every one planter. Increasingly after 1750 the plantations were owned by absentee landlords living in Britain and operated by hired managers.<ref>Ragatz (1931).</ref> Persecuted Catholics from [[Ireland]] also worked the plantations. Life expectancy of slaves was short and replacements were purchased annually.

The introduction of [[sugar cane]] from [[Dutch Brazil]] in 1640 completely transformed society and the economy. Barbados eventually had one of the world's biggest sugar industries.<ref name=beyond>{{Cite book |title=Barbados: Just Beyond Your Imagination |pages=46, 48 |year=1997 |publisher=Hansib Publishing (Caribbean) Ltd |isbn=1-870518-54-3 }}</ref> One group instrumental in ensuring the early success of the industry were the [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic Jews]], who had originally been expelled from the [[Iberian Peninsula]], to end up in [[Dutch Brazil]].<ref name="beyond"/> As the effects of the new crop increased, so did the shift in the ethnic composition of Barbados and surrounding islands. The workable sugar plantation required a large investment and a great deal of heavy labour. At first, Dutch traders supplied the equipment, financing, and African slaves, in addition to transporting most of the sugar to Europe. Barbados replaced Hispaniola as the main sugar producer in the Caribbean.{{Sfn|Beckles|2001|page=225}}

In 1655, the population of Barbados was estimated at 43,000, of which about 20,000 were of African descent, with the remainder mainly of English descent. These English smallholders were eventually bought out and the island filled up with large African slave-worked sugar plantations. By 1660, there was near parity with 27,000 blacks and 26,000 whites. By 1666, at least 12,000 white smallholders had been bought out, died, or left the island. Many of the remaining whites were increasingly poor. By 1673, black slaves (33,184) outnumbered white settlers (21,309). By 1680, there were 17 slaves for every indentured servant. By 1684, the disparity grew even further to 19,568 white settlers and 46,502 black slaves. By 1696, there was an estimated 42,000 enslaved blacks, and the white population declined further to 16,888 by 1715.{{Sfn|Beckles|2001|page=224}}

Due to the increased implementation of [[Barbados Slave Code|slave codes]], which emphasized differential treatment between Africans, and the white workers and ruling planter class, the island became increasingly unattractive to [[redlegs|poor whites]]. Black or slave codes were implemented in 1661, 1676, 1682, and 1688. In response to these codes, several slave rebellions were attempted or planned during this time, but none succeeded. Nevertheless, poor whites who had or acquired the means to emigrate often did so. Planters expanded their importation of African slaves to cultivate sugar cane. One early advocate of slave rights in Barbados was the visiting Quaker preacher [[Alice Curwen]] in 1677: "For I am persuaded, that if they whom thou call'st thy Slaves, be Upright-hearted to God, the Lord God Almighty will set them Free in a way that thou knowest not; for there is none set free but in Christ Jesus, for all other Freedom will prove but a Bondage."<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=A relation of the labour, travail, and suffering (excerpt) |first=Alice |last=Curwen |title= Autobiographical Writings by Early Quaker Women |location=Aldershot, England |publisher=Ashgate |date=2004 |editor-first=David |editor-last=Booy |isbn=978-0-7546-0753-3 |ol=3680144M}}</ref>

By 1660, Barbados generated more trade than all the other English colonies combined. This remained so until it was eventually surpassed by geographically larger islands like Jamaica in 1713. But even so, the estimated value of the Colony of Barbados in 1730–1731 was as much as £5,500,000.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Richard B. |last=Sheridan |title=Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the British West Indies, 1623–1775 |page=144}}</ref> Bridgetown, the capital, was one of the three largest cities in English America (the other two being [[Boston, Massachusetts]], and [[Port Royal, Jamaica]].) By 1700, the English West Indies produced 25,000 tons of sugar, compared to 20,000 for Brazil, 10,000 for the French islands and 4,000 for the Dutch islands.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Alan |last=Taylor |title=American Colonies: The Settlement of North America |publisher=Allen Lane |series= Penguin History of the United States |date=2002 |isbn=978-0-7139-9588-6 |ol=7798386M}}, discusses Barbados in the context of North American settlement.</ref> This quickly replaced tobacco, which had been the island's main export.

As the sugar industry developed into its main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates that replaced the smallholdings of the early English settlers. In 1680, over half the arable land was held by 175 large planters, each of whom used at least 60 slaves. The great plantation owners had connections with the English aristocracy and great influence on Parliament. (In 1668, the West Indian sugar crop sold for £180,000 after customs of £18,000. Chesapeake tobacco earned £50,000 after customs of £75,000).

So much land was devoted to sugar that most foods had to be imported from New England. The poorer whites who were moved off the island went to the English Leeward Islands, or especially to Jamaica. In 1670, the [[Province of South Carolina]] was founded, when some of the surplus population again left Barbados. Other nations receiving large numbers of Barbadians included [[British Guiana]] and [[Panama]].

Justin Roberts shows that enslaved persons did not spend the majority of time in restricted roles cultivating, harvesting and processing sugar cane, the island's most important cash crop. Rather, the enslaved were involved in various activities and in multiple roles: raising livestock, fertilizing soil, growing provisional crops, maintaining plantation infrastructure, caregiving and other tasks. One notable [[soil management]] technique was intercropping, planting subsistence crops between the rows of cash crops, which demanded of the enslaved skilled and experienced observations of growing conditions for efficient land use.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Justin |last=Roberts |title=Agriculture on Two Barbadian Sugar Plantations, 1796–97 |journal=William and Mary Quarterly |date=2006 |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=551–586 |jstor=3877375}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Slaveholders often counted as "married" only the enslaved with mates on the estate. For example, the manager of Newton estate... recorded 20 women with co-resident husbands and 35 with mates elsewhere. Members of the latter group were labelled single, members of extended units, or mother-child units.<ref>Morrissey, Marietta, ''Slave Women in the New World: Gender Stratification in the Caribbean'' (Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of Kansas, 1989 ({{ISBN|0-7006-0394-8}})), p. 85 and see p. 99 (author assoc. prof. sociology, Univ. of Toledo).</ref>{{Efn|[[Estate (land)|Estate]], real estate and houses on it}}}}

By 1750, there were about 18,000 white settlers, compared to approximately 65,000 African slaves.{{Sfn|Watson|1970|page=64}}

The slave trade ceased in 1807 and slaves were emancipated in 1834.