The difficulties encountered within the first ten years motivated the planters to choose an alternative crop, and in 1637 in sugar they found a commodity that both flourished in Barbados and was in high demand in Europe; a decision that was to shape the future of Barbados for centuries ahead. 

Recognising the need to protect their own increasingly valuable interests, the islanders set up a House of Assembly in 1639, thereby establishing the third oldest parliament in the world and building a very early and strong foundation for a long future of Barbadian democracy and political stability. 

In the early days sugar was only grown for the local manufacture of rum, but from the time that it was exported to England, from the mid 1640's on, the sugar boom was underway and the land owners planted as much of the crop as they possibly could.

In order to supplement the inadequate work force of white British indentured servants, they once again chose to emulate the methods of the successful Dutch settlers - they looked towards the slave trade emanating out of West Africa. This was the start of a terrible era when from 1640 - 1807 some 487,000 Africans were abducted and forced to try and survive the dreadful "Middle Pasage" voyage across the Atlantic, to then be subjected to the gross horrors of slavery, either here in Barbados or elsewhere in the Caribbean and the Americas.

The presence of this unjustly acquired free labour and the excellent growing and market conditions combined to provide the plantation owners with vast profits. Whilst the slaves suffered, the planters prospered. The African labourers were stronger and better conditioned to working in the fields in the tropical heat than the Europeans, and soon the white indentured servants were no longer needed and were in fact a financial liability to their owners. 

A benchmark event in the history of Barbados was brought about in 1649 when Charles I was executed. The island's House of Assembly had always supported the Monarchy in England and so Barbados declined to accept the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell sent out a fleet in 1651 with orders to sieze Barbados. However, the settlers kept Cromwell's forces at bay for six months, eventually forcing them to resolve the stalemate. This historic meeting took place in Ye Mermaid Tavern in Oistins on 11th January 1652, when the Articles of Agreement were duly signed, later to be recognized as the Charter of Barbados by the Parliament in England.

Throughout the period of the prosperous sugar industry, some of the very finest plantation great house in Barbados were built. Drax Hall and St.Nicholas Abbey date back to about 1653 and 1658 respectively, making them two of the three oldest surviving Jacobean mansions to be found anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. The other one is in Virginia in the USA. 

From 1664 onwards, Barbadians played a significant role in the early development of the future United States of America. It was at this time that a Barbadian planter, Sir John Colleton, asked the English King Charles II to allocate some land to him in America. He was granted an area known today as the Carolinas. After several failed attempts his group eventually established the permanent settlement of Charleston, so name in honour of the king. Many others traveled from Barbados to settle the Carolinas and most of the early Governors were Barbadians. Many things in the Carolinas today serve as a reminder of the Barbados influence. The names of parishes and streets are similar; the Carolinas "Single House" style of simple abode has been linked to early Barbadian designs; and there is even a Gullah dialect similar to the Bajan dialect.

As the sugar industry in Barbados continued to flourish more and more slaves were imported from Africa, so that by 1682 there were 30 black slaves to every 1 white indentured servant. Considering that the indentured servants represented 80% of the white population at this time, it is quite staggering to think that such a small group of privileged people were able to profit so much from the misery of the many slaves under their control. During the dark ages of ignorance of the first 100 years of the Caribbean slave trade, there had been very little, if any, outcry against slavery. The first slave rebellion in 1675 was followed by further uprisings in 1696 and 1702, all of which were cruelly repressed.

Continue reading more by viewing A Time of Development - The Early 1700s.

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Information Assumed Accurate On: Sep 7, 2006
 

Visitor Comments:

By: sharon Skinner nee Dalligan
There is much mentioned about indentured white servants , yes thats true but in most cases their contracts were not honoured in freedom or land promised,all were not indentured they were just slaves and irish, treated with the same inhumannity as the african slaves ...... Put into breeding programes because a brown skin child could be sold for more money ..... These irish slaves are your redlegs .... They and their ancestors up to present day are ignored, indeed so ingrained is the shame which was promoted at the time back then , that today they are forgotten in history, and lessons, they are referred to as the white
Date: Feb 5, 2009


By: narguis
Thank you for this well researched, exellent article.
It will help my son Rafique to gain a deeper understanding of the attrocities behind the sugar trade.
He is 10 years old , living in Brighton and has been given the subject of " trade in Barbados" as his homework.
Can you assist?
Thank you ,
Narguis
Date: Jun 5, 2007