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Caribbean Islands and Caribbean history!
The Caribbean Islands have gone through numerous changes
over the recorded history of the area. Caribbean history has seen cultural,
political, agricultural, economic, and ethnic changes in the last few
centuries. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the Bahamas exemplify
some of these changes as the first of the Caribbean Islands to become
independent.
Around the middle of the seventeenth century, agricultural changes were
taking effect in the Caribbean islands. Sugar was becoming the crop of
choice over-taking tobacco. Caribbean tobacco could not compete in quality
or in quantity with that of the mid-Atlantic colonies. Because of the
increasing popularity of sugar in Europe, the effective balance between bulk
and value of this crop made production in the islands viable for shipping
the long voyages on relatively small ships.
Caribbean history documents that because the original small cash crops farms required only a few servants and
slaves, and the sugar plantations required large parcels of land for
sugarcane fields and factories, there became a need for a large contingent
of cheap labor. This of course spurred the slave trade in the Caribbean
islands.
There was a great deal of land and wealth in the hands of a very few in the
islands during this period. By the time of the abolition of slavery, about
half of the estimated 10 million African slaves brought to the Americas had
been taken to the Caribbean islands.
According to Caribbean history, there were different social classes during this period. The "principal
whites" were the primarily land owning wealthiest. Included in this
classification were also the merchants, officials, and doctors etc. who were
just below this group. Then there were the "poor whites". These were the
small independent farmers, servants, laborers, and service workers such as
policemen and smiths. There was also a group included here that were
"hangers-on" - people who were kept so that the ratio of whites to slaves
was within the law.
The blacks and colored people were also divided into two groups. There was
of course the slaves, and the "free persons of color".
Political changes occurred almost on an on-going basis depending who was
conquering and who was conceding. In 1962, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago
became the first Anglophone Caribbean islands to achieve their independence.
Barbados followed in 1966 and in 1073 the Bahamas became independent. Other
Caribbean islands followed the lead of these newly formed countries.
Over the years, the Caribbean islands have been grouped differently and
carried different names. There were the West Indies, The British West
Indies, the Windward Islands, the Leeward Islands, the West Indies
Federation, etc.
Under any name, many of these islands have become a bustling area for
tourism. Large resort consortiums have infiltrated the economics of the
islands. Cruise lines have magnificent cruise
ships stopping at many ports-of-call in the Caribbean islands. In fact,
Caribbean cruises are a large segment of
the world-wide cruise industry and have contributed greatly to the
development and economics of the area.
For more information about cruises to the Caribbean, other cruises and
products choose from one of the following links:
Caribbean Cruises for great cruise
deals by many of the cruise lines!
Discount cruises for Caribbean cruises, Alaskan
cruises and romantic getaways aboard magnificent cruise ships!
Related articles for Caribbean cruises and
many other cruises and topics!
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