Slavery and the Plantation Economy in

the Caribbean in the 19th Century

Kelton Mock, Julian Sanchez, Gunnar Hanson

The Haitian Revolution● Haitian revolution started conflicts between white planters and colonial self government● Divided elite in Saint Domingue● White planters fought Mulatto planters over the rights and privileges of the very aggressive free

colored population (Mulatto are the group of people who have European blood mixed with African blood)

● In 1789 the French West Indies sent elected representatives to a European parliament● Rejection of free colored peoples from the whites● As the planters fought against themselves and the government for control the slaves revolted● This led to 2,ooo whites killed, over 1,ooo plantations destroyed, and 10,ooo slaves dead● After the slaves captured Cap Francais, the final stronghold, the local Jacobin army declared

provisional emancipation. ( Jacobin army is the slave army)● A 4 year invasion of English troops and temporary independence only delayed the end of the

plantation regime. ● After 2 more years of fighting Haiti eventually won their independence. ● Their sugar production fell to ⅓ of its regular output in 1791 and by the next decade they dropped

the sugar market altogether.

Julian

Toussaint L’Ouverture and General Thomas Maitland, Saint

Domingue (Haiti), 1790s

Julian

Early 19th Century: Impacts of the Haitian Revolution● Saint Domingue made up 30% of total world production and led to

a rise in sugar prices● Sugar planters then found an expanded market and rising prices

and quickly worked to meet this demand● At the same time coffee plantation economies, such as Jamaica,

Puerto Rico, Rio de Janeiro, and Cuba were given a huge boost when the largest producer lost half of it’s production.

Julian

Haitian Revolution Impacts: Social & Political● Impact of the Haitian slave rebellion was not only economic but also impacted the

treatment of slaves in society ● From Virginia to Rio Grande do Sul, there would be harsher laws and less tolerant

slave attitude due to fear of slave revolts and that would be the social and political legacy of Haiti

● This fear eventually passed by the early decades of the 19th century but the Haitian revolution left a bitter aftertaste of feelings towards slaves and was not resolved until the final emancipation

● The Haitian revolution also demonstrated that division of ranks could lead to the destruction of the slave system but was not always acted on

● In the Spanish American case many slave regimes would be destroyed as the masters demanded political liberties from Spain

Julian

Societal & Political Impacts Cont.

● In the southern colonies in the United States they attempted to do the same but ended up getting a weaker version of slavery. This would also be the case in Venezuela

● Unlike the Southern colonies Cuba and Puerto Rico, the revolution made them stay loyal to the Spanish Empire out of fear of slave revolts

● The revolution would also show that the movement for freedom can succeed against all odds

● The slave army fought and won against the French, English, Colonial masters, and Spanish armies. Along with the ideas and and promise of new world of equality for everyone from the French revolution, every black person, colored person, and mulatto workers were greatly inspired. This brought them hope but in turn brought fear to every white person and slave master.

Julian

Haitian Revolution Impact: Economy● The immediate impact of the Haitian revolution was economic and it led to

expansion and growth of slave regimes all across the Americas● Within 1791-1805, Jamaica, Brazil, Cuba, and Puerto Rico more than doubled their

sugar outputs● Both the British West Indies and Brazil sugar now made major inroads within the

open sugar markets (Inroads are actual train stations that helped transport sugar to harbors for export)

● Despite the increase of sugar production from many sugar plantations from all over latin America, it was Cuba that would eventually replace Saint Domingue by the middle decade of the 19th century

● The Cuban sugar industry would also prove the most efficient and dynamic in 19th century America

● The planting of sugar in Cuba began since early in the colonial period and the colony had been a modest power and exporter for most of the 18th century

Julian

Economic Impact Cont.● By the 1780’s it was a reasonably important producer with a total annual production of

18,000 pounds of white and brown sugar● By 1810 production doubled to 37,000 tons and was growing steadily but Cuban output grew

less rapidly compared to either Jamaica or Brazil and was only 12 percent of the world market

● By the 1820’s Cuba was reaching 70,000 tons and finally equaled Jamaica’s output in the early 1830’s, just on the eve of Jamaican slave emancipation

● The sugar produced by slave labor in Jamaica could no longer compete with Cuba and by 1840 Cuba became the world’s largest exporter of cane sugar, exporting over 161,000 tons and accounting for 21% of the world market

● Cuba would still continue to grow even more and by 1870 Cuba had reached its maximum 19th century position of world dominance, accounting for 41% of world output and exporting over 702,000 tons

● This was the highest output under slavery and was a crop record not seriously passed until the 20th century

Julian

Haitian Revolution Impact: Population Growth and Roles in Societies ● The growth of the slave population did not lead to the decline of the white people’s

population nor lead to the elimination of the free colored population● Towns were the stronghold of free labor, defined as concentrations of over 1,000

persons, contained over half a million persons by the 1860’s● Despite the advance of slave plantations most of the rural industries and occupations

remained in the hands of free labor● Cattle, foodstuff production, and Cuba’s famous tobacco industry was mainly run by

free white and colored workers● Although slaves were found in all these occupations they only numbered 70,000

compared to the 404,000 whites and 122,000 free colored on these work sites● Free laborers would continue to dominate towns and rural areas while slaves only

made up ⅓ of the rural workforceJulian

Population Growth and Roles in Societies Cont.● With the growth of traditional rural industries and new urban jobs, this guaranteed

occupational opportunity for free labor● With the immigration of whites and their positive natural rate of increase, the steady

manumission of slaves, and positive natural growth among freedmen, all guaranteed the continuing increase of the free populations throughout the 18th and 19th centuries

● In the late 1770’s there was 44,000 slaves, 31,000 free colored, and 96,000 whites● As commercial agriculture exports grew so did the population, especially the slaves● By mid 1790’s they numbered 84,000 slaves● By 1810 there was 212,000 slaves and 114,000 free colored, while the whites numbered

274,000● The slave population would continue to increase to 324,000 by the mid 1840’s but

peaked at 370,000 slaves in the 1860’s Julian

Population Growth and Roles in Societies Cont.● The other classes of populations grew alongside the slaves with the whites accounted for well over

half of the islands population, specifically 1.4 million persons● The free colored population also grew to almost ⅖ of the total black and mulatto population, free

and slave● Although intense trade in African slaves continued within Cuban ports until 1864, the dramatic

growth of slave population never led to demographic dominance over the other groups● By the 1860’s the total colored population peaked at over 600,000 persons and there was an

impressive number of 233,000 freedmen● In the middle of the 1870’s under the impact of the first manumission laws, the free colored

population finally passed the slave population for the first time● By this date the whites numbered over 1 million● The white societies in both Cuba and Jamaica would continue to expand due to immigration from

Europe or by natural increase● This was in sharp contrast with the standard histories of the French and English Caribbean

islands

Julian

Population Growth and Roles in Societies Cont.● In terms of slave labor both Brazil and Cuba were typical American slave societies in that

African slaves were identified with the production of export crops, above all coffee and sugar

● When it came to slave ownership Cuba seemed to stand apart compared to other major slave societies which had a major free component during the period of slavery

● From limited data from the 1850’s it was estimated that there was only 50,000 owners of slaves, about 24,000 of whom resided in urban areas

● If under the assumption that only whites owned slaves, this meant that only 12% of the urban and just 9% percent of the rural whites owned slaves

● These figures contrast sharply with those found in America and Brazil. Their figures were double or tripled the Cuban figure

● Within Cuba the distribution of slaves was incredibly uneven● The average slave owner in rural areas has about 12 slaves

Julian

Population Growth and Roles in Societies Cont.● Plantations averaged about 127 slaves, with many in the 200 to 400 range, it was obvious

that even in this uneven distribution of slaves, there was a small bulk of elites that owned many slaves

● The Cuban sugar plantations were initially built along the lines of those in the French West Indies

● The average sugar mill and its estate, known in Cuba as the ingenio, usually employed three to four times as many slaves and land as the average coffee plantation or cafetal

● By 1804 Cuba had 174 ingenios employing 26,000 slaves and was producing 22,000 metric tons of sugar

● A typical cafetal had 35 slaves, and in 1817 there was 779 cafetales using 28,000 slaves● By the early 1820’s, the coffee and sugar plantations together used close to 100,000 slaves

with another 46,000 slaves being in other rural agricultural pursuits and another 70,000 or so slaves involved in urban and non-agricultural tasks

Julian

Haitian Revolution Impact: Coffee Production● The boom in world commodity prices, the migration of the french capital, and technical

knowledge led to the growth of an entirely new Cuban export of coffee● In both Jamaica and Brazil coffee was a common commodity but in Cuba it was a new crop● Although there was some planting of coffee, there was no export of it● It was escaping French planters and their slaves who first organized coffee production● From no exports in the 1780’s cuba was up to 14,000 metric tons by the 1810’s and 20,000 by

the 1820’s● At its height in the 1830’s the coffee plantations numbered just over 2,000 units and

employed about 50,000 slaves. A number roughly equal to number employment for sugar● It then became one of the largest producers and fought for caribbean leadership against

Jamaica, which it soon displaced● Although Brazilian coffee production was stimulated by the Haitian revolution, its initial

growth was more modest and did not equal Cuban output until the end of the 1830’s

Julian

Coffee Production Cont. ● With the expansion of sugar and coffee the population within Cuba increased ● There was mainly an increase of slave immigrants and total slave population but

unlike other population spikes there was also an increase of population within other sectors

● Coffee was dominant over the international market, but could not could not amass the land or slave usage that sugar did.

● In the thousands of cafetales (Coffee plantations) of the 1830’s, production peaked at 20,000 to 30,000 tons○ Right around time that Brazilian production reached major market scale.○ Brazilian plantations produced less than 10,000 tons late as 1821, but near a

decade later they had taken the Cuban output.● Caribbean hurricanes in 1844 and 1846 wiped production from cafetales on the plains

to half.○ Forced off fertile lands by sugar production.

Julian/Gunnar

Back to Sugar● Sugar estates went east from the Havana to the Matanzas, and the western interior of the

island.○ Sugar production deforested much of the islands forests and untouched land.○ Allowed Cuba to import timber for the first time

● 1790’s - 1820’s Cuban sugar boom○ Revolutionized by newer French techniques.○ Boom in creativity, resulted in many changes in the techniques used both on the

plantations and in slave organization.■ More Ingenios (Also Engenho, meaning sugar plantations and associated facilities)■ Newer western estates distorted labor force by purchasing mainly younger males.■ Less females in the newer estates, sub 15%, and virtually no children

○ Resulted in incredibly harsh labor conditions in the surrounding areas, new levels of brutality.

● These systems were not sustainable socially or politically and reverted mostly by the 1830’s.○ Normal age spreads, balanced gender distribution.

Gunnar

1830-60’s Technological Revolution● Cuba’s beginnings in modernization of their industry (world’s largest manufacturers

of cane sugar)○ 1838 First Caribbean/First Latin American region to adopt railroads

■ Decreased cost of transit/freed many slaves from transit jobs■ Allowed expansion of operations due to the ability to bring product from

plantations to the mills○ Steam power introduced to drive the mills more efficiently○ By 1846, nearly 20 percent of the 1,442 ingenios on the island were driven by

steam, and bu 1861, 71 percent of the then 1,365 ingenios were driven by steam■ Steam allowed an output almost 9 times greater than animal, wind, and

water powered mills.○ By 1860 an average steam mill produced 1,176 tons of sugar

■ Hand in hand with increase in sugar cane, and resulting need for unskilled agricultural labor. Gunnar

Steam Power Cont.● Plantations of 300 or more slaves were common

○ Up from 120-150 in first half of century● Demand for slaves required search for other laborers around 1840.

○ Late 1840’s—hundreds of enslaved Mayans from Yucatán ○ Also the first of more than 100,000 Chinese coolies that would arrive in Cuba

over the next 20 years● These other laborers were mixed with the African/Creole slaves

○ Larger mixed labor force as a result on larger/later estates● 1862, 173,00 slaves (34k Chinese and 700 Yucatán indians) working

○ Averaging at 126 per estate● Havana-Matanzas zones still accounted for 70% of the 512,000 tons produced in the

1863 harvest (or zafra)

Gunnar

Steam Power Cont.● Cuban countryside reorganized with introduction of steam power, modernization of

the process sped up by external civil war threat○ Restrictive imperial government, smaller peninsular market as well

■ Pushed for a smaller, more autonomous insular (island based)culture■ The Spanish were not fans of this, and really didn’t agree■ Lead to radical actions and an open Cuban revolt in 1868.

○ This Cuban rebellion was known as the 10 Years War, and was very bloody○ The main rebels were the smaller, less advanced Eastern plantations

■ Stronger western elites turned to manumission for soldiers● Hostile Spanish forces weren’t hesitant to destroy plantations● The result of this was the virtual elimination of eastern plantation slavery in the

region, and the liquidation of animal powered Cuban mills.○ Spanish government didn’t attempt to reenslave the emancipated slaves○ Resulted in free colored peasant agriculture that would define the eastern

region in the 20th century.Gunnar

Steam-Powered Sugar Mill, Cuba, 1859.

Kelton

Change in the Western Zone● The western zone experienced an administrative revolution to follow a

technical one○ Steam driven mills forced animal powered ones out of the market○ 1840’s met with increasing output, and decreasing number of mills

■ Western dominance aided by elimination of Eastern estates in civil war

○ By 1870’s, almost all of the islands sugar was exported from mechanized mills.■ Increasing demand for raw sugar from these mills, the demand for

slaves—made more difficult by the abolishing of Atlantic Slave trade■ High costs for establishing a steam driven mill

○ These conditions forced a change in ownership and production on the island

Gunnar

Western Change Cont.● Late 1860’s and 70’s saw the beginnings of new sugar production in rural Cuba known as the

Centrales○ Enormous field factories that primarily refined sugar from smaller independent

planters○ Last quarter of 19th century, this practice lead to a class of slave owning planters

called colonos—similar to the lavradores de cana of early Brazilian production ■ Usually had no land, and rented to produce cane.

● In the 1820’s approx 25% of the 262,000 slaves on the island were in sugar and coffee plantations○ Always important, but peaked at percentage of 40 in the 1860’s, with an estimated

350,000 slaves in the sugar industry○ 20-30% of slaves were found in rural areas with mixed farming activities, and living in

small units.■ Especially with the truck gardening around Havan and the remaining coffee

plantations.Gunnar

Sugar Factory, Plantation Flor de Cuba, Cuba, 1857

Gunnar

Western Change Even More Cont.● Urban slaves in Cuba were significant, with over ⅔ of the population found

working in cities through the 19th century.○ Working in the major urban center, Havana

■ As early as 1811, there 28,000 slaves lived there, and one third of the slaves on the island were in towns.

○ By 1861, w/a total population of 180,000, the relative share of urban slaves had declined to slightly over ⅕ ■ Sill 76,000 slaves, and 120,000 free colored peoples in cities on the

island.○ Widespread urban slave ownership; developed systems of slavery where the

slaves worked and lived away from home.■ Urban slaves mixed with the freed slaves, work for the free population■ Arranged themselves for housing and social affairs

Gunnar

Slaves in Western Cuba● Both small and large commercial establishments used slaves● Shipping and loading services in Havana consumed a large portion of the

laborers○ Millions of boxes of refined sugar onto thousands of ships

● Slaves in nearly every occupation, i.e. prostitution, peddlers, masons, carpentry○ Domestic slaves found in every household of moderate income.

● While sugar did consume a sizable portion of the slaves and free colored people on the island, it never used the majority of either.○ Maximum 370,000 slaves in 1861, total pop of blacks/mulattoes at

500,000

Gunnar

Puerto Rico● Puerto Rico underwent much of what Cuba did, though their

population was small○ Initially developed as a gold-mining center with Arawakan

indian slave labor○ Gold deposits exhausted by 17th century, lead to cattle and

peasant agriculture■ Based around San Juan

● 18th century Puerto Rico developed coffee, sugar, tobacco, hides, wood○ Newer commodities produced free by peasants○ Active exports lead to a growth in the islands native population

(2% a year)■ Without immigration Gunnar

More Puerto Rico● Collapse of Saint Domingue after 1791 impacted Puerto Rico & Cuba dramatically

○ Good soil and sugar climate allowed the island to usurp Domingue■ Within 20 years, Puerto Rico had developed a slave labor system akin to

those in other caribbean societies○ Growth of sugar, coffee, tobacco did not get rid of peasants○ This growth continued inland, when most of the coastal lands were taken over

by crops■ Amount of subsistence crops in interior still was double commercial land

● Growth of both a large subsistence peasant sector, and use of peasants in commercial crop production distinguished Puerto Rico from other Caribbean plantations.○ In Cuba, free peasantry was isolated with development in the 19th century○ The mountainous nature of Puerto Rico, which was not destroyed, even by

coffee expansion in the highlands allowed, refuge for the peasant producers■ This is a large reason why slavery and free workers were never a

dominant workforceGunnar

Puerto Rico Cont.● Differed heavily from typical Caribbean plantation mold

○ Plantations tended to be smaller than most other Caribbean plantations, especially Cuba

● Primary sugar regions of Ponce, Mayaguez, and Guayamo - narrow, relatively small strips of land dependent on irrigation and outside water sources○ Small size resulted in limited plantation sizes

● Small population and small role in global economy c. 1800—period of growth 1810s to 1820s○ Annual sugar prod. rose from 2,000 tonnes to 16,000, coffee from 3,000 to 6,000,

higher tobacco prod.● Sugar production became sizable, reaching 48,000 tonnes by 1840s - still only ⅓ Cuban

output● European market began to favor beet sugar, Puerto Rico’s main export of muscovado

(brown sugar) and cane sugar peaked c.1870 with main profit to US ○ American tariffs imposed on white cane sugar in 1850s, gave Puerto Rico advantage

● Sugar industry fell into decline by 1880 after emancipation in early 1870s○ Number of small estates (haciendas) halved 1870-1880, fall of slavery toppled sugar

industryKelton

Slavery and the Plantation System in Puerto Rico● Along with Cuba, began freely importing slaves in 1789● Sugar industry initially small, slave trade and population relatively insignificant

○ Spain tightened control over colonies c.1815, liberalized economy and boosted slave importation to produce more sugar - more slaves = more sugar produced

● British pressure closed off slave trade to Puerto Rico c.1840● Slave labor heavily concentrated on sugar production - ⅔ to ¾ of total slave workforce put

on plantations○ Low total slave population created need for extra labor - free labor vital to all

haciendas● Haciendas were some of smallest plantations ever

○ Avg. 40 slaves per hacienda, supplemented by 9 free wage laborers (jornaleros), 60 acres compared to 200-300 in rest of Caribbean

● Slaves remained primary labor source on plantations as sugar industry boomed● Plantation owners passed first vagrancy laws in 1840s, trying to force free workers to

register for work, but ended up causing backlash and increasing wages for jornaleros● Mechanization: rise in prevalence of steam-driven mills in 1850s and 60s

○ Higher cost, higher outputKelton

Puerto Rican Planter with House Slave,

ca. 1808

Gunnar

Collapse of the Puerto Rican Sugar Industry

● Slavery and sugar industry rose and fell hand in hand in Puerto Rico● Emancipation occurred in 1870 and 1873, with high numbers of slaves being freed● Number of factors led to fall of sugar industry

○ Due to debt from investing in mechanization, plantation owners unable to pay reparations to slaves after emancipation

○ Overinvestment in steam production○ Overproduction in the world market○ Loss of slaves in emancipation during 1870s meant bulk of laborers was gone,

and owners had to pay more free people to do the work● Puerto Rico shifted export focus to coffee c. 1880● Instead of depending on US economy, Puerto Rico began to move closer to

integration with Spain around this point

Kelton

French West Indies: Guadeloupe & Martinique● Progress of slavery & sugar industry followed similar track to Cuba/Puerto Rico● Main distinct feature came in reactions to Haitian Revolution

○ Inspired revolutionary activity among slaves on Guadeloupe and Martinique○ Differing reactions to loss of Saint Domingue in the Caribbean economy

■ Other islands responded by producing more to fill in the gap and introducing new cash crops■ French West Indies responded with labor unrest among plantation slaves, withdrawal of

planter capital, general political and social tension due to French & Haitian Revolutions● Further stressed with English invasion of French West Indies at end of Napoleonic

Wars● French West Indies had ~170,000 slaves as of 1789, with Guadeloupe holding the most (89K)● Tumultuous 1790s completely stopped slave importations, production took a sharp dive

○ 1794 - Estates General abolishes slavery and slave trade, but Martinique was seized by the English and thus not emancipated.

● FWI attempted to run sugar estates without slave labor and free black/mulatto population active in economy from 1794-1802○ Ex-slaves rented back by masters for paid wage labor

● 1802- Napoleon sent French army back into Guadeloupe to ensure control, reestablishing slavery and slave trade○ Convinced Toussaint to cut all ties with French supporters

Kelton

French Caribbean: After the Colonial Wars● 1815- end of colonial wars between GB & France, both islands given back to France

○ Bourbon government restored slave trade, but led colonies back to economic prosperity○ Major push towards sugar production, manumission rates drastically fell

● Guadeloupe experienced high rates of increase in the labor force, with the slave population climbing to over 100,000 by the early 1830s

● French slave trade finally abolished in 1831-no more importation, slavery persisted 17 more years○ Islands contained roughly 180,000 slaves producing 70,000 tons of sugar per year

● Production of secondary crops declined in 19th century as world competition increased○ Continued high focus on sugar production - ½ of land and 42% of slaves dedicated to sugar

● Amount of plantations increased, but no new slaves were coming in, so average size of plantation workforce dropped from 112 slaves to 79

● Coffee declined from 3,000 to 1,000 tons per annum, only used 9% of slave labor force, averaged 18 slaves ● All restraints of manumission removed w/ abolition 1831 - new July Monarchy in France also gave full civil

rights to free colored citizens● Slave pop. declined, free colored pop. rose - 8,000 in 1780s, 72,000 by 1840s - made up ⅓ total black pop.● Alternative forms of labor required until abolition of slavery in 1848● Precursor to massive use of indentured servitude to continue sugar production in 1850s● French tariffs on sugar ensured survival of industry despite revolutions and emancipation● First region to adopt central mill system of modern sugar cane production, powerful 1850-1875

Kelton

Demographic Revolution● Massive importation of slaves caused demographic revolution in Caribbean islands

○ White settlers became minorities in all British colonies, most white populations made up less than 10% of total pop.

● New demography forced complex social classes○ Free whites

■ Divided by economic status - elite plantation owners, middle/upper class merchants, priests, doctors, lower class peasants, farmers

○ Free nonwhites■ Divided between freed slaves and mulatto/mestizo descendants of whites - never enslaved■ Generally distrusted by whites, still not given same civil rights as even lowest whites (if any)

○ Slaves■ Completely subjugated, no civil rights - full property of plantation owners

● Free nonwhites dominantly female, in urban areas, and distinguished legally and socially from slaves○ Cities like Kingston became hub of free nonwhites

● Struggle for civil rights and power against discrimination became groundwork for social developments in future British Caribbean

Kelton

Developmental Patterns in the 19th Century Caribbean● Rise of free colored class greatly affected relationship between colonies and

metropolitan government○ Established themselves as a powerful group of landowners and fought for own

personal freedoms■ Fought for representation, eventually made French colonies some of the

most diverse, equal areas of the world at the time● Delayed response to international market developments due to revolutions and wars● Ultimately followed similar pattern to most other societies in the Caribbean in 19th

century○ New period of expansion○ New form of industrial organization○ New form of labor in indentured servitude

● Puerto Rico differed in short life of slavery & plantation economy after abolition, as well as in earlier dependence on free labor

Kelton

Conclusion● Haitian Revolution in 1789 reshaped Caribbean plantation economy and usage of slavery

○ Loss of St. Domingue to regional/global economy opened doors for some smaller sugar colonies to break through onto global stage - Puerto Rico, Cuba

○ Successful large-scale slave revolution inspired hope for slaves and roots of abolitionism around the Caribbean■ Larger free black population started to fight for civil rights

● St. Domingue made up 30% of world sugar production at time of revolution● Fearful slave owners implemented harsher treatment and laws regarding slaves

○ Other colonial governments, such as Cuba and Puerto Rico, became more loyal to Spain for protection in case of slave revolt

● Many Caribbean islands became prominent sugar and coffee producers, but Jamaica and Cuba emerged as frontrunners

● Some islands specialized in certain secondary cash crops - Cuban tobacco, Puerto Rican muscovado (brown sugar), coffee

● All islands’ free black populations rose with gradual manumission● 1840s - increase in steam power causes increased production around the Caribbean

Conclusion

● Cuban sugar output led Caribbean after 1830s● Puerto Rican plantations and total slave pop. were smaller than most● French West Indies fell into social unrest● Demographic Revolution● Similar developmental patterns in Caribbean

○ Increase in free black population laid foundation for future civil rights movements