The Early Modern Atlantic Economy Edited by J. McCusker and K. Morgan

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Recommended: The sugar revolution of the 17-18 century

On one hand a group of historian argues the notion that Brazil and the Caribbean experienced a sugar revolution while on the other hand another group argues that there was no such thing as a sugar revolution, what Brazil and Caribbean experienced was simply a sugar boom.
In order to assess which group of historians is more accurate, one must first understand the concept of a sugar revolution and what factors must be present in order for a sugar revolution to occur. The concept of a sugar revolution is one that states there was a drastic change from the cultivation of tobacco to the cultivating of sugar cane, changing the country`s economy, politics and social structure within a short period of time. According to B.W. Higman there are certain factors that can prove the existence of a sugar revolution, these are; the quick change from diversified agriculture to sugar monoculture, production on small farms to large farms, free to enslave labour, from a dominantly white population to a dominantly black population and a low value GDA (gross domestic product) to a high value GDP.
According to R. Greenwood, S. Hamber and B. Dyde in their book Amerindians to Africans they support the argument that there was a sugar revolution in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, especially Barbados there was a change of diversified agriculture to practicing monoculture cultivating sugar was a result of the falling prices in West Indian tobacco and other crops like ginger and cotton. Barbados and other islands had competition from Virginia who was producing cheaper tobacco therefore these islands were forced to find another crop to bring in foreign revenue. Along with other factors such as Dutch expansion and a great demand for sugar in Europe, suga...

... middle of paper ...

...have a sugar revolution, what occurred in the Caribbean and in Brazil was simply a sugar boom.

Work Sited

Book
Davis, Ralph. The Rise of the Atlantic Economies
Cox & Wyman Ltd 1973 London

Eiensberg, Peter L. The Sugar Industry in Pernambuco 1840-1910 Modernization without Change
University of California Press, Berkeley, 1974 Los Angeles, London

Greenwood, Robert,Hamber, S, Dyde, Brian. Amerindians to Africans 3rd Edition
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2008 London

McCusker, John, J. Morgan, Kenneth. The Early Modern Atlantic Economy
Cambridge University Press, 2000, USA

Menard, Russell. Sweet Negotiations: Sugar, Slaver, and Plantation Agriculture in Early Barbados
University of Virginia Press, 2006, USA
Journal Article
Higman, B, W. The Sugar Revolution
Schwarts, S, B. Tropical Babylons Sugar and the Making of the Atlantic World, 1450-168

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