{"id":2964,"date":"2019-11-14T23:02:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T23:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/?p=2964"},"modified":"2021-09-06T18:10:08","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T18:10:08","slug":"plantation-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/plantation-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Plantation Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]\n

The\nplantation economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land in the Caribbean islands was cheap, but the costs\nof setting up a sugar plantation were high. Sir Dalby Thomas in 1690 estimated\nthat a 100 acre plantation on the island of Barbados, with 50 enslaved\nAfricans, seven white indentured servants, sugar mill, boiling works, equipment\nand livestock would cost \u00a35,625 (over \u00a3250,000 at today\u2019s values). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To recover these costs, the plantations had to produce\nenough good quality sugar to pay off debts and mortgages and cover the running\ncosts each year. The owners also wanted a profit. Some families, such as the\nPinneys of Nevis in the Caribbean and Bristol, were able to build up a fortune\nbased on land, sugar producing and trading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slaves from Africa were the basis of these sugar fortunes.\nJohn Pinney, a plantation owner on the island of Nevis, wrote in the 1760s to\nhis managers \u2018\ufffd a word respecting the care of\nmy slaves and stock [animals] \u2013 your own good sense must tell you they are the\nsinews of a Plantation and must claim your particular care and attention\ufffd. He also wrote that \ufffd\ufffd it is impossible for a Man to make sugar without the assistance of\nNegroes as to make bricks without straw\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treatment of Slaves<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enslaved Africans required a period of \u2018seasoning\u2019 to get them used to the work and the country. One in three of the newly imported slaves died within three years, and planters needed a continuous supply of new slaves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the 1760s, plantation life was particularly\nbrutal. For although treatment did vary, it generally worked out cheaper for\nowners to work slaves to death and import new ones, rather than to look after\nthose already on the plantations. John Newton was once a slave ship captain and\nlater campaigned against the slave trade. He was told in 1751 by a plantation\nowner on the Caribbean island of Antigua, that the costs had been calculated\nand it was cheaper to work slaves to death and replace them than to treat them\nwell. On some estates in Antigua, it was rare for a slave to live longer than\nnine years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not just work that was hard for the enslaved\nAfricans. The white population on the islands was outnumbered by the black population,\nand they were frightened of rebellion . Therefore, punishment for any breaking\nof the rules was harsh. Rebellion was usually punished by death, often by a\nslow and painful method, to deter any others who thought of rising up against\ntheir owners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Session Book of the Parish of St Thomas in the\nEast, Jamaica, for 1783, records the punishment handed out to a slave who tried\nto run away. It reads: \u201cPriscilla: for running away,\nboth her ears cut off \u2026 immediately, to receive 39 lashes the first Monday in\neach month for one year and to be worked in irons during this time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It was a\nhard punishment for trying to be free. Flogging was commonplace, and slaves\ncould be made to torture members of their own family if the owner or overseer\nso wished. Harsh laws were aimed at punishing any act of rebellion and\ndiscouraging others. In 1707, a law was passed on the island of Barbados, which\nsaid a runaway slave absent for more than 30 days should have one of his or her\nfeet cut off when recaptured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of anti-slavery feeling in the late\neighteenth century, and the rising price of African slaves, the more\n\u2018progressive\u2019 plantation owners saw the wisdom of treating their slaves better.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The plantation economy Land in the Caribbean islands was cheap, but the costs of setting up a sugar plantation were high. Sir Dalby Thomas in 1690 estimated that a 100 acre plantation on the island of Barbados, with 50 enslaved Africans, seven white indentured servants, sugar mill, boiling works, equipment and livestock would cost \u00a35,625 (over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stc_notifier_status":"sent","_stc_notifier_sent_time":"2021-09-06 18:47:36","_stc_notifier_request":false,"_stc_notifier_prevent":false,"_stc_subscriber_keywords":"","_stc_subscriber_search_areas":"","nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\n

The\nplantation economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land in the Caribbean islands was cheap, but the costs\nof setting up a sugar plantation were high. Sir Dalby Thomas in 1690 estimated\nthat a 100 acre plantation on the island of Barbados, with 50 enslaved\nAfricans, seven white indentured servants, sugar mill, boiling works, equipment\nand livestock would cost \u00a35,625 (over \u00a3250,000 at today\u2019s values). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To recover these costs, the plantations had to produce\nenough good quality sugar to pay off debts and mortgages and cover the running\ncosts each year. The owners also wanted a profit. Some families, such as the\nPinneys of Nevis in the Caribbean and Bristol, were able to build up a fortune\nbased on land, sugar producing and trading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slaves from Africa were the basis of these sugar fortunes.\nJohn Pinney, a plantation owner on the island of Nevis, wrote in the 1760s to\nhis managers \u2018\ufffd a word respecting the care of\nmy slaves and stock [animals] \u2013 your own good sense must tell you they are the\nsinews of a Plantation and must claim your particular care and attention\ufffd. He also wrote that \ufffd\ufffd it is impossible for a Man to make sugar without the assistance of\nNegroes as to make bricks without straw\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treatment of Slaves<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enslaved Africans required a period of \u2018seasoning\u2019 to get them used to the work and the country. One in three of the newly imported slaves died within three years, and planters needed a continuous supply of new slaves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the 1760s, plantation life was particularly\nbrutal. For although treatment did vary, it generally worked out cheaper for\nowners to work slaves to death and import new ones, rather than to look after\nthose already on the plantations. John Newton was once a slave ship captain and\nlater campaigned against the slave trade. He was told in 1751 by a plantation\nowner on the Caribbean island of Antigua, that the costs had been calculated\nand it was cheaper to work slaves to death and replace them than to treat them\nwell. On some estates in Antigua, it was rare for a slave to live longer than\nnine years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not just work that was hard for the enslaved\nAfricans. The white population on the islands was outnumbered by the black population,\nand they were frightened of rebellion . Therefore, punishment for any breaking\nof the rules was harsh. Rebellion was usually punished by death, often by a\nslow and painful method, to deter any others who thought of rising up against\ntheir owners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Session Book of the Parish of St Thomas in the\nEast, Jamaica, for 1783, records the punishment handed out to a slave who tried\nto run away. It reads: \u201cPriscilla: for running away,\nboth her ears cut off \u2026 immediately, to receive 39 lashes the first Monday in\neach month for one year and to be worked in irons during this time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It was a\nhard punishment for trying to be free. Flogging was commonplace, and slaves\ncould be made to torture members of their own family if the owner or overseer\nso wished. Harsh laws were aimed at punishing any act of rebellion and\ndiscouraging others. In 1707, a law was passed on the island of Barbados, which\nsaid a runaway slave absent for more than 30 days should have one of his or her\nfeet cut off when recaptured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of anti-slavery feeling in the late\neighteenth century, and the rising price of African slaves, the more\n\u2018progressive\u2019 plantation owners saw the wisdom of treating their slaves better.<\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"906","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[998,1005,1006,1007,355],"tags":[231,490,491],"authors":[687,719],"3_era_spriggs":[1070],"class_list":["post-2964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text-only","category-1600-1699-all-eras","category-1700-1799-all-eras","category-1800-1899-all-eras","category-rose","tag-slavery","tag-plantation","tag-sugar","authors-bruce-peter","authors-other","3_era_spriggs-1600-1699"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4232,"url":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/haddon-hall-connection\/","url_meta":{"origin":2964,"position":0},"title":"Haddon Hall Connection","author":"Peter Bruce","date":"November 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Pre 1600"","block_context":{"text":"Pre 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