Describe how the sugar revolution impacted on

Caribbean society and culture

For many years sugar was king in the West-Indies achieving
maximum profits compared to many other West-Indian crops.This
occurred during the 1600s and has greatly influenced the
structure and working of the present day Caribbean society as
well as the norms and practices of the various ethnic groups
residing in the area. This essay will examine the various impacts
of the sugar revolution and would include: the influence of a
mono-crop society on certain islands of the Caribbean whereby
the economy solely depends on that one crop for stability just like
sugarcane, the exploitation of cheat labour even before the start
of the revolution, the development of a dependant society
amongst Caribbean nations, the development of diverse society
and cultures as well as social stratification.
At the midst of the revolution, sugar was so profitable, it was the
main crop cultivated by most islands and thus was the start of a
mono-crop society. This type of society has been adopted by
many regions for eg. Grenadas agriculture is largely based on
bananas as well as sugar and cocoa for Jamaica. There is no wide
variety of crops since one type is preferred for its economic value
and demand from other countries such as the United States and
Europe. This mono-crop society has lead to another great impact
by the sugar revolution- exploitation of cheap labor.
As mentioned before, cheap labor has been used since Columbian
times with the use of the encomienda system, whereby the
aboriginals were exploited. With the start of the cultivation of
sugarcane, and its growing demand, many different ethnic groups
were brought to work the plantations. These groups included the
African slaves and the Chinese and Indian indentured laborers.
These groups worked tediously for very little wages (the
indentured laborers) or for nothing at all (the African slaves). This

exploitation of labor still occurs in the contemporary Caribbean,

whereby the Government underpays its public servants. The
general public looks at these public servants as nothing but lazy
papershufflers who sit in an office all day. This exploitation also
occurs in the secondary sector where goods are mass produced
with abundant cheap labor.
During the days of indentureship and slavery, the monarchies of
the various European nations controlled all economic and political
ventures concerned with the islands. Technically, during the
revolution, the majority of the population which either included
the black slaves, the indentured laborers or a mixture of both
depended solely on the planters as well as the monarchy for
economic and political stability. The earliest of these systems was
the plantation system whereby the planter controls all ventures.
Now with the abolition of slavery and the failure of the
indentureship program, the current population eventually had to
manage their own politics and maintain the Caribbean economy
without as much aid from their European counterparts. However,
some Caribbean nations are still heavily dependent on their
mother land, for example, as how Guadeloupe is to France. Some
nations such as Trinidad and Tobago are a Republic while others
are independent. Even if a nation is republic or independent, their
political structure and judiciary still mirrors that of their European
counterparts, for example, Trinidads judiciary is similar to that of
Britain.
With the introduction of many ethnic groups into the region to
work the sugar plantation, various diasporas were created and
contributed to Caribbean culture and society. This combination of
diasporas has resulted in the varied, rich cultural background. The
Africans, upon reaching the Caribbean resurrected their culture in
the midst of the many rules which prevented the practice of their
religion and the use of their native language. New groups such as
the Rastafarian movement emerged and was a combination of

Catholicism and some African religion. The East Indian indentured

workers were allowed to practice their culture openly on the
plantation and they brought many foods such as roti which has
contributed immensely to present day Caribbean cuisine. Religion
has also been diversified because of the arrival of these groups
and also included Hinduism, Islam, Spiritual Baptist, Christianity
etc as well as hybrid religions such as Rastafarianism. The
Governments have recognized these religions by having public
holidays for special occasions such as Divali (Hinduism). Lastly,
due to the development of the plantation system, the society was
stratified at an early age and was mainly influenced by the sugar
revolution. Early social stratification has thus caused the society
of the contemporary Caribbean to mirror it. The plantation society
considered the planter to have full control over all socio-economic
as well as political ventures just as Government officials and
business ownders. The middle class were considered the
mulattoes/mixed individuals and can be compared to the working
middle class of present day society. At the bottom, the black
slaves which work the plantation could be compared to the poor
or the peasants. The only difference is that the plantation society
was based mainly on pigmentocracy.
In conclusion, it is seen that the sugar revolution has heavily
impacted on the culture and society of modern day Caribbean
since a mono-crop society was influenced, cheap labor was
introduced and exploited, a dependent society was created
amongst regions, society and culture was diversified with the
arrival of new ethnic groups and social stratification was created
due to the plantation system.