History of the Caribbean: Plantations, Trade, and War in the Atlantic World

by Frank Moya-Pons

From the arrival of the first Europeans in the region until the 1930s, plantations -- building their fortunes on sugar, and to a lesser extent on cotton, indigo, tobacco, coffee, and bananas -- brought unprecedented wealth to Old World owners, effected a fundamental shift in the landscape and economy of the Caribbean and the Atlantic world, saw the enslavement of first indigenous populations and then imported Africans, and led to bloody wars on both sides of the Atlantic over control of the lucrative sugar market. In this comprehensive volume, Frank Moya Pons explores the history, context, and consequences of the major changes that marked the Caribbean between Columbus’ initial landing and the Great Depression. He investigates indigenous commercial ventures and institutions, the rise of the plantation economy in the 16th century, and the impact of slavery. He discusses the slave revolts and struggles for independence, seen by European landowners not as a matter of human or political rights but as an expensive interruption to their profit flow. History of the Caribbean traces the fate of a group of small islands whose natural resources transformed them first into some of the wealthiest places on earth and then into some of the poorest. This book intertwines the socioeconomics of the Caribbean with Atlantic history in a captivating narrative that will fascinate a general audience and provide new insights for specialists.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

386 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2001

About the author

Leading contemporary historian of the Dominican Republic. He has published many important books in the history and cultural heritage of the country. One of his best known works is Manual de historia dominicana (1992), now in its tenth edition which is a staple work of Dominican historiography. In 1985 he authored the book Between Slavery and Free Labor: The Spanish, in 1998 The Dominican Republic: A National History and in 2007 History of the Caribbean: plantations, trade, and war in the Atlantic world. He has also conducted much work into slavery in the Dominican Republic and Caribbean.

Reviews

[Ricardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this, and this surprises me, because it's primarily an economic history of the region. Moya Pons argues that although the Caribbean is quite diverse in terms of language and culture, and quite fragmented in terms of geography, it is unified economically and socially by the centrality of sugar production, the sugar plantation, and African slavery. The rise and spread of the sugar economy is the central theme of the book, and it makes for fascinating comparisons among the region's various islands. Brazil and North America enter into the picture, as they must. The writing is accessible, and never gets bogged down with figures the way economic history sometimes can.

[Anthony Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought on a whim in the giftshop at El Moro in old San Juan. For a survey book, this was a really good read. Uses the history of the sugar trade as a framing device to tell the story of all the islands. The author takes care to create personalities and show you the context of decisions so it isn't just names and dates flying by. Highly recommended if you are interested in this part of the world.