Slavery
During the early to mid nineteenth century slave economies were highly present inthe Spanish Antilles. Slave labor was highly concentrated on sugar plantations. Since freelabor was limited, plantation owners were highly dependent on slave labor, for increaseproduction. The late nineteenth century abolishment of slavery highly disrupted theproduction of sugar on many of the Caribbean islands. In order to understand thetransition period from slavery to free labor, it will be necessary to analyze certain aspectsof slavery. First, the institution of slavery and its development within the sugar plantationswill be addressed. Subsequently an analysis of the effects of slavery on the economic andsocial structures of the colonies will clarify the post-slavery condition of the islands. Aclose examination of the Spanish Antilles should provide some insight into the effects ofthe abolishment of slavery and its social and economic implications.The mid-nineteenth century, primarily 1860, marked a drastic change within theeconomic structure of the Antilles. Economic, social and political changes included thereorganization of the sugar industry, declining power of the Spanish Crown, emergence
Fortunately, Puerto Rico was able to extract revenues from the coffee marketand pay for low cost wage labor. At the same time, the Ten-Year War provided several opportunitiesfor slaves. Unlike the coffee market, that was concentrated in the interior ofthe island, the sugar plantations required large amounts of physical labor. Subsequently, increased amounts of migrantsand a large number of ex-slaves produced an excess supply of labor. This excess supplyresulted in large unemployment and increased amounts of Puerto Rican migrations. This caused a resurgence of the sugar industry. Scott, the reorganization of the social structure resultedin a "de jure recognition of a de facto disintegration of slavery. This physicallabor was mainly attained from the importation of African slaves. Hired slaves received part of the money paid totheir owners and were protected from any physical punishment. However, the Spanish Crown and Cuban government did not support the suggestedlegislation. Thelarge sugar boom that followed resulted in an increase of external wealth and theunderdevelopment of Cuba's internal markets and social classes. The European markets abilityto produce sugar at lower prices and of better quality limited the market for which PuertoRico could compete.
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Acceptance Essays
