The Caribbean Flashcards
When did Christopher Columbus discover the Caribbean?
1492.
What did Spain and Portugal quickly do after the discovery of the Caribbean?
They quickly began to claim land in the Caribbean and ended up having a monopoly on trade there.
What did Spains and Portugal’s monopoly mean to Englishmen?
They would have to pay hefty taxes to trade in the Carribean.
What did English traders do to avoid paying the Spanish and Portuguese?
They traded illegally and in secret; they became known as pirates and smugglers.
What were privateers?
They were pirates who had a legal licence signed by the monarch to plunder and attack enemy ships to protect their trade or possessions.
Who was John Hawkins?
He was a naval commander and trader, who realised that a lot of profit could be made from piracy and smuggling in the Caribbean.
What did John Hawkins do in 1562?
He attacked Portuguese ships sailing along the West African coast and captured 300 slaves.
- He then took them to the Caribbean and sold them for a hefty profit.
What did John Hawkins’ actions do?
- It influenced other Englishmen to do the same.
- It lay down the foundations of the ‘triangular trade’.
What was the triangular trade?
It included taking English goods to West Africa and selling them for captured West Africans; they were then taken to the Caribbean and traded for spices, rum, sugar, or tobacco, or sold off and the Englishmen returned to England.
How many Africans were enslaved by the British?
Over 3 million.
When was Barbados discovered and by who?
It was discovered by London merchant Sir William Courten in 1625.
What did the English do in Barbados?
They set up tobacco farms and hundreds of English settlers moved to Barbados who hoped to make a fortune out of their plantations.
What were indentured servants?
English people who had no prospects in England who hoped to make living for themselves in the Caribbean.
What is an ‘indenture’
It is a legal agreement or contract that servants signed to agree to work for the plantation owners for 7 years before receiving a small plot of land in which they could farm on.
Who were ‘The Quakers’?
They were some of Barbados’ earliest settlers who were Christian Protestants. However, they did not believe in the same Protestantism that England believed in, and they were known as dissenters.
