Rediscovering the role of cattle in the sugarcane-dominated economies in the 17th to 19th centuries British West Indies

Abstract

British West Indies was one of the wealthiest colonies and some said they were the economic engine for the expansion of the British Empire. In those islands, the sugarcane industries were the major economic sector and different elements in the society were surrounded by sugarcane cultivation. Social Scientists and Historians focus largely on the developments of the sugarcane industries or the system of slavery. Slaves supported the entire sugarcane industry with cheaper and more exploitable means of cultivating sugar. The importance of slaves overshadowed the involvement of cattle in society. Cattle supported the expansion and the continuation of the entire sugarcane business in the Caribbean and in turn, they secretly supported the sugar trade in the British Empire.

This paper will examine and rediscover the roles of cattle in the British Caribbean. With the scope limited to the British West Indies, we could generalise similar systems and methods of cultivating sugar or the management of the cattle population. By revealing the socio-economic roles of the cattle in the Caribbean, the processes of making sugar could be completed. This is the only way for historians and researchers from other disciplines to study and figure out issues related to the sugarcane industries in the Caribbean. This paper will examine the relations between cattle and the followings, slaves, planters, sugarcane estates, and soils. This will open a new chapter in the field of history to lead us into a new discipline of research.