Rise of the British Factory System

The establishment of a reliable sugar industry was not easily acquired for western Europe. The lack of laborers and an efficient processing technique were just some of the barriers that needed to be overcame. Luckily, during the early developments of sugarcane plantations, sugar demand was low and still being met. Though, this changed very rapidly and western Europe began pouring more resources into this industry. “sugar was becoming a raw material whose supply and refining were managed more and more by European powers, as European populations consumed it in larger and larger quantities.”1 The Industry migrated west towards Spain’s settled Caribbean colonies filling the void of the decreasing mining industry. A large factor to the success of sugar plantations in these Caribbean islands was the beginning of a slave trade network that allowed more laborers to harvest and process the crop. This network of slave trading was considered the Transatlantic Slave Trade and it was a crucial resource for the boom of Caribbean sugar plantations.

Jamaica was a newly conquered British territory that was being utilized for sugar but more importantly cacao. Cacao was very popular in western Europe and processing it was a function of Britain’s cutting-edge factory system. Unfortunately, sugar production migrating from European territories towards Caribbean land introduced new problems. Along with struggling to access reliable laborers and processing techniques, the new weather patterns of the Caribbean were harsher and damaging of plantations. Tropical storms were frequent in this string of islands and it proved difficult to have steady sugar plantations. However, the sugar industry still flourished both locally and exported. “Jamaican cacao soon reached the London market, but was also enjoyed locally in the island.”2 As cacao and sugar imports from Caribbean colonies increased, the need to be processed and sold more rapidly was important. This was accomplished with the more organized and efficient factory system that had sprung up in Europe. Investing in new ways to efficiently process different materials was a sweeping trend for wealthy and royal European families which ultimately led to the boom of the sugar industry in a relatively short amount of time. “Within only a century, the French, and even more the British, became the western world’s great sugar makers and exporters.”3