While the Dutch were maintaining their position on the Brazilian coast, and even after they had lost their stronghold, slave and sugar trade was booming. The Spanish and Portuguese were making a steady profit, and the British and the French were aspiring to do the same. At this time Barbados, a small island north of Brazil, became fundamental to the British sugar complex. Dutch shippers landed in Barbados offering to aid the British colonists in the cultivation of sugar. The shippers, who were not a part of the Dutch West India Company, knew that if they could increase the production of sugar in the Americas, they would have greater opportunity to transport the goods and the slaves needed for labor, and therefore benefit from the British success. They taught the settlers how to establish plantations and helped them to become more active in the Atlantic system. As these advancements took place, Great Britain began to realize that their plantations in Barbados were essential to their success in the trade system. The self-sufficient nature of the relationship between Barbados and Great Britain allowed the British to demand and consume more sugar, and resulted in the increased development of plantations in Barbados. In 1640, the 40 percent of the land was plantations; by mid 1767, that number increased to 80 percent. At that point over 65 percent of sugar consumed in Great Britain was shipped from Barbados (Curtin, pg. 83). The remaining percentage of sugar consumed came from British islands in the Caribbean (including Jamaica and small colonial holds in Central America), as well as through foreign trade.

The development of the trade system did not proceed without flaw. In contrast, as colonies began to grow there were many difficulties that the Europeans faced. Destructive hurricanes, widespread disease, and ravaging pirates were all factors with which the settlers struggled. In addition, the difficulty of successful transportation often left the settlers short of necessary supplies and manpower. This created an economic strain on the European governments forcing them to form alliances with and depend on private investors and legal monopolies of the trading system. The groups formed by this cooperation between governments and private clients were known as chartered companies. The chartered companies were instrumental to the success of the trade system, and became more prevalent as the system developed. A second advancement of the trade system was that of indentured servants. During the 1600s, the English, and also the French, often transported men who had committed infractions against the law to the colonies to work anywhere from three to seven years on plantations. Upon completion of their contract, indentured servants became free citizens. Roughly fifteen hundred indentured servants were sent to the colonies from Great Britain each year during the seventeenth century (Bulliet, The Earth and Its Peoples, pg.486). While this was obviously a good method to increase the labor force, slavery was preferred because it was less costly and more productive. In the first half of the seventeenth century, slave trade brought approximately 10,000 slaves per year to the Americas. By 1650, the number of plantations had increased to 20,000 slaves per year (Bulliet, pg. 499).

Four main continents sustained the Atlantic system by 1700: North and South America, Africa, and Europe. Between these continents, goods and people were traded as needed, and each continent provided a different product and benefited from the other. From the Americas, colonial products such as fur, tobacco, silver, and sugar was sent to Europe to be manufactured. From Africa, slaves were sent to Europe and primarily the Americas and put to work on plantations. From Europe, manufactured goods such as clothing, food and other supplies were sent to the other continents. The system was fluid, although it required much manpower and many ships to remain functional. The man

Some topics in this essay:
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