HIST 1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Mercantilism, Latin American Wars Of Independence, Atlantic World
Document Summary
Absentee landlords- europeans would die from things like malaria in the caribbean, usually didn"t live in the plantations that they owned. Maximum productivity, maximum mortality- 50% of african slaves die within the first year that they are there. Culture of fear and reprisals- public torture and execution of slaves that try to revolt. Necessity of imperial military- willing to pay high taxes for assurance that british military will be there to put down any slave insurrection. Impact of the declaration of the rights of man and citizen. The scale of the plantations on the island meant there were thousands of slaves, could gather information and organize revolts all over the island. Also, slaves from the congo who had fought in african armies gave the slaves an edge the european armies had never seen before. Opposed to slavery- in order to maximize production, must have free labor. Freedom and fear- global powers all depend of slavery for their livelihood.
