Trade in the West Indies
The main export that practically drove the entire economy in the West Indies was sugar. Sugar Plantations in the islands created a greater need for labor, and that labor came in the form of slaves. Both of these industries grew at amazing such rates that in less than 50 years production almost doubled. As of 1800, England consumed 150,000 tons of sugar annually, most of which came from the West Indies.
| Islands | c. 1700 | c.1725 | c.1748 |
| Barbados | 10,009 | 8,288 | 6,442 |
| Leeward Islands | 7,044 | 16,784 | 17,584 |
| Jamaica | 4,874 | 10,249 | 17,399 |
| Totals | 22,017 | 35,321 | 41,425 |
Source: Noel, Deerr, The History of Sugar, 2 vols. (London, 1949-50) I, pp.193-198.
The islands have to devout so much land and energy to sugar production that they were forced to import other necessary goods from England and the American Colonies.
Since both France and Spain also had interests in the West Indian region, there was a fair amount of trade warfare that occurred. The Mercantilist ideology drove all three countries to attempt to control key trade routes and islands that were deemed most valuable. Jamaica, for example, was constantly threatened by France and Spain, and periodically burned and pillaged. Spain especially tried to take Jamaica from Great Britain because of the islands close proximity to the Spanish holdings in America.
While these were all negative ramifications of Mercantilism, they also, in conjunction with growing plantation development, constituted the beginnings of capitalism and the industrial revolution.