The negative impact of the slave trade on the Caribbean

• The slave trade established racist attitudes and beliefs, particularly the view that Black Africans were physically and intellectually inferior.
• Each Island became reliant on one crop, for example, 93% of Barbados exports were sugar.
• If prices fell internationally, the local economy would be damaged.
• The slave trade led to the destruction of native communities, with indigenous people used as slave labour and driven to extinction.
• The Caribbean became more violent, with a culture of punishment and cruelty along with a fear of rebellion.
• Slave codes replaced existing laws to maintain order and obedience.
• Factories were set up on the islands to refine the sugar and working conditions were harsh and dangerous.
• New diseases were brought to the islands from Europe/Africa and native people had no natural resistance.
• The natural beauty of the island landscape was damaged by the growth of the plantations.