Sugar Plantations Fueled the Slave Trade
Sugar Plantations Fueled the Slave Trade is a Grade 5 history skill from California myWorld Interactive, Chapter 2: Age of Exploration. Students learn how European demand for sugar led to massive plantations in the Americas, and how the death of American Indian laborers from disease and harsh conditions prompted Europeans to begin the transatlantic slave trade, forcibly bringing millions of Africans to work on plantations.
Key Concepts
Europeans wanted to grow valuable crops, like sugar, in the Americas. They created large farms called plantations to grow these crops and sell them for profit.
These plantations required a huge number of workers. Colonists first forced American Indians to do the work, but millions died from disease and harsh conditions.
Common Questions
How did sugar plantations lead to the slave trade?
Europeans needed large numbers of workers for sugar plantations. When millions of American Indians died from disease and harsh conditions, European traders began the transatlantic slave trade to capture Africans and force them to work.
What was the transatlantic slave trade?
The transatlantic slave trade was a system that captured millions of Africans and forcibly transported them to work as enslaved laborers on plantations in the Americas.
Why did European colonists want sugar plantations?
Colonists created large plantations to grow sugar because it was a very valuable crop they could sell for profit in Europe and other markets.
What textbook covers sugar plantations and the slave trade for Grade 5?
This topic is covered in California myWorld Interactive, Grade 5, Chapter 2: Age of Exploration.