This ppt is designed for 5th grade study of colonization of the West Indies. It covers the production of rum, the importing of slaves, the triangle trade routes.

1. The West Indies

2. Guiding Questions
 Which mother countries were involved in the West
Indies?
 What natural resources were they after?
 What major product was made there?
 Who did all the work?
 How were the West Indies economically connected to
other colonies?

3. Spanish Search for Gold
 Spain arrives looking for gold
 They enslaved the natives and forced them to look for
gold for them. Severely punished if they didn’t find any!
 Spain was dissatisfied with the little gold they found.
So they decided to look further south in the Incan
Empire (Peru) and to the north (in the American
southwest).

4. Spanish Fort

5. The French Sugar Farms
 First settlement in St. Kitts
in 1623
 Imported slaves to work on
the sugar farms
 The French were
constantly squabbling with
the English over territory
rights
 However, the French got
distracted by the French
Revolution and did not
have the strength to hold
on to them.

6. The English
 Settled in the West Indies by accident. They were
supposed to land in the Virginia colony, but a storm
blew them south and they landed in Bermuda!
 Arrived in 1648
 Began farming tobacco, but soon switched to farming
sugar
 Since the natives were mostly wiped out, they needed
to import slaves from Africa.
 Jamaica became the main slave trade area.

7. Slave Ships

8. Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of
 Slaves on sugar plantations were
expected to plow, plant, and harvest
five acres each per year
 After the sugar cane was
harvested, it would taken to a
nearby mill to be crushed.
 The crushed sugar was then
poured into a large kettle to be
boiled until it crystalized, making
raw sugar and molasses syrup.

9. Making Rum

10. The Triangle Trade

11. The Triangle Trade
 Because the sugar plantations need lots of slaves, the
triangle slave trade becomes a huge industry $$$
 Mother countries in Europe sold iron products (like
weapons) in exchange for slaves in Africa
 They would cram the slaves on ships along the “Middle
Passage” toward the West Indies.
 Upon arrival, some slaves would be sold to work on
plantations or in the mines.

12.  The ships would now load up with sugar and molasses
and head north to the American Colonies.
 They would trade the molasses for the processed rum.
 They also pick up fish, whale oil, lumber, and tobacco
to ship back to Europe.
 Rum is taken back to Africa in exchange for more
slaves.
 Consequence: Rum’s popularity soars and becomes a
favorite drink of the English

13. Check out this Map!!
 http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/application
s/imaps/maps/g5s_u3/index.html#top

14. Follow Up Questions
 Which mother countries were involved in the West
Indies?
 What natural resources were they after?
 What major product was made there?
 Who did all the work?
 How were the West Indies economically connected to
other colonies?