1701+C.E.+to+1748+C.E.

=A Divided Europe Leads to More Fighting =


Succession of King Philip V

Spain and France VS. England, The Netherlands, and Austria

 * The wars over trading regulations in the Caribbean by European powers led to English and French forces to send soldiers to the Caribbean circa 1701. Due to the many tropical diseases that ran ramped on the island, many of these soldiers died, leaving their jobs to local fighters and privateers, small ships who used their speed and agility to fight against larger, war ships.**

=
Both the French naval commander: the Count de Château-Renault, and the British commander: Vice-Admiral John Benbow, sought to protect Hispanola from pirates, Benbow losing a leg during one raid. Though many pirates escaped to plunder another ship another day, they were successful in bringing down quite a few. As a side note: Jack Sparrow was not among them.  ======


Finally: An End to the Wars  Between 1702 and 1714, the British and the French fought over control of the Caribbean islands. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, reassigning control of islands, and ending the wars by 1714.



Yo Ho No: The End of Pirate Life in the Caribbean?
Pirates continued to disrupt colony life, raiding ships and towns in pursuit of money, gold, and other valuables. In 1718, Captain Woodes Rogers became the British Governor of The Bahamas. A skilled privateer and politician, he had a history of fighting pirates and persuading them to turn themselves, and other pirates into the government in return for their safety.



By the 1720's other Caribbean islands such as Jamaica issued laws against the crimes of pirates. The fate of their lifestyle was one of two choices: be hanged, or retreat to safer waters. The lucky ones sailed away from the Caribbean, the pirate lifestyle eradicated for the most part due to British power.


 * // Sugar Cane and Slaves = Politics and Trade //**

//Anywhere in history where there is hard labor, there is slavery.//



__Sugar cane became one of the easiest and most profitable crops in the Caribbean,__ but the tedious task of growing and harvesting it did not interest the white settlers, so they had African slaves shipped over from Africa to assist the natives in these tasks. Plantations were formed, and censuses showed that by the 1750's, the number of slaves vastly outnumbered the number of free whites. Particularly, in Jamaica and Barbados, the populations of both groups grew in large numbers, Jamaica holding round 17,000 settlers and 170,000 slaves, and Barbados having 16,000 settlers and 63,000 slaves. This trade system furthered the __Triangular Trade Route__, shipping slaves to new lands, and sugar becoming more of a common spice in Europe.



Slaves continued to be an important cargo for Europeans, the French going as far as __exempting slaves from import and export taxes__ to encourage their shipping. The sugar also became a political and economical symbol, being very profitable, the French and British growing more and more, to keep up with demands. The British turned sugar into politics, placing restrictions on creating by-products, like rum and molasses of sugar on the islands, allowing the products to be made back in England for a profit. North American traders found it easier to get these products from the French islands, as they were closer and cheaper. The British passed laws on these restrictions in North America, but were largely unheeded: The Molasses Act of 1733 and the Sugar Act of 1764.

 Slave Revolts

 With most islands having a 50:1 slave to white ratio, it was inevitable that the slaves would attempt to rise against their captors, but the amount of attacks, and their magnitude of destruction marked the years of the Caribbean Islands up to the 1800's.

Whether it be Ashanti slaves just brought over, or the French persuading British slaves to retaliate, these revolts became numerous and severe to the Caribbean Islands. Jamaica alone was home of over fourteen revolts, some lasting days, others years, sparking mini-wars. The causalities were great, usually tens of whites dead, and hundreds of slaves killed. In French islands, the French Revolution starting in 1789 sparked a series of revolts in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

= The Spanish and British Fight Over Trading: War Resumes...Again. = By the 1730's, Spain and Britain were back at war with one another over what they called //illegal seizure or each others ships.// British smugglers avoided Spanish trading restrictions, and were thereby captured by Spanish ships. The British argued that these searches were illegal, and performed upon legal ships. By 1738 England was prepared for another war with Spain. Spain, eager to protect their ports and trade, did not hold their fire.

1739-40: Admiral Edward Vernon of England takes the Spanish islands of Porto Bello and Charges. Attacks were successful due to quick action and lack of disease transmission.

1741: Admiral Vernon attempts a larger-scale attack, but disease and the Spanish resistance wipeout 2/3's of his fleet. Returned to Jamaica to replenish and get more troops.

1742: Failed attack on Panama City.

1748: Second attempt on Santiago fails as well.

A series of stalemates resulted in a prolonged war with no real winners. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapella is signed, ending yet another war, but tension between England, Spain, and France is still visible both in the Caribbean and in Europe...

