During this week we have been assigned to read a book by the author Jamaica Kincaid that is titled A Small Place. The book’s setting takes place in a small island in the Caribbean, called Antigua. When most of us hear of the place Antigua we generally think of a warm vacation spot on the water. But there is much more to it than just being a beautiful vacation spot. I had to do some research and digging to figure out the history of this place because it is not one I knew much about. I chose to go about the agriculture route of the history of the island of Antigua because that is what I jive best with since I have been raised on a farm and am an Agribusiness and Applied Economics major with a minor in Production Agriculture. This island was found and originally entered on for the hopes and possibilities of it being a sugar plantation in 1684. Sugar plantations were big in the Caribbean around this time, in the 1640’s sugar agriculture began to be very profitable as sugar cane was grown in Barbados. These sugar plantations were primarily using slaves and convicts to do all of the labor of growing the sugar cane and from there making the sugar products. After Christopher Codrington inspected Antigua it was discovered to be fit for large-scale sugar cultivations, in fact it was home to over 150 cane-processing windmills by the time the mid 1700’s hit. Fast forward to the 1970’s when there was a collapse in the sugar industry which left the government to be in control of 60% of the plantations in Antigua. While there has now been a decrease in the booming sugar cane plantations and production there is still many other forms of agriculture found in Antigua, this includes things such as fruits and vegetables as well as fish. I am attaching a few photos for you all, the first being a photo of the sugar production in Antigua in the 1800’s. The second is a photo of some agriculture research that is being done in more present day in Antigua. Finally, the last picture is what I mentioned in the beginning as to what we all probably think of when we hear Antigua.
Resources:
http://www.antigua-barbuda.org/aghis01.htm
https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Americas/Antigua-and-Barbuda-AGRICULTURE.html#:~:text=The%20collapse%20of%20the%20sugar,acres%20of%20sugar%20cane%20plantations.&text=However%2C%20it%20appears%20that%20cultivation,of%20land%20planted%20with%20vegetables.
