ABSTRACT
Everywhere the plantation system utilized most of the arable land suitable for the large-scale production of staples, accounted for most of the capital invested and technology imported into the territories, and was virtually solely responsible for the introduction of a vast amount of unfree labour from West Africa. By the early 19th century, however, the British Caribbean plantation system was showing signs of incipient decline. Local conditions, geographical and demographic, political and economic, played a vital part in determining in what form and to what extent the plantation system would survive. The plantation system in the British Caribbean found itself in a process of contraction during the first decade after emancipation, being unable to attract sufficient finance capital, or to introduce improved technology, or to expand production and maximize profits, or even to procure an adequate and regular supply of labour.
