The seventeenth century Caribbean can be described as a time of transience and disaster as well as fortune and growth. The English occupancy of this region increased during this century, geographically and in terms of trade. Economically, the Caribbean was looked upon as the "gem of the crown" after the introduction of the sugar crop in the 1640's. The sugar phenomenon generated the need for slave labour in the form of African slave import and that of indentured servants. The condition of the white indentured servant in comparison with that of the black slave in the seventeenth-century Caribbean is an interesting situation that can be seen in terms of what the Planters had to gain from each group of labourers and how expendable they were considered to be. The issue of freedom and its implications is a central one in this contrast as it is the fundamental dividing factor between white and black. …
