Caribbean History reveals the region's important role in the colonial struggles of European powers since the 15th century. In the twentieth century, the Caribbean was again important during World War II, the postwar wave of decolonization, and tensions between communist Cuba and the United States. Genocide, slavery, immigration, and rivalry among world powers have given Caribbean history a disproportionate impact on the size of this small region.
The most significant development was when Christopher Columbus wrote to Spain saying that the islands were great for sugar exploration. The history of Caribbean agricultural dependence is closely related to European colonialism, which altered the economic potential of the region through the introduction of a planting system. Like the Spaniards, who enslaved indigenous natives to work in gold mines, in the seventeenth century brought a new set of oppressors like the Dutch, the English, and the French.
A system of slavery was adapted, which allowed the colonizers to have an abundant workforce with little concern about falling sugar demand. In the nineteenth century, wages were finally introduced with the abolition of slavery. The new system, however, was similar to the previous one, in that it was based on capital and white labor.
Segregation is big because of so many destructive historical events for the country and its people.
