The Rise & Fall of the Plantation Complex

Studies in Comparative World History

by Philip D. Curtin

s/t: Essays in Atlantic History
Over a period of several centuries, Europeans developed an intricate system of plantation agriculture overseas that was quite different from the agricultural system used at home. Though the plantation complex centered on the American tropics, its influence was much wider. Much more than an economic order for the Americas, the plantation complex had an important place in world history. These essays concentrate on the intercontinental impact.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World History, School, American, Research, Africa

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Philip DeArmond Curtin, 22 May 1922 - 4 June 2009, was a wide-ranging and influential historian whose pioneering use of modern statistical methods to determine the extent of the Atlantic slave trade suggested that far fewer slaves were transported from Africa than had previously been thought.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rise and Fall of the Plantation Complex takes the reader throughout the Atlantic World as the plantation system is built up by European powers and then is decline as new technologies and abolitionist movements turned the tide against the system. Starting with the early explorations of the Azores and the Canaries and branching out into the Caribbean this book follows the major powers of France, Spain, Great Britian and others as they built out empires in the Atlantic. As the economics of sugar grew the slave trade rose in relation to it and the need to have ae system of control that could manage the labor force with it. This combination of events led to the Plantation Complex and the brutality and racism that came along with it. This book does a nice job of capturing the political and economic realities of the complex and while not delving too deep into the social still weaves it in as the system impacts those who are involved. This book is not a single account of any one area but jumps all over the Caribbean and South/Central America. While the American South is mentioned it is not a huge focus of the book due to the nature of the slavery there as it differed from the Caribbean islands. Well written and drawing on a wide range of sources this is a great book for those interested in how the slave trade developed in the Atlantic world or just looking for a book on the economics of the Atlantic world.

[Arielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2019 Reading Challenge - A book with a plant in the title or on the cover

If one is looking for a resource for data - statistics, timelines, etc. - on the history of plantations in the Western Hemisphere, this could be a helpful document. This book is very Eurocentric. Not once are the enslaved people that were forced to be the fuel for the plantation complex being dissected in this book ever referred to as people. Their very real lived experience and the impact of their kidnapping and forced labor had on both sides of the Atlantic is minimized. The author implies that there are human tragedies in every culture and every time period, so the negative impact of the slave trade and plantation complex isn't very relevant because it's part of the human cycle. It is also heavily weighted toward approaching the complex from the colonizers historical record and European context. There are brief discussions of African empires and various ethnic communities, but it is no where as in-depth or complete. I found this book fell short and was lacking in a serious rigorous examination of a significant period of human history.

[Joe Leland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curtin's book is a good introduction to the plantation complex thesis. Students learning about the middle passage and slavery will benefit from his analysis.

For a recent interpretation of the (global) plantation complex, see Kris Manjapra's book chapter from a recent edited volume on American capitalism (sven beckert), "plantation dispossessions."

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overly general with few in-detail examples to show a huge swath of history.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rise and Fall of the Plantation Complex
Second Edition
by Philip D. Curtin
first published 1990, second edition 1998
Cambridge University Press

I think I've mentioned this before, but always be on the look out for history books, published by Cambridge University Press, that cost less then five bucks. Paying attention to the publisher can save you a lot of wasted reading time.

A major trend in history over the last thirty years has been the shift away from books that dealt with The History of Country X or The History of the Such and Such War to books that try to relate multiple events to one another as well as the elaboration of areas of inquiry that span separate historical subjects. A major example of this trend is the rise of "Atlantic History" which seeks to relate what happened in the new world with events in the old world in a specific and non-specious manner. In American History, the most notable authors in this area are David Hackett Fischer and his seminal Albion's Seed as well as Bernard Bailyn.

The Rise and Fall of the Plantation Complex is a simple example of what I would call the "new atlantic history," written in an easy to read prose style that makes it accessible to anyone with an undergraduate level education. Curtin charts the rise of the Plantation complex in south America and the Caribbean with reference to the internal history of Africa, the settlement history of the New World, economic history and a heavy emphasis on demographics. It's a sophisticated, of the moment approach which undoubtedly explains why the edition I read was the 13th edition of the 2nd printing (i.e. it's a hit.) Perhaps the success has something to do with the moderate length (200 pages) and almost total lack of foot notes- I'm guessing this book is an undergraduate staple in history departments on three different continents.

[Lorraine Herbon · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book contained a lot of valuable insights into just what made up the plantation complex and the role it played in a cross-cultural economic exchange, the writing was a bit dry and the editor missed quite a few typing errors. The narrative lacked a cohesiveness, with one chapter, I believe it was Chapter 7, that did not seem to fit in at all. As always with economic histories, the focus was on structure and not on people. While that generally feels dry and more than a little dull, in this instance author Philip D. Curtin puts forth a compelling rationale for his distant viewpoint. Looking at the issue of slavery through a strictly economic lens allows both author and reader to study the subject without the emotional baggage that usually accompanies any discussion of slavery. While that emotional baggage is important, it does tend to obscure an objective analysis--which is just as necessary as understanding the emotional component.

This was not a bad read, and the emphasis on the rise of the sugar plantations of the Americas is interesting. Readers just need to embrace the structuralism.

[Jose De sa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fundamental book to understand the reasons and the chronology of the transatlantic slave trade, as well as the "sugar war" between the Portugueses and the Dutchmen.
It also explains the technical and the commercial processes involved in the sugar production. The plantation economy was not based on a simple agricultural technology; it was an agro-industry, with local industrial processing by machines ("engenhos"), and was a true globalized business - production in tropical America, workforce from Africa, and sales in Europe.
For one century (1570-1680) Portugal was the world master of this economy, although nothing in it was from portuguese conception. After that a set of other european powers replicated the portuguese venture in the islands of Central America, the last and enduring sugar producer being Cuba.

[Jamille Parks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very informative and interesting to read. This is definaltely a book to look at when studying the Atlantic and the slave movement.

[Elan Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exceptional