Read the two passages from Sugar Changed the World. By the late 1700s, Saint Domingue (what is now Haiti)
was the world center of sugar. So many sugar
plantations dotted the landscape that slaves called
commanders managed other slaves. On the night of
August 14, 1791, commanders from the richest sugar
plantations in Saint Domingue gathered in a place called
Alligator Woods and swore a solemn oath. They would
rise up against their white owners, "and listen to the
voice of liberty which speaks in the hearts of all of us."
That voice told them to destroy everything related to
sugar. Sugar made the Africans slaves, so sugar must
be wiped off the island, now a vast sugar factory to the
world.
By the end of August, the French colony was in flames.
So many cane fields were on fire that the air was filled
with "a rain of fire composed of burning bits of cane-
Which claim do both passages support?
Haiti is a small island nation that has had little effect
on events in North America or Europe,
Sugar was such a powerful economic force that it led
to significant political changes.
Events in one part of the world rarely have a
significant effect on people in other regions.
Natural disasters such as fires can have both political
and economic impacts on colonies.