The Plantation Economy and its Impact on Central America's Development - Term Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages The history of Central America is linked with the growth and development of the plantation economy. When the colonialists reached the land, they found enabling climate and they set of establishing plantations to create what came to be known as the sugar kingdom in the history of America.
The economy of the region is largely reliant on Agriculture. There is the production of a cash crop like coffee, bananas, sugarcane, and cotton which is produced through large holding and most of the products is exported to the Northern American and to Europe. However, there is also the growth of subsistence crops like corns, beans, bananas, mains, rice, and pulley. In the drier regions, there is the production of beef cattle. The large holdings most employee modern farming while the subsistence farmers still use the simple farming techniques that have been in use for a long time now. (Wrigley, 1999)
Plantation farming has been practiced in the region since the settlement of colonialists in the region. However, the region still lags behind in economic development despite producing agricultural products to the world. Has the plantation economy helped the region develop economically or has it helped the investors in the large holdings'
It will look at the impact this has been making on the economy of the region and at the end, it will look at the present economic situation of these countries so as to make a conclusion of there the plantation economy has been of use to the region or if it has not helped the region. In conclusion, it will look at the problem that the region has been facing and what can be done on the situation.
Development of the plantation economy in the region
The historical development of the plantation economy in the region dates back when the Spanish colonization was started. With the arrival of Spanish and other colonialists in the region, there was increased development of an agrarian economy which was favored by the Amazon climate that extends to the region. When the Spanish came, they immediately started planting bananas in large plantation around the 1860s and by 1870 there was increased growth of banana in the region. Most of the plantations in the region were started along the railway lines which were by then expanding northward to America. When an American entrepreneur was commissioned by the Costa Rica government to build a transition railroad, he started growing bananas along the railway road and immediately began exporting them to the United States. Keith was highly successful in the venture and he embarked on the same plantation economic along all other major railway roads that he built. He was able to acquire large tracks of undeveloped land and in the process expanded the development of banana plantation to Guatemala and Honduras. In 1869 he merged with Boston Fruit Company and formed the United Fruit Company which rapidly expanded to Central America and by 1955 the company had over 400,000 hectares under the production of bananas. (Ferguson, 1998; Mahar and Schneider, 1994) As the colonialists settled there was displacement of the native from their lands in order to pave way for the development of plantations which could produce cash crops. As a result, most of the natives ended up being employed as laborers in these farms. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More