How germs shaped human history
History Extra podcast
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The History of Slavery in the Americas
The Spanish found in the Caribbean soil and a climate that was perfect for growing sugar which was in massive demand back home. The regular sources of slave labor had dried up so they turned to the slave markets of West Africa. This basically set up a path dependency that made it impossible for other colonizing nations to choose other ways of organizing their colonies. So I think Barbados is a really interesting example in this respect.
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