British West Indies

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/british-west-indies

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary economic engine?Sugar production, heavily reliant on enslaved labor
2. What is the demographic impact?Approximately 2.3 million enslaved Africans were transported to the region
3. Why was sugar so important in the British West Indies?Sugar plantations made a lot of money for Britain. The workers on these plantations were enslaved Africans who were forced to work very hard.
4. How did the West Indies Federation try to help the islands?The Federation was a plan to join many islands together and become one independent country. It lasted only four years because the islands had different ideas about how to run their governments.

Imperialism: A policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means.
Decolonization: The process by which colonies become independent of the colonizing country.
British Overseas Territories: Territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom but not part of it.
Commonwealth of Nations: A voluntary association of 56 independent countries, most of which were formerly part of the British Empire.