Dr Rita Pemberton

The economic fate of Tobago has been influenced by a variety of factors over the course of the last two centuries which have continued to exert an influence on the island's present-day economic prospects. Then as now, the notion of economic development was prominent on the agendas of different groups in the society at different times. Each had a different notion of what constituted the economic development best for the island.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the concerns considered most urgent were related to the restoration of the sugar industry after the disruptions associated with the French control of the island.

In this matter, the imperial and colonial administrations were united, but it soon became clear that this unity of purpose was not destined to last long. As Britain became more industrialised, its need was for larger markets not available in the Caribbean colonies. Therefore, Britain needed to divest itself of the restrictions of the old colonial system and implement a new trading regime to facilitate access global markets for its industrial produce.

Tobago's sugar-planting elite hoped for imperial support to restore the island's sugar economy; the realisation that the winds of change were blowing had not yet dawned on them.

The imperial notion of a development agenda was intimately tied to plantation success which would provide the imperial government with profits, but these continued to elude Tobago's sugar industry, which had already begun its downward slide.

Imperial policy was made manifest with the termination of the trade in captive and enslaved Africans in 1807, which stimulated calls from Tobago planters for concessions based on special consideration of their plight, which fell on deaf ears. Tobago's planting community experienced increased production costs, stimulated by the increased costs of labour.

Much to the opposition of the colonial administrations, the British government forged ahead with terminating the system of enslavement in its colonies, an issue which was a clear indication of the policy divergence between the imperial and colonial administrations and the subsequent clashes between the two levels of administration.

The Tobago planters considered it most urgent to restore the sugar industry to a sound footing, but the forces were stacked against them. Sugar was no longer a profitable business in Tobago, market prices were falling, and the new colonies - namely Trinidad and British Guiana - with size in their favour, attracted investment and dominated the British market. The cost of sugar production in Tobago exceeded the returns, plantations were heavily indebted and several which were put on the market failed to attract purchasers. These were signs that the island's sugar industry simply could not be revived. Yet the planters persevered.

As the 19th century progressed, the dark economic clouds which hovered over Tobago became thicker and darker, fuelling further tension betw