Economic marginality and the rise of the free population of colour in mauritius, 1767–1830

Mauritius on fire: Tracking historical human impacts on biodiversity loss

“…The first major lull in fire activity on Mauritius after European colonization occurred between ca 1747–1787, preceding the French revolution (Fig. A), when land‐based agricultural activities were of minor economic importance compared to the provisioning of goods and services to passing ships (Allen , Addison & Hazareesingh ).…”

Assessing temporal couplings in social–ecological island systems: historical deforestation and soil loss on Mauritius (Indian Ocean)

“…By 1817, 80,000 slaves lived on Mauritius, out of a total population of nearly 100,000 (Lutz andWils 1994, Teelock 1998). Major expansion of sugar cane occurred after 1825 when the British government allowed the import of Mauritian sugar and removed the tax penalty in Britain (Allen 1989). In addition, sugar consumption started to increase profoundly in Britain, which transformed sugar cane into a main cash crop (Addison and Hazareesingh 1993).…”

“…Local merchants and seafarers made investments in agricultural land (Allen 2008), and some public land concessions were given out freely to settlers (Grove 1996). The local economy was primarily occupied with providing goods and services to the ships that made a stopover in the harbors, and the local government actively encouraged the cultivation of sugar, spices, and other crops (Allen 1989(Allen , 2008. Sugar cane became the preferred and dominant agricultural crop, and a plantation system was introduced.…”

“…Mauritius functioned as a trading post to supply French ships in the Indian Ocean with essential goods and services (Allen 1989). Mauritius's role as a commercial trading center greatly promoted local economic activity and laid the foundation for the formation of domestic capital (Allen 2008).…”