Molasses, Caribbean trade, and imperial priorities

The later wealth of the United States should not be projected backward onto the mainland colonies. Caribbean revenues, especially those associated with Jamaica, could rival the taxes generated by all thirteen colonies. The Atlantic system moved manufactured goods to Africa, enslaved captives to the Americas, and plantation commodities to Europe. Treating people as tradable resources was a human horror built into that commerce. Much of the markup came from carrying goods between markets where their value differed, making shipping itself central to the system's profits.