A large agricultural estate in the New World, typically in the Caribbean and Americas, where crops were grown on a large scale. These plantations were established by European colonizers during the Age of Exploration.
Think of a European plantation like a massive factory farm today. Just as factory farms produce one type of product (like chickens or pigs) on a huge scale for profit, so did these plantations focus on growing one type of crop (like sugar or tobacco) to sell back in Europe.
Colonialism: The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
Indentured Servitude: A system where an individual is contracted to work for a specific period of time in exchange for transportation to the New World. This was often used as labor on these plantations.
Monoculture: The cultivation of a single crop in a given area. This was common on European plantations where they would grow cash crops exclusively.
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