Date of Award
Spring 2011
Thesis Type
Open Access
Degree Name
Master of Liberal Studies
Advisor(s)
Dr. Claire Strom
Abstract
This paper examines the events that precipitated transoceanic plant transportation and British imperial expansion during the second half of the eighteenth century. Combined circumstances forced the British to explore transoceanic plant transportation to make colonies, especially those in the British West Indies, more self-sufficient. Hurricanes in the Caribbean destroyed ground crops vital for slaves and plantation operations, and fallout from a volcanic eruption in Iceland poisoned soil in Britain and northern Europe for years. Wars with France and America inhibited oceanic trade and trade routes. These circumstances fostered the British desire to control its own food supply and resulted in the introduction of breadfruit into the British West Indies. Expansion of the British Empire in the Pacific arena facilitated this endeavor.
Recommended Citation
Tudor, Annabel, "Rule Britannia: Britain, Breadfruit, and the Birth of Transoceanic Plant Transportation" (2011). Master of Liberal Studies Theses. 9.
https://scholarship.rollins.edu/mls/9