in the European struggle for empire and a victim of European steel, gunpowder and disease. The Caribbean became a significant player in the developing trans-Atlantic economy as numerous plantations sprung across the region run by slave labor. Even after Emancipation, the after effects of servitude- poverty, exploitation and inequality- lead to protest and resistance to European colonial rule. In the twentieth century, the United States largely replaced Europe as the dominant player in the area, and intervened when it perceived its regional interests were threatened.

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