Work Force

Because of the shrinking native labor force, which was being ravished by diseases brought by the foreigners, the plantation owners recognized that they needed to look elsewhere for a cheap labor force.  The first immigrant group brought to work on the sugar plantations were the Chinese who had some experience in refining sugar.  Primarily males were recruited.  Many returned to China once their labor contract was completed.  With the demands for sugar increased, a demand for cheap labor force increased too.  To be able to supply the plantations with the needed workers, the owners began looking to other sources.  They sent recruiters to the Azores and Madeira in Portugal, Japan, Korea, Norway, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.  Each different ethnic group would work under a different wage scale and rate; the latest arrival would be paid less.

Ravished: to overwhelm

Refining: to produce a purer form of something

Labor: the workers

Recruiters: to enlist somebody

Wage: a scale of the different wages paid to employees (workes)