<P> The Caribbean initially provided England 's most important and lucrative colonies , but not before several attempts at colonisation failed . An attempt to establish a colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years , and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits . Colonies in St Lucia ( 1605 ) and Grenada ( 1609 ) also rapidly folded , but settlements were successfully established in St. Kitts ( 1624 ) , Barbados ( 1627 ) and Nevis ( 1628 ) . The colonies soon adopted the system of sugar plantations successfully used by the Portuguese in Brazil , which depended on slave labour , and -- at first -- Dutch ships , to sell the slaves and buy the sugar . To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of this trade remained in English hands , Parliament decreed in 1651 that only English ships would be able to ply their trade in English colonies . This led to hostilities with the United Dutch Provinces -- a series of Anglo - Dutch Wars -- which would eventually strengthen England 's position in the Americas at the expense of the Dutch . In 1655 , England annexed the island of Jamaica from the Spanish , and in 1666 succeeded in colonising the Bahamas . </P>
<P> The Caribbean initially provided England 's most important and lucrative colonies , but not before several attempts at colonisation failed . An attempt to establish a colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years , and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits . Colonies in St Lucia ( 1605 ) and Grenada ( 1609 ) also rapidly folded , but settlements were successfully established in St. Kitts ( 1624 ) , Barbados ( 1627 ) and Nevis ( 1628 ) . The colonies soon adopted the system of sugar plantations successfully used by the Portuguese in Brazil , which depended on slave labour , and -- at first -- Dutch ships , to sell the slaves and buy the sugar . To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of this trade remained in English hands , Parliament decreed in 1651 that only English ships would be able to ply their trade in English colonies . This led to hostilities with the United Dutch Provinces -- a series of Anglo - Dutch Wars -- which would eventually strengthen England 's position in the Americas at the expense of the Dutch . In 1655 , England annexed the island of Jamaica from the Spanish , and in 1666 succeeded in colonising the Bahamas . </P>
where did the british empire get sugar from
where did the british empire get sugar from
St. Kitts ( 1624 ) , Barbados ( 1627 ) and Nevis ( 1628 )
St. Kitts ( 1624 ) , Barbados ( 1627 ) and Nevis ( 1628 )