The Portuguese Atlantic islands was during the maritime expansion a strategic point for the deployment of a system of colonization based in the commercial exploration of certain primary goods. The sugar was one of them. While in some islands the sugar cane has proved impracticable, in others it was a source of income, mainly with the exportation of the product to Europe. The slavery was one of the essential foundations for the success of this system. Latter it was transferred to Brazil, where the colonization was more economically advantageous.
sugar cane; slavery; international trade