pped areas for economic gain. Wealth motivated him, and the cultivation of rich crops was of primary importance to him. The Demerara region was opened up in 1746 and was soon in use as farmland. Tellingly, the Dutch administrated the island, but many of the plantation owners were English. Significantly, 34 of the 93 plantations operating in 1762 were English-owned and -run. The number might even be higher; the tax documents of the time, upon which these numbers are based, were frequently falsified.
The areas of cultivation expanded, and with the expansion came a greater trade in slaves. This posed two separate problems. The Dutch company was insufficiently equipped to provide the number of slaves that the plantation owners wanted, thereby driving up the slaves' prices, and the ratio of slaves to whites soon increased, which led to threats of revolt. This naturally led to increased desire for military control, and so soliders were soon needed to enforce the company's economic stability.
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