Part 3/10:
As the years progressed, the Spanish largely abandoned Hispaniola, and by the late 17th century, the French began establishing control over the western third of the island, renaming it Saint-Domingue. This colony became the world’s most profitable due to its export of sugar, coffee, cotton, and indigo—all commodities heavily reliant on slave labor. In the late 18th century alone, imports of slaves skyrocketed, culminating in over 450,000 slaves residing in Saint-Domingue by 1790.