What were plantation economies based on?

Plantation economies were primarily based on the large-scale agricultural production of cash crops, such as sugar, tobacco, cotton, and coffee. These economies relied heavily on the labor of enslaved people, particularly in the Americas and the Caribbean, where the demand for these crops drove the establishment of plantations. The profits generated from these crops fueled economic growth and trade but also supported the brutal system of slavery that underpinned the plantation system. Additionally, plantation economies were often characterized by monoculture, where a single crop dominated the agricultural landscape.