Why did the Loyalists faced problems after they settled in The Bahamas?

Answer 1

There were several reasons for the problems encountered by the Loyalist. One of the primary reason was the land. The Bahamas in geological times is a relatively young formation. Therefore the soil is not fully developed. It is what we call immature soil, i.e., soils that do not have a complete soil horizon [ a soil horizon is the vertical arrangement of the soil into layers, A,B,C]. The A-Horizon is what we plant on and this is extremely thin in The Bahamas. With a thin A-Horizon when a farmer cultivates on it the nutrients present in the soil is quickly used up.

This is exactly what happened to the Loyalists. Their plantations were large and thus after a few years the nutrients were used up in The Bahamian soil.

Secondly, the cotton plants were attacked by the chenille bug and red bug that damage the crop. The chenille destroyed the young buds and the red bug discoloured the crop making it useless for trade.

Finally, it is my opinion that cotton form other areas, such as India and the USA was proving to be of a better quality and also available in larger quantities.

Trust that this helps.