So by the middle of the 17th century, the French had convinced many of those buccaneering captains to give up their pirating and settle on the island. Many of them invested some of their pirate treasure in sugar plantations, which by 1700 were thriving at both producing sugar and working people to death. And soon, this island was the most valuable colony in the West Indies and possibly in the world. It produced 40% of Europe's sugar, 60% of its coffee, and it was home to more slaves than any place except Brazil. And as you'll recall from our discussion of Atlantic slavery, being a slave in a sugar production colony was exceptionally brutal. In fact, by the late 18th century, more slaves were imported to San Domingo every year, more than 40,000, than the entire white population of the island. By the 19th century, slaves made up about 90% of the population, and most of those slaves were African-born because the brutal living and working conditions prevented natural population growth.