"By 1783, the Spanish government had recognized that French planters, with their slaves, capital and expertise in the cultivation of tropical staples, would have to be attracted if Trinidad was to develop as a plantation colony. The result of this conviction was the Cedula (Decree) of Population, issued on 24 November 1783. The principal incentive that the Cedula offered was a free grant of land to every settler who came to Trinidad with his slaves with two stipulations: the emigrant had to be a Roman Catholic and the subject of a nation friendly to Spain. This meant that the settlers would be almost exclusively French for only French planters could fulfil the requirements of Roman Catholicism and alliance with Spain", thus a large French and slave population began to immigrate to Trinidad and the island's economy began to flourish.