Final answer:
The French system of slavery in the sugar cane fields was brutally efficient and characterized by hard, dangerous labor under threats of violence. Profits from sugar immensely benefited capitalist enterprises while enslaved workers endured harsh conditions without compensation. Saint-Domingue, as France's most profitable colony, exemplified this ruthless exploitation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The French had a detailed and brutally efficient system of slavery when it came to the operation of sugar cane fields. Sugar plantations typically contained hundreds of enslaved workers who, with few exceptions, were required to toil all day in large work gangs. The labor was extraordinarily grueling and dangerous, often requiring the use of machetes to cut sugar cane close to the ground, which led to frequent serious injuries and deaths. Enslaved individuals worked under constant threat of violence for meager sustenance, and owners set production goals similar to factories in the surge of capitalism, though the enslaved were not compensated for their labor. Profoundly, the profits earned from sugar sales often fed back into the capitalist system, fueling the growth of industries in Europe.
In Saint-Domingue, modern-day Haiti, France's wealthiest colony in the eighteenth century, the sugar and coffee industries relied heavily on the labor of enslaved people. French plantation owners in Saint-Domingue enforced a ruthless regime over a population where enslaved Africans vastly outnumbered Europeans. This cruel system of slavery in the New World differed significantly from past instances due to its scale, brutality, and the economic implications it had, leading to vast profits for plantation owners at the cost of countless lives.