They were really focused on their money crop.

他们只种植经济作物
If you went to the Indies to get rich quick,

如果你想在西印度群岛一夜暴富
typically you either made it big or failed miserably,

通常不是迅速壮大就是倾家荡产
and either way typically what happened is

不管结果如何程序通常是
you would go to the Indies, you would establish a plantation,

在西印度群岛建立自己的庄园
you would find an overseer, you would put him in charge,

寻找监工交给他打理
and then you would flee back to England

然后你就可以回英国
and be an absentee landlord

做甩手大掌柜
and let the people live in misery in the West Indies

让别人在西印度群岛的水深火热中打拼
while you collected the profit off of your sugar crop back home in England.

自己在家里坐收甘蔗作物的利润
Now the Indies, not surprisingly,

西印度群岛
might seem a little intimidating.

似乎令人生畏