An island nation in the Caribbean Sea, north of Trinidad and Tobago, and off the coast of Venezuela. By 1650 the French had enslaved most of the Indian population who worked on plantations producing tobacco, indigo, cotton, coffee, and sugar. In 1783 the British wrested control from the French. Both groups imported Africans to work as their enterprises flourished. The French used the island as a stopover for their ships taking African captives to Louisiana.