Why did cotton plantations in The Bahamas collapse?

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Flag of The Bahamas — The Bahamas The flag of The Bahamas was officially hoisted on July 10, 1973, the date of the nation's independence from the United Kingdom.

Following the American Revolution, many loyalists emigrated to the Bahamas, establishing cotton plantations that relied on slave labor. While these plantations initially yielded well, they ultimately collapsed due to three primary factors:

Soil exhaustion: The land could not sustain long-term intensive cultivation.1
Insect pests: Infestations caused significant damage to the crops.1
Abolition of slavery: The end of the institution of slavery removed the labor system upon which the plantations depended.1

Following this collapse, the islands struggled with poverty, leading many to turn to subsistence farming or sharecropping arrangements.1