In fact, for all practical purposes, the colony in Santo Domingo during these years (1809–1821) was governed as an afterthought through the more significant Cuban administration. Cuba, in contrast with Santo Domingo, had ceased to be considered a marginal colony after the brief, yet consequential, British occupation of 1763. Spain had since been pouring resources into developing the Cuban economy, and so, while Santo Domingo was experiencing a loss of its white planter and landowning class, Cuba was welcoming a growing and enterprising bourgeoisie, which complimented well the increasingly powerful sugar planter class.