Author’s Purpose Essay In the non-fiction book, Sugar Changed the World by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos the author's main purpose is to inform the reader. Throughout the book, the author’s view stays mainly objective, while informing the reader of the history of making, distributing, and consuming sugar. They use facts and quotes from reliable sources and people to support their information and inform the reader on how much sugar, really did, change the world. In particularly, the authors describe the history of discovering, producing, and using sugar cane throughout the world. The discovery of sugar cane ended an era and led to a more significant role of this sweet spice throughout the world. “... the Persian emperor Darius I invaded India …show more content…
“In the Age of Sugar, Europeans bought a product made thousands of miles away that was less expensive than the honey from down the road. That was possible only because sugar set people in motion all across the world- millions of them as slaves, in chains; a few in search of their fortunes” (Aronson & Budhos pg 7). The production of sugar was a costly task in human life, time, and money for many plantations across the world. “Apparently, if they (growers) did not get the cane into the boiling vats within forty-eight hours- preferably twenty-four hours- their crop would be ruined. Whether that speed was absolutely necessary, owners insisted on it” (Aronson & Budhos pg 26). “ Thus, sugar drove more than 900,000 people into slavery, across the Atlantic, to Barbados and Jamaica- and these were just two of the sugar islands” (Aronson & Budhos pg 32). At first, sugar was used in religious ceremonies than for rich nobles and lords as a sweetener. “Masters of sugar, the Muslims …show more content…
Shipping Sugar helped spread this sweet spice to the other countries and parts of the world. “The more sugar was planted, the more mills were built to grind it, the more docks were hammered into place to ship sugar, the more enslaved people were brought from Africa to work on plantations” (Aronson & Budhos pg 32). “After the cane cooled into crystals, it was packed into hogsheads, to be shipped to eager customers” (Aronson & Budhos pg 44). The Spherical Trade was a trade that exchanged sugar for other materials all over the world. “Beekman and merchants like him shipped flour, bread, , corn, salted beef, and wood to the Caribbean. They brought back sugar, rum, molasses, limes, cocoa, and ginger. Simple enough; but this trade up and down the Atlantic coast was part of a much larger world system” (Aronson & Budhos pg 37). “The enslaved people were shipped across the Atlantic to the islands, where they were sold for sugar” (Aronson & Budhos pg 37). The Age of Sugar lead to slavery, poor conditions for workers, and freedom. “Sugar was the product of the slave and the addiction of the poor factory worker- the meeting place of the barbarism of overseers such as Thomas Thistlewood and the rigid new economy. And yet that very reason sugar became the lynchpin of the struggle for freedom” (Aronson & Budhos pg 70). “...in order to
The sugar act started in 1764. “April,5 1764... A new law passed called the Sugar and Molasses Act. Colonial merchants...were required to pay tax of six-pence…” All molasses was imported. Most of the colonist tried to buy french molasses and sugar at a cheaper price.
The pursuit of economic gain and the spread of religious fervor drove the early settlement in North America. It made a big difference to figure out to what extent economics and religion remained important between 1650 and 1750. Sugar Plantations was the start of the economic gain that was the development that led to an intensification of the Portuguese involvement in the African slave trade. Staple or cash crops were tobacco, sugar, and cotton because they were raised in large numbers in order to be sold for profit. Sugar and Slaves written in 1972 by Richard S. Dunn described the English Life in the Caribbean from over 300 years ago.
Initially, following the conquest of the Aztecs, the main goal of settlers was to extract gold and other raw materials such as silver and lumber. But, this soon changed when the land was found to be fertile and the demand of cash crops such as tobacco, sugar, and cotton became increasingly popular in Europe in the early seventeenth century. The Columbian Exchange not only led to an exchange of animals, diseases and people, but crops such as sugar and tobacco and luxurious items such as silk and beer that were highly desirable. Latin America traded crops such as sugarcane and cotton in return for African slaves and luxurious items because slaves were largely needed to work on sugar plantations and produce crops to be traded for reasonable
Everyone craved sugar because it was a sweet-tasting ingredient. Sugar was used
What Drove the Sugar Trade? The sugar trade began in 1655 and became a big deal to Britain. Wealthy men would buy property, produce sugar, and sell it to their home country for a low price. (Document 7) Sugar was a product that could be bought and sold easily, since it was in high demand.
It is stated, “The first half of the eighteenth century…a period of increased purchasing power for laboring people…,” (Mintz, 118). It is this dependency of the English populace to a large influx of sugar which, in line with the supply-demand theory, lowers the price of sugar and makes it more affordable. Where there was not demand, the sugar trade effectively created one. Though not nutritionally beneficial, sugar became a proletarian commodity which helped sustain England’s labor force. However, the increasing dependency reinforced and propelled the enslavement of Africans for the cultivation of the sugar cane in the West Indies.
The impact of slavery on the Old South is a difficult measure to establish because slavery was the Old South. While the popular adage was “Cotton is King,” it was simply a microcosm of the delusion of the day. Truly, slavery was king. Slavery was the growing tension of the time, political catalyst and ironically crux of American power. To the masses, slavery was a social defining stance; the “peculiar institution” to some and a defining moral line to others, American life was changed depending on what view you took of slavery.
The manufacturers were faced with maintaining a high crop yield, but luckily the Caribbean islands provided an ideal location for growing cane sugar. Once plantations were constructed yet another issue confronted the owners, cheap labor. For the plantations to produce large enough quantities of sugar to fulfill the demand, many slaves were necessary; thus, a successful slave industry arose with the aid of these wealthy entrepreneurs who hoped to own successful plantations. The absentee owners in England, Spain, and France became increasingly wealthy as the demand and industry for sugar
In the south, the warm, humid climate and southern, fertile soil allowed colonists to grow sugar cane, rice, as cash crops. The south was able to grow many crops and foods the middle colonies, northern colonies, and even many European countries could not produce. Even though large farming fields were a typical setting in the south, slave plantations quickly dominated the southern economy. “Profit-hungry settlers often planted tobacco to sell before they planted corn to eat” (Kennedy, 61). This quote and the 40 million pounds of tobacco annually exported during the 1630’s exemplified the desire and economic opportunity the south possessed.
The transatlantic slave trade was a brutal and inhumane enterprise, where millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas under brutal conditions (Bailyn 140). The conditions for enslaved Africans on English sugar plantations were often horrific, with harsh punishments and long working hours in hot and humid conditions (Fisher 47). Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the use of enslaved labor was a crucial factor in the success of the English colonies in the Caribbean. The use of slave labor allowed the English to cultivate crops such as sugar cane at a much lower cost, and thus gain a competitive advantage in the global market (Fisher 34). Without the labor of enslaved Africans, it is unlikely that the English would have been able to establish such profitable and successful sugar
The wealth they created mostly returned to Britain, the products they made were consumed in Britain. African slavery was considered “essential” to the sugar producing system. There created two major triangles of trade, which connected nations of the world Britain, Africa, West Indies and the New World. One important feature of these triangles is human cargoes. The documentary on Big Sugar by Brian McKenna supports Mintz’s ideas by revealing the dark side of working on the plantations, and the terrible working conditions that the labors (or slaves) back then had to suffer.
Sugar was one of the most demanding goods, thus, the sugar production increased dramatically. Slaves played a huge part in this since they were the ones who help produce sugar. If it was not for the distilled drinks, then the slave trade would not have been so big and caused disputes about slavery. Journal #8.
Since sugar cane had been introduced to West Indies, the techniques of sugar production, exploitation of labor, and economic organization developed on these islands were easily exported to the new world. Ultimately, the adoption of these production techniques and the system of colonial government from the Atlantic islands, with the institution of slavery, made sugar production the most profitable cultivation in the Americas. By the sixteenth century, both demand and prices had risen because refined sugar was replacing honey in most recipes and was increasingly used as a sweetener in jams, jellies and other popular food products across Europe. White Gold, as British colonists called it, was the engine of the slave trade that brought millions of Africans to the Americas beginning in the early sixteenth century. Profits from the sugar trade were so significant that it may have even helped America achieve independence from Great
In the 17th centuries early settlers came to America in the hope of taking their custom and traditions forward. However, the environment and geography brought changes to their lifestyles. Soon, people became to alter their pattern of living in the different colonies. During the 17th and 18th centuries, geography and the environment profoundly influenced the economic development and overall health and success of the two regions called the Chesapeake and the New England, which began to form in the early 17th century.
The cotton gin was an invention that caused vast amounts of growth and prosperity for the United States, lead to much death, but aided in the effort to eradicate America’s most atrocious practice, slavery