Relationship between Sugar & Slavery in the Modern Period



Abstract

Sugar is something so basic and used so frequently used today that we just cannot imagine and even think of living without the commodity in the modern era. In this research paper we shall discuss the consequences and impacts of sugar's introduction and how its expansion into the New World, also specifying and highlighting the relationship amidst sugar and slavery in the modern period.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Introduction1

Discussion1

History of Sugar1

Relationship between Sugar & Slavery in the Modern Period2

Flourishing of the Triangle Trade3

Sugar Boom4

The Downfall of the Sugar Industry6

Conclusion6

End Notes8

Relationship between Sugar & Slavery in the Modern Period

Introduction

Sugar is everywhere; it is all around us almost in everything we consume today. It is in part of the beverages and soft drinks that we consume, in our snacks, it has actually become an integral element of our diets, something that makes up the greatest part of the total calories that are being consumed the world over. But the story of sugar was not always as sweet as it is today. It was more of a luxury item in the olden days. It was scarcely used. Cane sugar historically brought in a huge cultural change altering the lives of both those who grew the commodity and also those who had to consume it. But the knowledge about sugar cane spread extremely slowly. But the Europeans rapidly developed the taste of it as they were exposed to its sweet delights during the crusades.

Discussion

History of Sugar

In the Middle Ages, European business men imported sugar from places like Alexandria. All these sugar producing regions were under the control of Islamic expansion which increased the prices of the commodity due to the monopoly. Though these high prices were a threat but still the limited supply of the commodity would just vanish rapidly. In the beginning the commodity was consumed as an exotic substance in only high end circles but then it soon spread across the society and such a huge demand and increased the trade of sugar and profits related to it. European merchants were the first ones to trade the commodity and become affluent through huge profits that its export and import provided.

Then came the time when looking into the advantages of the sources of production along with managing proper transport, several started searching for land in order to plant their own cane. Mostly this started to happen in Iberia and in many other places too but as huge land was required along with a huge labor force for sugar production but due to the lack of all that was required in Iberia, research was taken up that revealed growth of sugar overseas. Then in the thirteenth century, innovative merchants from Portugal and Spain gave it a thought that they should also increase the sugar market by actually planting cane plantations which were occupied in the Mediterranean islands. In almost the end of 1300's and 1400's the Portuguese colonized Madeira and the Azores for such an objective as ...