Sugar and its Influence on the World
In the beginning of Sidney Mintz's book, Sweetness and Power, there is an engraving by William Blake that depicts three ethnically contrasting, naked women. The woman in the middle is a Caucasian European, and on both sides of her are women representing Africa and the early Americas, thus hinting to the fact that Europe was undoubtedly dependent on Africa and the Americas between 1000 and 1800 CE. Europe depended immensely on the Americas for the vast amounts of natural resources and wealth that resided in the region. American soil was a land of opportunity begging to be harvested by the hungry Europeans. Now that Europe had come across an abundant land of riches, it needed laborers to reap its economic benefits. Thus, Europe turned to Africa and slave trade was born. "From 1441-1870 CE eighteen million slaves were traded and nine million of them died in the process" (Lecture, "The Slave Trade"). Without the Americas and Africa the wealth and riches that Europe acquired would have been virtually non-existent. Europeans sent slaves from Africa to the new world to harvest the most valuable, and pertinent resource in the history of our world, sugar. The native indians of the area were also made into slaves, and they relentle
Tea, coffee, and alcoholic beverages would never have been the same. "There were nets put along side of the boats, so that Africans attempting to end the suffering by jumping overboard would be brought back up to the deck to endure a brutal beating" (Lecture, "The Slave Trade"). Along with the commodity and wondrous luxury of sugar for the Europeans, came death, suffering, and unforgiving turmoil for the undeserving African slaves. Sugar becoming both a commodity and a necessity, brought many changes to the Eastern world, particularly Europe. If the new world had failed to be discovered and its resources had been left flaccid and untapped, the world would certainly not have had the commodity of sugar to add spice to the lives of millions. People also ate sugar during times of fasting, because it was considered a "medicine" and not an actual food. First off, the ruthless European slave traders would arrive with hositlity upon African soil and rip the natives unwillingly away from their homeland. Their quarters on the ships were tight and extremely unsanitary. There was trade, mercantilism, agriculture, and eventually a successful money system, but none of it would have existed if weren't for the products themselves. Sugar was the single most important agricultural product of its time, and it is still plausible today. It also helped to fill the calorie gap of the poor, once it was made available to them in the beginning of the 19th century. There was also a medicinal side to sugar usage, although it was more of a comfort issue, rather than an actuality in curing an illness. It simply comes down to the fact the food, drink, and overall lifestyle of the early Eastern world would have been dull without the importation and extensive use of sugar. It easily soaked up all the water from meats and other preservable foods.
Common topics in this essay:
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