How Did Mintz Use Sugar

In his book, Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, Sydney Mintz aimed to prove that sugar consumption is an effective way to understand the economic, social, and political underscoring of an era. He followed the history of sugar from its initial cultivation in New Guinea and its gradual spread westward to India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean. In each place (and period), he described who used sugar, and the implications that had on the overall culture of the society. Looking at sugar over such a broad history is beneficial because he used that context to explain the current sugar situation.
While it is helpful to understand the global history of sugar, Mintz focused heavily on consumption in England. Although England was a prime example of a country that changed dramatically due to its reliance on
According to Mintz, sugar was, “a rarity in 1650, a luxury in 1750,” and later, “sugar had been transformed into a virtual necessity by 1850” (148). With the heavy emphasis on England and the British Caribbean, he related the availability of sugar to the cultural expectations and definitions of each class. When sugar was a rarity, he explained that only the wealthiest British families could afford to use sugar. The lens of sugar consumption then proved beneficial when he examined the way the working-class began to use sugar. Although it seemed likely that the working-class was attempting to follow what the royalty and upper classes did, Mintz went further and explained how imported drinks, industrialization, gender roles, and nutrition all played a role in how much sugar people consumed. His focus on English sugar consumption allowed him this specificity, even though the readers do miss out on how the same factors were affecting sugar consumption