In 1493 Columbus introduced sugar cane to the West Indies and the crop thrived. Originally native to New Guinea, sugar cane had eventually moved to India and the Mediterranean, but few Europeans had ever heard of it. In the Caribbean, sugar cane found its ideal growing conditions met. Facts from Document 2 state that sugar cane grows best in the latitude range of 37°N and 30°S (Document 2). In Document 1, the colonial map of the Caribbean shows the West Indies spanning from about 10°N and 27°N (Document 1). In addition, the temperature range for Jamaica and Barbados in the Caribbean fit the cane sugar’s ideal temperature range, soil range, and the rainfall averages are only a few inches short from ideal. With these growing conditions, sugar cane thrived. The surplus of cane sugar allowed Europeans to taste and demand more of it.…
During this time period goods such as coffee, tea, sugar, tobacco and cocoa all became incredibly popular and valued by the rich. Sugar especially was a luxury good introduced to western Asia and Europe during the Middle Ages. Sugar plantations were prominently created on the Persian Gulf and islands like Cyprus and Sicily. Sugar became so big due to the fact it grew in warm climates, needed a huge labor force for intensive care and was highly acclaimed and wanted all around the world. It connected every part and social status the world had to offer. For Europe, sugar…
The second reason that drove the sugar trade is plantations, which include lands, climate, and slave. Since people want to make some profits by trading sugar, they need a nice farm and an ideal climate for growing sugar. From the chart in document 2, we can see that Jamaica and Barbados have perfect climate for growing sugar. So this allowed people to make more and more sugar, and get a lot of money from it. At that time, the slave is very cheap, that chart in document 9 shows us that average purchase price of adult male slave on West African coast in 1748 is £14, and the average selling price of adult male slave in the British Caribbean is £32. So, we can see the slave is not expensive at all. This allowed people to get a lot of slaves work on the farm, which meant more sugar produced. From the chart in document 10, we can easily see how much the…
Land to grow the sugar crops was also easily accessible during the time of the sugar trade. Document 1 shows a map of the Caribbean and indicates who owned each piece of land at the time. Before the sugar trade, Europeans hadn’t utilized this land. This made it easy to acquire and use once sugar…
The first of the overwhelming benefits of this exchange would include the production of sugar. From the European and African side of the Atlantic, horses, pigs, goats, chili peppers, and sugar were exchanged. The Americans transferred squash, beans, corn, potatoes, and cacao. Sugar, an originally a rare spice originating from India, but was soon made much more accessible as it was massively cultivated in the Americas. Sugar was greatly valuable as it provided a great improvement to the overall taste of common, household food. This was a huge opportunity to monopolize the cash crop, making certain companies rich corresponding to its country. This is due to the fact of how a monopoly controls a large amount of merchandise; allowing the bargaining with just a single company. This, in turn, gives this company a huge amount of profits; especially when the object being sold is valuable. Plantations were established throughout the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. These plantations needed many workers and when the enslaved native populations started to die off, a new source of forced labor were required. This labor came from Africa, resulting in massive exchanges of African slaves throughout the Atlantic. This exchange was done through the offer of slaves for technology. This led to an increase of power of many African states as their control dramatically rose. This is due to the exchange of the…
Since the sugar was a a new product it got the attention of everyone. In documant seven it gives an example that "when it was first produced in the West Indies it won the attention and intrests of the englishmen." To add on it was known in England…
The Sugar Act in 1764 increased duties on imported sugar and other items such as textiles, coffee, wines and indigo (dyes). It doubles the obligation to store foreign goods from England into the colonies and also prohibits imports of foreign rum and French wines. The colonists disliked this law because they had to pay double for foreign goods. They showed their dislike by mailing 50 letters to Parliament, eventually getting the law changed.…
Sugar was not a very well know product back in the late 1300s. However, sugar became a very popular ingredient when Columbus introduce sugar to the West Indies in 1493. After being introduced to other countries, sugar spread like wildfire, and was wanted everywhere. Of course, after sugar became popular, there was going to be a rise on merchants selling cane sugar. The sugar trade was driven by the higher demands of people, profit, and the slave trade.…
The immediate addiction European citizens developed to the new sweetener drove the sugar trade between Europe and the Caribbean. In order to feed this addiction, slave labor in the Caribbean emerged, taking advantage of the islands which proved to be perfect for the growth of Europe’s newest drug. The population of Europe strongly desired sugar for sweetening imports, especially coffee, tea and chocolate. The citizens craved the sweet taste and demanded to be supplied with more of the drug. The price of slaves, the driving force behind the production of sugar, reflected this love of the sweetener, as the demand for sugar rose so did the price of slaves. But, as the price of slaves rose so did the price of owning and maintaining a sugar plantation…
The first industrial factories were the sugar mills of the Americas. The sugar mills contained sophisticated and organizational systems that can be compared to modern industries and characteristics.…
In terms of the important history of sugar that effected people until currently by having a huge part in trading and being one of the reasons of slavery. Firstly, before many years the consuming of sugar was the highest between the other products, which was the reason of the dramatic Increase of trading. “Sugar was by far the most important of the overseas commodities that accounted for a third of Europe's entire economy”. ( Whipps, 2008). For example, Sugar trading began from Spain and Portugal and it has expanded to South America, and then it expanded whole world. (ShahThis, 2003)…
The flour industry was a very popular industry in the late 1800’s. It was also very important because people used it in their everyday foods. Flour was made from wheat so the company needed it. That is why there is so many fields around Minnesota. Always, here is everything you should know the about the flour industry.…
Colonial America during the Eighteenth Century gave people the opportunity to become land owners, explore their religious freedom, and to take part in a growing economy. Whether you were poor or rich, all free men and women had an opportunity to raise their standard of living. Along with the rise in commerce came more problems such as slavery, taxes, conflict with the natives, debt, and much more. As expressed already many positives and negatives were brought on by increased commerce in Colonial America and West Indies during the Eighteenth Century. In closing, are examples of how commerce affects Americans and others in contemporary times as well.…
“Give me some sugar!” When most people hear that phrase, it usually means someone wants a kiss. But in the late 1600s and early 1700s, people want to plant sugar. True, it started some 9000 years ago in New Guinea, but it took a while before the rest of the world caught on. During this time, there was a movement called the sugar trade. Although there were many forces driving the sugar trade, what mainly drove it were the ideal land masses for sugar production, the amount of slaves needed, and the demand for it.…
Bills of Exchange, Centralized Banking and Pawning The rise of intercontinental trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas radically changed European markets and led to an enormous commercial expansion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. What did such a world look like? Regular scheduled cargo ships from the Americas arrived at European ports, increasing the supply of luxury goods such as rum, sugar, mahogany and tobacco. Slave ships regularly sailed for and to Africa in search of human labor that would power the production of said goods.…