Sugarcane Case Study

As depicted from the case study, sugarcane was a major commodity, which facilitated slave trade during the colonial time. Sugarcane was used to manufacture a drink called the Kill-devil, which was better compared to the expensive bear and wine. This drink evolved during the colonial time and kept on changing names from Kill devil to Rumbullion based on the ingredients added to the canned sugar. The name Rumbullion was later shortened to Rum. During this colonial time, sugarcane planting was an important activity since sugar had several important uses. Sugarcane planting was a major factor that facilitated slave trade since the increase in demand of the rum meant that there was the need to plant more sugar. Therefore, this called for more slaves
Rum was an important factor to strengthen troops in war. The inclusion of lemon juice in the rum was important since lemon contained vitamin C. Lack of Vitamin C in the body causes scurvy. Therefore, the British Royal Navy used to give their soldiers the rum thus their bodies were strong enough. As opposed to the British Royal Navy, their French counterparts suffered from scurvy since they used to drink beer, which lacked vitamin C. The use of rum by the British Royal navy contributed in their defeat of the both the Spanish and French fleets in 1805 in Trafalgar. After this war, rum became an important commodity as a currency since it would be used to purchase slaves. Since the significance of rum was rotating in the circle of sugar, spirits, and slaves, the English traders revealed that rum become the chief barter in 1721 in the coast of Africa for slave trade. Therefore, the invention of rum increased the slave trade at the coast of Africa. The rum would be used to buy the slaves who would be taken to America to work in the sugar plantations to cater for the increased demand for sugar in the market. The French and Spanish troops needed to strengthen their immunity to control scurvy in their soldiers. The only available solution was to take rum mixed with lemon juice, which contained vitamin C. This increased the demand for rum from America and thus more slaves were demanded. Initially, sugar was invented in Polynesia and later introduced in Europe by the Arabs. Columbus then took it to America and slaves from Africa came to cultivate