Historical accounts of sugar
Section A
The history of processing sugar typically consists of several phases but the main one entails the extraction sugar juice from the sugarcane. Once the sugar had been transported to the industries, the cane was crushed so as to extract sugar juice (Van, 1949). The juice was then boiled so as to concentrate it in as series of backbreaking as well as intensive operations which mainly lasted for many hours (Christy, 1802). After processing, it was noted that the sugar had a high value because of its bulkiness (MacQueen, 1778-1870). This was traded over a long distance through the use of ship at a considerable profit (Fiske, 1842-1921)
By 17th century, the general spread of the cultivation and manufacture of cane sugar as well as the general improvement of the production method used resulted to the increase demand for sugar (Grant, 1867). During this period, the spread of cultivation and manufacture of sugar was followed by more and more intensive improvement in its production techniques (Whitby, 1828). Towards the end of the medieval period, sugar was perceived as being an expensive commodity hence making it to be considered as a fine spice (Christy, 1802). It is the technological improvements which continued to make it to be a cheaper product (Cave, 1820-1880)
Regardless of the popularity of cane sugar, by 1750s, better sugar mechanizationmethods had already been discovered as another source of sugar (P.O.S, 1785). Although its discovery was perceived as being a mere curiosity for some time, eventually sugar processing industry was built. The processing of sugar lasted until the late 18th century before it suffered destruction as a result of the Napoleonic Wars and revived again (Ragatz, 1897-1978). The decline in its processing was because the wars made the sugar to be unprofitable to the farmers. Despite of the fact that the importation of sugar was cut off by the British blockade, sugar industry continued to emerged particularly after industrialization (Jennings, 1977).
In addition to that, the main problem which was encountered with the sugar production activity was that it was highly labor-intensive during the growing and processing (Rice, 1970). The reason for that is because of its huge weight as well as the bulkiness of the raw sugarcane. This made the farmers to encounter difficulties in transporting it from the field, particularly when using land (Barcia, 2007). By the late 18th century, each state was forced to establish its own factory so as to reduce the transportation costs (W.I.S.T, 1897).
On the other hand, the British sugar industry only had a major scale of sugar processing after losing their scale of production. It should be noted that the local populating on Cyprus mainly consumed a lot of the time cultivating food for home consumption (Bailey, 1994). Regardless of that, a few of them used to work on the sugar plantations (Tomich & Michael, 2008). As a result of that, slaves were much depended to do most of the work. The majority of them were obtained from the Black Sea. Basically, the level of demand as well as the sugar production activities was relatively low and as a result of that there was the need of trading in slaves (Drescher, 2013). The growing demand for slaves to work on the sugar plantations was influenced by the rising demand of sugar. These historical accounts indicate that the cultivation, manufacture, and global spread of sugar are the main factors which lead to the selection of this commodity (Batou, 2011)
Section B
The effectiveness of using all the sources listed below was to ensure that full historical accounts of the evolution of sugar cultivation and processing from the late 17th century to the present have been captured. A brief explanation of the story to be extracted from these sources is illustrated below.
In the Atlantic Ocean, once the exploitation of timber and other raw material was completed, it was obvious that the production of sugar was the most profitable means of obtaining money from the newly established territories (John, 1848). The main challenge which was encountered was obtaining enough slaves because the majority of the British refused to work. The only work they were willing to do is working as supervisors of the sugar plantations (Teelock, 2014). The solution which was arrived at was to outsource more slaves from Africa. The development of the slave trade had already commenced in the 14th century (Sheridan, 1994)
Nevertheless, the initial colonies of the British Empire were mainly established in North America as well as in the West Indies (Van, 1949). The slave traders, especially the British, were the main source of the African Slaves who were highly demanded to work on the sugar plantations (Batou, 2011). The involvement of Britain in the slave trade resulted to the expansion of the activity by the late 1760s. This was enhanced when the British slave traders were granted the Treaty of Utrecht contract (Christy, 1802). In the treaty, it was illustrated that on 14400 was the maximum number of slaves who were to be traded in a year to the Spanish South America (Abbott, 2009)
Towards the end of the 17th century, the number of slaves who were transported to work on the British plantations increased greatly. About six million African slaves were transported to the America, at least three quarters of them in British ships (Andrew, 1759). The estimated number of Africans who were captured and taken to work on the British sugar plantations was about twelve million. The general development of the slave-based sugar plantations and industries ended up making the sugar British farmers prosperous and rich (Boyce, 2008)
In connection to that, the main source of sugar to the British West Indies was Brazil. At that time, the majority of the British farmers used to grow tobacco and cotton (Fradera et al, 2013). Regardless of that, the strong competition which they faced from North American territories made the prices of these crops to start decreasing (Drower, 1996). This forced the owners of the Caribbean plantations to switch to sugar cane growing. As a result of the increase in the demand for sugar, the sugar plantation farmers to purchase more slaves so as to offer a cheap source of labor (Finch & Katherine, 2007)
In return, sugarcane plant remained to be the only crop which was cultivated by several British farmers throughout the Caribbean from 18th century to the 19th century. It was estimated that this plantations generated about 80 to 90 percent of the sugar which was consumed in Europe (Gauci, 2011). By the 18th century, at least every British island was covered with extensive sugar plantations as well as sugar refining mills. Before the abolition of slave trade, African remained to be the main source of slaves. In the late 1750s to 1790s, the general demand for sugar had increased dramatically. This was mainly caused by the increasing popularity of this commodity in sweetening luxury drinks for instance coffee and tea. By 18th century, the British sugar consumption had ultimately risen by four pounds per person (Goldstein, 2015). This was estimated to be an increase of about 19 pounds per consumer.
In addition to that, the continued increase in the popularity and availability of sugar was boosted further by increase in the standard of living. Before this increase was realized, it was only rich individuals who would have afforded it. By19th century, new world colonies that were suitable for growing luxurious crops like sugar embarked on planting it too. Regardless of the fact that rice, indigo, coffee and so on was equally grown by the farmers, sugar remained to be the most popular crop across the Caribbean. It was later acknowledged that if it wasn’t the cheap labor they obtained from the slaves, typically, the public revenue which was obtained from sugar plantations would had been wiped out. Moreover, a large percentage of the British who were involved in triangular trade would have been forced to do away with the business. This meant that the slave-based sugar plantation system was absolutely essential to British industry, wealth, jobs, and so on.
In the late 19th century, sugar managed to surpass grain products as being the most valued commodity which was used in European trade. The reason for that is because the traders managed to make at least 50% from it for all the British traded products. During this time, the sugar market or the general demand for sugar went through a sequence of booms. This was as a result of the change eating habits of the majority of the consumers. This is to say that the majority of them started consuming products like coco, tea, jams, coffee, as well as other sweetened meals in large quantities. The rising demand for sugar was advantageous in that the Caribbean industries had the opportunity of increasing the rate of sugar production. At least 90% of the sugar exported was obtained from the Caribbean islands.
By the late 18th to 19th century, sugar farmers had already established means of boosting its production. This entailed the used of manure to supply more nutrients to the crop. Moreover, they advanced the sugar mills as well as growing and processing better sugarcanes. During this period, the French territories were the most successful producers. The reason for that is because they were using efficient irrigation methods, water-power, and other machines so as to increase sugar production and profits. Regardless of that, this made the sugar prices to reach soaring heights, particularly during the events for instance the Napoleonic Wars and the French and Dutch revolt. Workers therefore were shipped throughout the world. In the second half of the 19th century, about 400000 indentured laborers were shipped from India to work on the British sugar plantations. Other workers were sent to Fiji, Mauritius, Natal, and so on hence making them to the majority of the population.
As more sugar plantations were established in European nations, its prices in Britain fell drastically. As a result of that, the soul nutrients was exhausted hence making the planters to demand more fresher islands to plant the crop so as to cater for the increasing demand in Europe. By 20th century, modernized milling techniques were used for instance enclosed furnaces, vacuum pans, watermills, steam engines, and so on. As much as the production of the sugar was increased by these methods, Cuba also ended up retaining slave trade as compared to the Caribbean islands. Moreover, by this time, sugar production had already spread to America and the rest of the European colonies which was already established in Africa. Both the newly established and the older sugar production areas started making use of indentured labor instead of slaves. The majority of the developed countries mainly depended on machines so as to reduce the number of workers needed.
References
HathiTrust Digital Library
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