Sugar Revolutions In African American Essay

DBQ #1 During the 17th century, many colonies were founded on the North American continent. The most significant colonies were created by Englishmen who left Europe for several reasons. Even though most colonies were founded by fellow Englishmen, there were two regions that evolved into two distinct societies.

The high demand for sugar was increasing more and more every day. Between 1700 and 1770, the amount of sugar produced and consumed quadrupled. Sugar is often added into other imports, such as tea, coffee and chocolate. These three things have something in common that is a big factor in the demand for sugar. They are all stimulants.

The first few years of the Carolina’s served the British in many helpful ways. The southern part of Carolina served as support for the British West Indies and soon slaves from sugar islands reached the shores of the colony. The introduction of rice to the colony started a major economic boom. Many people started to see how profitable the crop could be and a massive wave of planters and slaves came to the colony. Southern Carolina’s “heart” town was a merchant port called Charles Town, which later became known as Charleston.

The use of slaves has always been present in the world since the beginning of civilization, although the use and treatment of those slaves has differed widely through time and geographic location. Different geographies call for different types of work ranging from labor-intensive sugar cultivation and production in the tropics to household help in less agriculturally intensive areas. In addition to time and space, the mindsets and beliefs of the people in those areas affect how the slaves will be treated and how “human” those slaves will be perceived to be. In the Early Modern Era, the two main locations where slaves were used most extensively were the European dominated Americas and the Muslim Empires. The American slavery system and the

For the rest of their lives, they existed as slaves and were forced to live a life that they did not want to remain (Herman, 2010). Once the Africans entered into America, white people bought them and abducted them to plantations, farms, cities, towns; homes, fields, and industry-transportation to work (Africans America, n.d.). Because Africans were enslaved and forced to work, they were angry, scared, and weak (Herman, 2010). In addition to being angry, scared, and weak,

The manufacturers were faced with maintaining a high crop yield, but luckily the Caribbean islands provided an ideal location for growing cane sugar. Once plantations were constructed yet another issue confronted the owners, cheap labor. For the plantations to produce large enough quantities of sugar to fulfill the demand, many slaves were necessary; thus, a successful slave industry arose with the aid of these wealthy entrepreneurs who hoped to own successful plantations. The absentee owners in England, Spain, and France became increasingly wealthy as the demand and industry for sugar

By using this reference, it illustrated the severity of the alienation of blacks in the Southern United States. In 1619, a Dutch ship “introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation”. The Africans were not treated humanely, but were treated as workers with no rights. Originally, they were to work for poor white families for seven years and receive land and freedom in return. As the colonies prospered, the colonists did not want to give up their workers and in 1641, slavery was legalized.

The elements of the South Atlantic system included the tools, equipment, and ships provided by European merchants, investors and planters, the Atlantic slave trade which encompassed African slaves, and plantations that were established on Native American territory. The system involved the purchase of African slaves by European planters and their transportation to the West Indies and the mainland. The slaves produced sugar and other raw materials that were exported to Europe, which were in turn manufactured into products or re-exported. This transaction greatly shaped the development of the United States and Europe. Barbados, St. Christopher, Brazil, Nevis, Montserrat, and other regions were transformed into slave-based plantation societies

In the Americas, the main exports were silver and cash crops, both of which required work that was terribly tedious and exhausting. This led to the overwhelming predominance of slavery in the Americas, since the Europeans were not willing to carry out the hard work themselves. When the Europeans found they lacked a workforce, the sought slaves elsewhere. While the people who were called slaves changed, the institution never did. The same mistreatment, torture, and horrible conditions were evident in American slavery until it was abolished centuries later.

It is an obvious truth that in order to have a functioning society, there must be workers. In modern, first world countries, labors are paid well and are reasonably treated. However, some third world nations use an economic model harkening back to older times—slavery and serfdom. Between 1450 and 1750, European countries in the Caribbean and in the Old World utilized two forms of cheap labor—slavery and serfdom—to line their coffers and feed their populace. In the Caribbean, slavery was preferred; but in Russia, serfdom ruled.

However, growing imports to the country required more exports from the country as well to avoid a trade deficit. Fortunately, colonies in the Americas helped to produce essential resources, such as cotton, rice, and other valuable cash crops, used for both English exports and domestic use. Slaves in American colonies helped to boost the English economy by efficiently producing more of these goods, especially harvesting cotton and tobacco, with lower costs. However, one drawback was that American slavery was uniquely associated with race, and racism later became an issue throughout history that continues to be a problem today (Royal Museums Greenwich). The world trade network created by Queen Elizabeth aided in the creation of ties between the English empire and other parts of the world.

This excerpt is extremely important because it makes us better understand the status of African people, subdued by the European nations, and how the concept of slavery was perceived and addressed by

(“Slavery in Africa”, para 13) The people had to do hard work for the Americans for free or if they fought back they would’ve been killed or worse. The slaves did America a huge favor since they weren’t allowed to stop working, they got a lot of work done which let America have so much crop and material that the African Americans did for them. The people didn’t disserve the cruel and unreasonable punishment that they received.

In 1699, after Dutch traders began to produce coffee in Java and the West Indies, the consumption of “coffee, tea, sugar, and other novelties” increased (The Making of the West 541). The production and consumption of coffee in Europe stimulated global trade and alluded to cultural changes. Global trade coupled with agricultural improvements in the 1700’s, due to “better weather and hence more bountiful harvests,” allowed Europeans to have more disposable income and thus increased their purchasing power (The Making of the West 549). The newfound affluence spurred on the consumer revolution which allowed for many in the lower classes to partake in leisure activities.

Britain had long since moved past the days of making sweet cakes and tea sweeteners. With the large volume of raw materials from the new world their development of factories saw clothes and canned goods being mass produced. While profit was afforded to the manufacturers their economic gains were being stifled by the King Sugar as the mercantilist system used to nurse and wean an infantile sugar economy. The BWI sugar industry initially saw little competition but France through their economic cheat code of St. Domingue soon over took control of the sugar market of the Americas. This had a considerable impact on the decision to implement the abolition of the slave trade ad the British looked to an early end to the trade and the forced implementation of waged labour would have destroyed the French and Spanish sugar industries.