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Wall Street History
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05/19/2000
The History of Sugar, Part I
"Sugar, sugar"
--The Archies
So, with my recent articles on the Sherman Antitrust Act of
1890, I thought it would be a good idea to explore in detail the
first major test case for the Act, that being the monopoly of the
sugar industry and the U.S. vs. E. C. Knight Co. (1895).
But in looking through some of my usual sources, I realized you
can''t possibly discuss sugar monopolies without delving into the
history of this sweet substance. And, in truth, without sugar
there probably would not have been a slave trade in America.
About a thousand years ago an obscure German monk named
Albert of Aachen wrote:
"In that place the people sucked little honeyed reeds, found in
plenty throughout the plains, which they called ''zucra;'' they
enjoyed this reed''s wholesome sap, and because of its sweetness
once they had tasted it they could scarcely get enough of it. This
kind of grass is cultivated every year by extremely hard work on
the part of the farmers. Then at harvest time the natives crush
the ripe crop in little mortars, putting the filtered sap into their
utensils until it curdles and hardens with the appearance of snow
or white salt. They shave pieces off and it seems to those who
taste it sweeter and more wholesome even than a comb of honey.
Some say that it is a sort of that honey which Jonathan, son of
King Saul, found on the face of the earth and disobediently dared
to taste. The people, who were troubled by a dreadful hunger,
were greatly refreshed by these little honey-flavored reeds during
the sieges of Albara, Ma''arra and Arga."
And so it came to pass that the Crusaders discovered the use of
sugar in the Holy Land in the Middle Ages.
Albert of Aachen "saw in sugar the characteristics that made it a
likely candidate for slave labor; 1) the difficulty of growing it
and 2) the great demand it was likely to engender." [Africana]
Sugar and slavery were to be inextricably linked for hundreds of
years.
The uninhabited island of Madeira (off the coast of Morocco)
was rediscovered (the ancients had known of it) by the
Portuguese in 1418. Best estimates are that by 1452 the first
sugar-mill, worked by slaves, was created here.
The climate and soil on Madeira were right for sugar cultivation
and, with demand high, the Portuguese settlers grew cane,
processed it, and then sold the product throughout Europe.
Sugar production was such a great cash-industry that the
Portuguese began laying fields on all 4 island groups off the
African coast; Canary, Azores, Cape Verde and Madeira. And
some of these islands were to become major slave-depots.
In the late 15th century, the West Indies were discovered as well
as Brazil. While there is some question as to the exact date, it is
safe to say that between 1600-1640 large-scale sugar cane
operations were underway. By the mid 1600s, a large colony of
Puritans emigrated to the area where the first plantation-boom
economy was established in English-speaking America. In the
West Indies, by 1660 the sugar industry had surpassed tobacco in
importance as an American export, accounting for nearly half of
England''s imports from the Americas (West Indies, Central and
South America, primarily). And, due to the back-breaking work,
the sugar business led to a huge demand for slaves.
For example, in Barbados in 1645, the white population was
30,000 with 5,700 slaves. Ten years later there were 23,000
whites but 20,000 slaves. On all of these islands the enslaved
Indians had died off, only to be replaced by Africans, as it turned
out some 11 to 12 million of them, including North America.
In 1650 the British mainland colonies in North America were 97
percent white and the British West Indies were 80 percent white.
By 1750 the mainland was 80 percent white and the islands only
16 percent white.
The mercantilism that resulted from the sugar industry led to a
"triangular trade," whereby slaves were transported to the
Americas, particularly the West Indies, where they were
exchanged for sugar, tobacco, and other agricultural products,
which were then shipped to Europe to be sold across the
continent.
"Europe realized great economic benefits by combining
European investment, technology and organizational skills with
labor stolen from Africa and land stolen from Amerindians."
[Africana]
In 1720, England imported little more than half a million tons of
sugar. By the end of the century, the figure was close to 2.5
million tons and, in the process, scores of millionaires were
created. Historian Robert Sobel writes of the time, "The West
Indies sugar planters were to the 1750s what the Arab petroleum
tycoons would be two centuries later." "Rich as a Creole" was a
commonplace way of indicating a person was wealthy.
Economist Adam Smith noted, "Our tobacco colonies send us
home no such wealthy planters as we frequently see arrive from
our sugar islands." When King George III spied an ornate coach
on a London thoroughfare, he remarked, "Sugar. Sugar. Eh! All
that sugar." [It is possible that The Archies ripped off King
George. Just a thought.]
Robert Sobel gives the following example of the tremendous
amount of wealth created by the sweet-tasting, soluble,
crystalline monosaccharide.
In the 18th century there was a Bristol businessman who had
entered the sugar trade.
"William Miles worked as an unskilled laborer and managed to
put together 15 pounds. He then signed on as a carpenter for a
voyage to Jamaica, where he used his savings to buy "a cask or
two of sugar." He brought the sugar back to Bristol where it was
sold for a large profit. With this money he procured a
consignment of English manufactured goods, took it to Jamaica,
sold it again for a much higher price, and then purchased more
sugar. He repeated the operation and, on his death in 1848, left
an estate of more than 500,000 pounds."
Next week, the role of sugar in America and the battle for
independence.
Sources: "The Pursuit of Wealth," Robert Sobel
"Africana," Appiah and Gates
"The Growth of the American Republic, Vol. 1,"
Morison, Commager, Leuchtenberg
"A History of the American People," Paul Johnson
Brian Trumbore
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