With the discovery of the New World (now called as America) by Christopher Columbus, a new trade route was established across the Atlantic Ocean which helped in bridging the gap between the New World and the Old World. There had been a continuous trade and exchange of goods, crops, animals and even several diseases from Old World to New World. This exchange of commodities is termed in history as the Columbian Exchange. Many such items that were previously unknown to the Europeans were brought from the New World as well (Crosby, 2003). Along with many other items that were exchanged between the continents, an important commodity had been sugar cane. The climate of the New World was highly favorable for the cultivation of sugar cane; therefore it was first introduced on American soil by Columbus on his second voyage. On the other hand, the rising demand of sugar in Europe forced the people to look for new sources, the only previous source of sugar being the bees and their honey. Sugar had begun to be used both as a commodity and as a consumable item in Atlantic trade. Initially sugar was a luxury reserved only for elites but as it gradually gained popularity among common people, its demand increased many fold. Sugar was not only a good calorie source but was also taken as a relaxant with drinks like tea and coffee (Sokolov 1991, Mintz, 1986).
The collaboration of the native American-Indians and the Europeans was at disparity due to lack of cultural and lingual understanding. The Europeans who sought to cultivate sugar cane and establish an industry in the New World faced the problem of lack of labor. Initially the American Indians were enslaved and were forced to live in a piece of land granted by the Europeans. Others preferred forced labor by the inhabitants in exchange of their lives and culture. As a result of such tyranny, most native American-Indians migrated further towards the main land while some had the courage to rebel. Thus, most of the indigenous people population was killed. Those who were left behind could not survive the diseases brought by the Europeans. To overcome these hurdles, the African slaves: mostly bought by the merchants while some were captives of war, were brought to the New World by the sea route. Thus a large number of African slaves were imported to the New World for the cultivation of sugar cane as labor, with sugar trade being a profitable business (Sheridan, 1974). These African labors were hard workers, resistant against diseases, had developed skills of cultivations and were well aware with the climate along the coastal lines. Thus the owners of sugar factories keep residing in Europe while their executives looked after the cultivation and production of sugar in America. They toiled the fields and worked in the boiling houses. Within a short time, several English, Dutch and French sugar colonies were established. The raw sugar produced in the New World by the cultivation of sugar cane was sent to Europe from where it was exported to the other countries. The molasses that left behind was turned into rum and thus the sugar industry kept on flourishing. Since then, the trade of sugar acquired a significant place in Atlantic economy (Galloway, 1989).
The cultivation of sugar did not only bring a number of African slaves on American soil, there have been large sugarcane plantations by sweeping of other ecological items. Sugar has always remained a dominant commodity in Atlantic trade and those who exchanged it became the wealthiest of all. After slavery abolition in 19th century, there has been a drastic drop in cultivation and trade of sugar from US soil. Also, the era of modernity put light upon non-dietary aspects of consumption of excess sugar, thus allowing its consumption to get less. However, the Caribbean country of Brazil still stands in the list of top sugar cane producers. About 45% of the total demand of sugar cane is met by US out of what the Caribbean and the Latin America contributed about 94% .Thus what started from the exploitation of laborers and slaves, has now become one of the biggest commodities across the Atlantic (Inikori 2002).
References
Crosby, A. W. (2003). The Columbian exchange: Biological and cultural consequences of 1492. Westport, Conn: Praeger.
Galloway, J. H. (1989). The Sugar cane industry: An historical geography from its origins to 1914. Cambridge [etc.: Cambridge University Press.
Inikori, J. E. (2002). Africans and the industrial revolution in England: A study in international trade and economic development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mintz, S. W. (1986). Sweetness and power: The place of sugar in modern history. New York: Penguin Books.
Sheridan, R. B. (1974). Sugar and slavery: An economic history of the British West Indies, 1623-1775. Barbados: Caribbean University Press. Bottom of Form
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Sokolov, R. A. (1991). Why we eat what we eat: How the encounter between the New World and the Old changed the way everyone on the planet eats. New York, N.Y: Summit Books.
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