How Chocolate Affected Slavery

Chocolate was previously considered a “delectable symbol of luxury, wealth, and power” (Klein) in the 1500s. Using modern technology, it is now easily produced. While

After Columbus’s voyage to the Americas in 1492, he took back to Spain to present the King and Queen not just riches, but also new products that weren’t available in Europe. He took back to Spain the practice of drinking chocolate mixed with heavy spices. For nearly 100 years after the Spaniards were introduced to chocolatl, the coveted drink of the New World inhabitants, they kept the secret of its production to themselves. In the same years as Shakespeare wrote his final plays, the missionary and theologian José de Acosta wrote about cocoa from Lima, Peru, saying, “It is so much esteemed among the Indians that it is one of the richest and the greatest traffickes of New Spain” (Liu; Pelletier, CDA’s World History Wiki). After a century, Spain lost its monopoly on the European chocolate market. By the mid-1600s, the drink made from the little brown beans had gained widespread popularity in France. In Europe, chocolate (as a drink) gained popularity as the production of the beans became more popular. More of the lower and middle class were able to afford it, and it was considered a great treat to have. In terms of economic impact, the cacao had been a boon for the

One of the most popular food in the world. Chocolate! This delicious food is made from cocoa beans which are grown in pods on tree trunks.The production of cocoa beans have expanded over the years, from South America to the Europeans to the U.S. They originally were grown only in South America until Columbus brought them back from his last voyage. Since then cocoa has only grown in popularity. (Background Essay) The production of chocolate is poor for the Ivory Coast. First, the Ivory Coast isn’t earning enough money from the total income from exporting the cocoa beans for chocolate bars. Second, the agriculture on the Ivory Coast is terrible. Lastly, the cocoa production is affecting the existence of animals on the Ivory Coast.

There is a high bargaining power of suppliers because of the need of the key ingredients required for chocolate manufacturing and limited number of suppliers for this industry. Since cocoa trees require tropical climate, it forces the main producers in the west to import them from countries in West Africa or other hot places

While Europe and the United States account for most chocolate consumption, the confection is growing in popularity in Asia and market forecasts are optimistic about the prospects in China and India (Nieburg, 2013, para 9). According to the CNN Freedom Project, the chocolate industry rakes in $83 billion a year, surpassing the Gross Domestic Product of over a hundred nations (“Who consumes the most chocolate,” 2012, para 3).

We all encounter chocolate in our daily life, and whether we want to admit it or not, chocolate has been a major part of history, and it is still seen today.

The “Columbian Exchange” refers to the exchange of people, crops and animals between the New World and the Old World that drastically altered the lives of Europeans, Asians and Africans. The Old World received many crops that were previously unknown to them, including potatoes, chili peppers, cacao (chocolate), tomatoes and peanuts. Tobacco came from the New World and spread throughout Spain, to Turkey, and from there to Russia, France, England, and the rest of Asia. Corn (or maize), which also came from the New World, became a staple crop in Europe and is the third most planted field crop in the world today. In addition, because of corn, the potato and the sweet potato, Europeans and East Asians were able to vary their diets. Cacao (chocolate)

Most of the food provided in industrial slave compounds consisted of food found on rural plantations - corn and less desirable parts of the pig. Some corporations provided enough food to satisfy the slave’s appetites because a healthy slave was more productive than a slave

The sugar-plantation model paved the way for slavery by exposing slave owners to economic prosperity and a crop that “requires a rich soil and a readily available labor force" (Solow 719) meaning that, to turn such a high profit, slavery was needed to prevent having to pay for all the extensive labor required. In the article, Solow makes it known that without sugar, colonization would not have occurred, as “the slave-sugar complex was the bridge over which European civilization crossed from the Old World to the New”

Although it may be assumed that slavery only hurt the slaves, it also negatively impacted the slaveholders in many ways. In the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass speaks about his overseer, Mr. Plummer, saying, “He was a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slaveholding” (3). Douglass believes not only that the slave’s status as a human is nullified when he is beaten, but also the master “hardens” his emotions. Since many slaveholders like Mr. Plummer were cruel and showed no remorse towards their slaves, their feelings of compassion and love went numb after beating human beings every day. Douglass introduces the theme of a corrupt master by speaking about how the disadvantages of having such power over another American

Many people often meet different characters in literature and in life that they admire or despise. They conclude if those characters are good or evil and at the same time they reflect on the choices and responsibilities that those characters have. From The Chocolate War I admire Roland Goubert or The Goober based on his actions. I despise Archie Costello (The Assigner of The Vigils) because of the choices that he made and also because of his actions.

One important underlying driver of change in the chocolate industry is the large manufacturers lobbying to change the definition of the term "chocolate" under USFDA guidelines, if they are successful in doing this then this could potentially have a dramatic impact on the competitive environment, with lots of cheaper products

politicians, who pressured the industry to tackle the issue. Some politicians did their best to use their authority to put some pressure on some of the companies which accused of child slavery, and made those companies to pledge to reduce all the child slavery forms of their companies. What happened that those companies did not work ethically in order to get rid of using children during harvest time. That what the documentary film “the dark side of chocolate” shows that those companies still making children work during harvest season and under bad conditions in order to make more

“The Dark Side of Chocolate” is a documentary that explores the underlying issues prevalent in the cocoa trade. For most first world countries chocolate is seen as an accessible treat, however in third world countries, the production of cocoa creates social issues that must be eliminated. Cocoa trade is one of the largest industries in West African countries, but the issues that arise from such trade do more harm than good. The cocoa plantations are trafficking humans to work on their plantations. Furthermore, most instances suggest that these workers do not receive any compensation for their work and most importantly some of these slave laborers are children. Thus, the three issues that the cocoa companies routinely commit in exchange for lower costs are human trafficking, slave labor, and child labor. These companies are aware of such issues but refuse to actively combat them because they are better off financially. It can be argued that these issues can be mitigated through various social, governmental and political policies aimed at combating these problems. The three main issues will be addressed and the various stakeholders affected by these issues will be analyzed. Then this paper will look at the possible solutions to these issues, whereby through government, social or political means.

The natural environment involves Cocoa beans that are needed by Whittaker’s to produce their chocolate products. Over the next few years, the world is expected to face a chocolate ‘drought’, leading to soaring prices of cocoa beans due to insufficient consumable cocoa to chocolate manufacturers. (Western farm press, 2011)