What Was The Demand For Sugar In The 1700's

Making sugar as it was discovered in the 17th century was a hard process. That is why it was believed to be an investment during this time. The sugar had to be boiled 3-4 times before the process was over, and the water was removed. What drove the sugar trade was the demand as it became such a huge stimulant. Everyone wanted it, and that's why people spent all their time growing it across the sea.

Do you ever wonder how sugar became so popular? The Sugar market went on for 200 years, throughout those years the market went up and down in business. In the last decades of the century, four fifths of the sugar went to the French and British colonies. The Sugar Trade was driven by three main factors, which were, land, capital, and mercantilism.

It was the largest producer of sugar, and also the most valuable sugar producing colony, with much as eighty-eight thousand tons of sugar were being processed annually. In addition to the massive amounts of sugar being produced in Haiti, it was also a large producer of a variety of other commodities, one of which being coffee which it produced about thirty-seven thousand tons annually. Even further, the commodities that were being exported from Haiti totalled approximately one third of France’s external commerce. Moreover, a tremendous amount of the sugar that was being consumed in France came from Haiti. However, it was not exclusively France who was indulging on the commodities being produced and exported here, as the United States had participated as well. As a matter of fact, about all of the sugar and other commodities, such as molasses, that was being consumed in the United States had been imported from Haiti. The mass production of all the commodities did not happen by itself, but rather it happened due to the intensive labour of the slave population.

By the mid-1500s in Spanish Caribbean islands and Portuguese Brazil, colonists had turned to the quick and highly profitable cultivation of sugar, a crop that required constant attention and exhausting labour. They tried to recruit native Americans, but many were sick and eventually died from diseases brought by Europeans, such as smallpox, diphtheria, and

The long-term effects of the Columbian exchange included the swap of food, crops, and animals between the New World and Old World, and the start of the transoceanic trade. In order to produce a profit, Portuguese explorers were the first to established sugar cane plantations in Brazil. They then sold this crop to the Old World where it was a popular commodity because it provided Europeans with a sweetener for foods. In addition, European produce was brought to the New World, including “…wheat, vines, horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and chickens… Where they sharply increased supplies of food and animal energy.” This fusion of crops between the Old and New World became fundamental in enhancing the diets and food of both populations.

When the Americas were just beginning to form, spirits accelerated their colonialism. At first, sugarcane production was introduced to the Western Indies or Caribbean Islands by Christopher Columbus. The West Indies land was not suitable to grow wine vines or grains for beer, instead Columbus introduced sugar canes to the Indies, creating a major sugar plantation in the West

The sugar trade succeeded due to the increasing demand for the product, along with the advent of European colonization of the Caribbean, and the use of slavery as an efficient workforce. The rise in demand for sugar was partially a result of the addictive properties it had, which caused people to want more of it. The islands on which the Europeans were colonizing were ideal for the growth of cane sugar, the plant that is processed into the finished sugar product. With the use of slaves, the production of sugar was happening at a much quicker and cheaper rate than before, thus creating more sugar to supply the demand. During the sixteenth century, the Europeans colonized the Caribbean islands, which were perfect for running sugar plantations.

Sugar has been a staple in the diets of Europeans for centuries. From desserts to tea, sugar has been added to everything. While it is unhealthy in large doses, the demand for the saccharide does not falter. Before sugar could be mass produced by machines, much of the labor was done by slaves. While this benefitted white Europeans, they were the only ones to have profited from this new sugar craze. The African population suffered immensely from the sugar industry as the working conditions of sugar plantations were brutal and they had no civil rights as slaves.

After sugar was successfully mass-produced in the Caribbean, this crop became viewed as a commodity to be enjoyed by the masses rather than as an item reserved only for a select, elite few. Because sugar was now a readily available commodity, it slowly began to transition from a product with unique purposes, i.e. medicine, spice and decoration, to a food product. For example, “the former medicinal purposes of sugar were now assimilated into a new function, that of a source of calories” (Mintz 108). The greater availability of sugar from the Caribbean allowed for new, modern usages of sugar to emerge. “In general terms, sugar’s use as a spice and a medicine declined as its use as a decoration, a sweetener, and a preservative increased.” An increase in sugar supply drastically decreased its price, which caused “consumption of sugar in other forms to rise” (Mintz 126). Jam consumption, for example, “began to catch hold among working people after the big victories of the free-trade movement of the mid nineteenth century” (Mintz 126). “New foods and beverages were incorporated into daily life with unusual rapidity, and sugar had an important role in nearly all of these new items” due to increased availability and reduction in price (Mintz 120). The greater availability of sugar throughout the world

The European discovery and colonization of Madeira and the Canary Islands would prove fateful precedents for the new world, because the plantation system and colonial governments instituted on these islands became models for the great sugar plantations in the new world. Since sugar cane had been introduced to Madeira and the Canaries after their colonization during the last half of the fifteenth century, the techniques of sugar production, exploitation of labor, and economic organization developed on these islands were easily exported to the new world. Ultimately, the adoption of these production techniques and the system of colonial government from the Atlantic islands, with the institution of slavery, made sugar production the most profitable

And then the Sugar crossed the Atlantic with Christopher Columbus, In Brazil late 1600’s and 1700’s sugar growing was held in the Caribbean.

Sugar cane was brought to the "new world" by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493 (Umbilical 99). The introduction of this new crop would bring about dramatic change the Caribbean. During the 1600's the Caribbean sugar industry thrived. The native people of Africa's

The government is considering a levy on sugar as part of a national strategy to tackle childhood obesity. However, Paul Polman, Unilever’s boss argues that there is little evidence that proves a sugar tax would help tackle obesity (The guardian, 2016a). I will analyze the effect of the sugar tax on consumer’s demand. I will also analyze Unilever’s actions as a result of this

Furthermore, consumers may have travelled to America to purchase sweetened beverages. Since the demand for sweetened beverages is rather inelastic, solely negative advertising and education wouldn’t have decreased consumption. This method would have costed government resources to implement and wouldn’t have been efficient. By deciding to impose taxes, the government increased the price of sweetened beverages, which was a disincentive to consumers to reduce their consumption of sugary drinks. The tax also increased government revenue, which the government could utilize on negative advertising and education to further decrease consumption.

People have always had a sweet tooth. In the mid 17th century, the sugar cane was introduced to the New World by the Dutch, who, using slaves, seized this opportunity to make a profit in the British West Indies. Sugar, as well as slaves, played a vital role in the Atlantic Triangular Trade among the Americas, Europe and Africa. Slaves were the working force in this trade network because they harvested the cash crops that circulated around the Atlantic Ocean. A form of slavery very similar to those in the sugar plantations of the Caribbeans is child labor in the modern cocoa industry. Cocoa trees only thrive in humid regions near the equator, which is why two West African countries, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, supply well over half of the