The sugar trade was driven by land and climate, consumer demand, and the economy. Land and climate was a major factor in driving the sugar trade. Included in Document 1 is a Colonial Map of the Caribbean. The map presents that most Caribbean land are colonized by the British, French, and Spanish. Referring the map to Document 2, explains that an ideal climate average for the growth of cane sugar is sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit to ninety degrees Fahrenheit which slaves are forcefully working and growing sugar out in the heat.
Sugar was used as a sweetener in other imports such as chocolate, coffee, and tea. Tea became one of the most important beverages in the United Kingdom and further expedited the need for sugar(doc. 4). The British sugar imported from 1700 to 1770 increased from 280700 to 1379200 cwt. because of the dependency on the product (doc.
As a wealthy white male, he would promote the excellent uses of sugar. It would be helpful to have a diary or entry of a consumer of sugar and be able to analyze truly how much obsession there was in the minds of them. The high demands for sugar created a high demand in laborers as well. Just like a store or business, when a product is selling rapidly that company will expand their working forces to be able to manufacture more. The slave trade was involved also in the Sugar Trade because of the fact that the laborers that made the sugar were African slaves.
British wanting to establish mercantilism policy, they made Navigation acts. Another purpose was to exclude Dutch smuggling into colonies. First Navigation Act (1660) stated that every thing that was shipped to England had to Trans- Atlantic trade was an international trade primary between New England colonies, Europe, West Indies, and Africa. During the 100 year period, colonists were participating in the triangular trade New England ships carrying rum sailed to Africa, where slaves were brought to the West Indies or Charleston in the Middle Passage, and the West Indies sent sugar and molasses back to New England to make rum. Other variations include manufactured goods from England for colonial tobacco, fish, grain, and naval stores (mast, pitch, tar, and turpentine) and foodstuffs and lumber for sugar, molasses, and slaves from the West
The economy would be at a state of corruption. Supporters of slavery would argue that without salves the economy would collapse. Another economic argument was the foreign countries, as well as the north, were dependent on slave trade. Much of the British economy was reliant on the slave trade - both directly and indirectly. Raw produce such as sugar, tobacco, tea, coffee and cotton all came from slave plantations.
The needs of British manufacturers certainly did contribute to the expansion of the slave trade from 1760 – 1800 as they needed all sorts of materials for making what they did, However, there were other factors that contributed as well such as consumer demand, the profitability of the slave trade, the need for a labour force on the plantations and the development of the triangular trading system. Consumer demand was high during the slave trade from all types of industry for example; coal, metal, and ship building materials needed to make the ships that would trade and transport slaves were high on the demand list. It wasn’t just the industries demanding, it was the British public who now had a taste for the Caribbean goods such as sugar, rum, tobacco, coffee and cotton for clothes. The introduction of tobacco had high demand as people would become literally addicted to it. So this was also a key factor in the expansion of the slave trade.
That’s why Jamaica and the Barbados were huge in growing sugar. The sugar trade was motivated by land and climate, consumer demand and the economy. First of all, the sugar trade was impelled by the land and climate. I concur with author of (Doc. 2) because it states that sugar cane was grown with an abundance of rainfall, at least 80 to 90 inches per year.
The new European settlers brought disease to the natives witch were not immune to these diseases. The Europeans also brought an estimated 100 million slaves to these parts to farm sugar cane. The Caribbean is the worlds largest producer of sugar in the world. The culture in the West Indies soon changed from that of the Europeans to the Africans. African influence in the Caribbean can be seen in their religious and spiritual views.
Europe became the dominant power in the world, with other countries feeding on its increasing status. When the slave trade began, capitalism moved to its highest point, imperialism. Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. This resulted in third world countries because they were robbed of their resources and raw materials and could not grow. Slave exploitation caused America to become the central power in economic, military, and political strength, instead of Europe.
The countries involved in the ‘Scramble for Africa’ were Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Italy. A key economic feature of colonialism was producing and exporting raw materials either agricultural or mineral, precious metals such as gold, silver and copper. Tropical products for luxury consumption such as coffee, sugar, spices, timber and fabrics like cotton. Later when Britain, France and Germany were competing against each other for colonies in Africa in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the international market had changed rapidly with a huge demand for raw materials for manufacturing such as jute, cotton, rubber and sisal (Bernstein, 1992:48). Mass consumption demand such as tea, sugar and vegetable oils (Bernstein, 1992:48).