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Chapter 26. Africa and the Atlantic World. History Mystery:. Written by historian Kenneth Pomeranz in his book “Economic Culture of Drugs”
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Chapter 26 Africa and the Atlantic World
History Mystery: • Written by historian Kenneth Pomeranz in his book “Economic Culture of Drugs” “The fact is that historically, goods considered drugs, that is, products ingested, smoked, sniffed or drunk to produce an altered state of being, have been central to exchange and production…
Continued Quote… • Written by historian Kenneth Pomeranz in his book “Economic Culture of Drugs” “In the seventeenth century affluent people all over the world began to drink, smoke and eat exotic plants that came from long distances. Coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco and sugar all became popular at roughly the same time… Before long, most the drug foods were being produced in new, distant parts of the world that Europeans had colonized… Colonial empires were built on the foundation of drug trades
Cartoon by E.T. Parris showing English attitude towards sugar consumption
Foundations of the Slave Trade • African slavery dates to ancient times • War captives, criminals, people expelled from clans • Distinct from Asian, European slavery • No private property, therefore wealth defined by human labor potential, not land
The Islamic Slave Trade • Dramatic expansion of slave trade with Arab traders on east coast • European demand on west coast causes demand to rise again
Clip 2: Europeans and Existing Slave Trade(start at 50 seconds in)
Major Slave Trade Destinations Red Sea – 6% Trans-Sahara – 19% East Africa & Indian Ocean – 6% Trans-Atlantic – 69% Shaded areas show regions most slaves come from
African Slaves in Plantation Societies • Most slaves in tropical and subtropical regions • Later Mexico, Brazil, Caribbean and Americas • Sugar major cash crop • Later: tobacco, rice, indigo, cotton, coffee • Plantations heavily dependent on slave labor
The Triangular Trade • 1. European manufactured goods (especially firearms) sent to Africa • 2. African slaves purchased and sent to Americas • 3. Cash crops purchased in Americas and returned to Europe
The Middle Passage (Africa-Americas) • Middle passage under horrific conditions • 4-6 weeks • Mortality initially high, often over 50%, eventually declined to 5% • Total slave traffic, 15th-18th c.: 12 million • Approximately 3-4 million killed before arrival
Social Effects of Slave trade • Total African population expands due to importation of American crops • Yet millions of captured Africans removed from society, deplete regional populations • Distorted sex ratios result • 2/3 of slaves male, 14-35 years of age • Encouraged polygamy, women acting in traditionally male roles
Political Effects of Slave Trade Warfare increases • Slaves for guns = leaders increase exports to maintain control of European firearms • Political authority in Africa becomes tied to slave raiding Instability of Political Structures • States develop and exist to sell their subjects and enemies. Strong tribal/ethnic ties only security against enslavement. • little development nation-states, that could generate the resources needed to compete with Europe or the Islamic world.
Regional Differences • Caribbean, South America: African population unable to maintain numbers because of: • Malaria, yellow fever • Brutal working conditions, sanitation, nutrition • Gender imbalance • Constant importation of slaves • North America: less disease, more normal sex ratio • Slave families encouraged as prices rise in 18th century
Diaspora is a Greek term that literally means “scattering”.
Sugar and Slavery: A Look at Chocolate and Tea
Reading the “Problem” • “Every piece of material we use has been produced for us by people we will never know” • “historically, goods considered drugs… have been central to exchange and production” • “A growing taste for rare and stimulating commodities had a transformative effect on the world and it’s people” • “European capital, American land, and African labor cam to be combined in a single international economic enterprise…[an] insatiable demand for sweets”
Reading the “Background” The Four Major Facts of Sugar • Where does sugar grow? • What does it take to grow it? • How much is needed to make a profit? • What makes sugar sellable?
Background • “since sugar can in no way establish itself as a central source of carbohydrates in the human diet… it requires export outlets if it is to flourish” • “the use of sugar as a sweetener of newly popular beverages (coffee, cocoa, tea) became common…” • “what set sugar apart was its character as an agro-industrial enterprise”
What Cacao Tastes Like… • Among the products usually added to cacao beverages were spices like black pepper, vanilla, and chili pepper • Because of its bitter flavor, it took time for the Spanish and other Europeans to develop a taste for chocolate. Tasting #1 • But to make money off chocolate trading Europeans needed to add sugar and milk to counteract the natural bitterness
The Spread of Chocolate • Eventually cacao was common in Europe… but the sugar needed to sell chocolate was essential. • The British were responsible, in 1728 for the first clubs exclusively for fans of chocolate, and above all for the development of the chocolate bar • The father of British chocolate is John Cadbury (1801-1889). In 1824, Cadbury opened his first coffee, tea and chocolate shop.
Tea Reaches Europe in the 1600s • At first there was a high cost of the tea (over $100 per pound) which immediately made it the domain of the wealthy. Slowly, as the amount of tea imported increased, the price fell as the amount of tea grew. Initially it was available to the public in shops along with such rare and new spices as ginger and sugar • As the craze for things from Asia swept Europe, tea became part of the way of life.
Tea Mania: • Tea mania swept across England as it had earlier spread throughout France and Holland. Tea importation rose from 40,000 pounds in 1699 to an annual average of 240,000 pounds by 1708. Tea was drunk by all levels of society.
Clip 4: Olaudah Equiano Document # 10
