Sugar Trade
IT IS no exaggeration to say that the foundations of the modern globalised world were made of sugar. In the 15th century Europeans first encountered its sweet delights. Within a couple of hundred years the coming of sea power, and with it the means to create empires across the oceans, resulted in large tracts of land in South America and the Caribbean being seized. Much of it was used in the production of sugar, which was steadily evolving from being a scarce luxury to a daily necessity.
The English were late starters. Rather than compete directly with the Spanish and the Portuguese for territory on the South American mainland, they concentrated on gaining control of islands in the West Indies, first Barbados and then Jamaica and less important acquisitions, such as Antigua. Matthew Parker's narrative account of the sugar trade and the formidable families who were behind it, in particular the Draxes, the Codringtons and William Beckford of Fonthill (pictured) and his forebears, is a tumultuous rollercoaster of a book.
The wealth that came from sugar was extraordinary. In late 17th-century Barbados, the income from a 200-acre (81-hectare) cane plantation and the processing factory that went with it was enough to support the lifestyle of a duke in England. A hundred years later, the trade flowing from Jamaica alone—sugar, slaves and rum, which was made from molasses—was worth more than all the traffic with North America. No wonder the French chose their sugar islands over Canada and Britain's attempt to hold onto its American colonies was so half-hearted. But while the “plantocracy” accumulated massive fortunes (which were usually turned into noble estates at home at the first opportunity), there was a terrible downside to the whole enterprise.
The English were late starters. Rather than compete directly with the Spanish and the Portuguese for territory on the South American mainland, they concentrated on gaining control of islands in the West Indies, first Barbados and then Jamaica and less important acquisitions, such as Antigua. Matthew Parker's narrative account of the sugar trade and the formidable families who were behind it, in particular the Draxes, the Codringtons and William Beckford of Fonthill (pictured) and his forebears, is a tumultuous rollercoaster of a book.
The wealth that came from sugar was extraordinary. In late 17th-century Barbados, the income from a 200-acre (81-hectare) cane plantation and the processing factory that went with it was enough to support the lifestyle of a duke in England. A hundred years later, the trade flowing from Jamaica alone—sugar, slaves and rum, which was made from molasses—was worth more than all the traffic with North America. No wonder the French chose their sugar islands over Canada and Britain's attempt to hold onto its American colonies was so half-hearted. But while the “plantocracy” accumulated massive fortunes (which were usually turned into noble estates at home at the first opportunity), there was a terrible downside to the whole enterprise.