HIST 214 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Sugarcane, Mercantilism, 18 Months
Document Summary
French, dutch, british, spanish, and portuguese interests. Mortality rates and price- life expectancy (4 years, 6 in caribbean) U. s. 6% of slave trade, mainly caribbean and brazil. Most from east africa, conga, and angola. Portuguese (6 million) and europe (3 million) Sugar cane and the structure of the plantation economy. 120-130 degrees in field sweet spot had 120 slaves, usually women sharp leaves, had to burn field planting harvesting processing (crusher with wood blades, wood chipper, and animals, axe) 18 months to mature, new crop 6 months injuries (kidney failure, physical injury from crusher with blades) 4 harvests a year (slaves worked 20 hours/day) juice extracted, then reduced, boiled several hours, 95% humidity, stir every 4 hours solidify, flip vat (mold), sugar loaf (top- high grade, bottom- low grade) juice left over to make alcohol. Wealth is finite within pie, must take from others.
