Sugar Cane Chapter Summary

While sugar has become one of the most common commodities in the world, the labor-intensive process of making sugar is often forgotten. With the crop dating back to 8000 B.C., its historical presence is evident, although the industry in the Caribbean did not truly begin until the early 1500s. In between that time, different types of sugar cane were tested, yet plantations continued to return to Saccharum officinarum, which was the same strand domesticated in New Guinea in 8000 B.C. Through the use of heating and cooling sugar cane, sugar is produced by isolating sucrose from the plant itself, as well as the by-product of molasses, which is the point at which the sucrose cannot be crystallized any further (Mintz, 23). The process may be long

In order for the plantation to be successful, plantation owners need to make the people of color working for them feel inferior in whatever way possible. They turn to race because it is the easiest to assess and the easiest to base superiority on, though no race is born to be superior. Thompson touches on this, explaining: “It was not sufficient to assert the superiority of the white man and the inferiority of the black man; it was much more important to persuade the black man to accept the allegation of his own inferiority,” (Thompson, 103). By controlling the sentiment for all races, white people are able to remain in their artificially superior position without people of color feeling the need to revolt against it. This extended past plantations for countries in the Caribbean, as Naipaul, shows in his essay as he explains the differences between himself and the Chinese family that owned the bakery. By the end of the essay, he comes to the epiphany that people “get so use to working for other people that they to believe that because they black they can’t do nothing else but work for other people,” (Naipaul, 172). By recognizing this, Naipaul provides readers with insight into why races are stuck in designated patterns. It is not that people of color are not capable of social and economic mobility, it is that the class system created on plantations has forced everyone to believe that

When the Caribbean started exporting sugar, the islands of the region were divided under the rule of different countries, despite being geographically connected. This created a problem because countries that controlled these islands put Navigation Acts and other policies in place to bar sugar from being traded without their discretion. The plantations in the Caribbean provided “both important commodities for European consumption and important markets for European production,” (Mintz, 55). By having the Caribbean play such an integral part in both the social and economic functions of Europe, it became impossible for sugar to be treated like any other commodity, pushing both European and Caribbean markets towards capitalism. This economic shift was met with some friction, especially from countries in the West Indies who “demanded special-entry privileges for their sugar against all sugar produced either within or outside the empire,” (Mintz, 62). Unlike Europe, which had been settled for centuries, the Caribbean was just starting to develop, and by removing the stability of exports, the region would struggle to move forward in its efforts to become modern. The pre-existing trade patterns provided the region with the security to expand and continue to develop into a modern region. However, the demand for sugar in Europe was still higher than ever at this