Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HOW DID SUGAR COME TO THE NEW WORLD?
The first westward leap of sugarcane was to Madeira. In 1418-1420 Joao Zocaro and
Tristao Tiexier claimed the Madeiras for Portugal, and settlement began shortly thereafter
under the authority of Prince Henry the Navigator. Located about 350 miles off the coast of
Morocco, the Madeiras are verdant tropical islands, washed with abundant rain. They are
ideal for sugarcane cultivation. And so, too, are several of the Canary Islands, first claimed
by Spain in 1402. Both groups of islands served their masters as rehearsal halls for the
conquest of the New World. Madeira was uninhabited when the Portuguese flag was first
unfurled. In Brazil, the Portuguese followed Madeira's precedent, settling their new colony
by awarding crown favorites vast tracts of land extending inland from the Atlantic coast.
The Canaries were sparsely inhabited when the Spanish arrived and were thus open to con-
quest. Germs, guns, horses, and steel subdued the natives of the Canaries. The same imple-
ments proved equally effective in conquering the Spanish New World.
Madeira and the Canaries were important to their Iberian masters in another way. Both
places gave their conquerors experience in cultivating sugarcane in the tropics and turning
its liquid into sugar crystals. So, when the Canaries and the Madeiras added their sugar to
Europe's supply, it was far from enough to satisfy demand, but it convinced Portugal and
Spain that New World sugar would find a ready market in Europe.
WHAT DOES SUGAR NEED TO FLOURISH?
Cultivating sugarcane requires hot sun and abundant rain, along with strong arms and
strong backs to cut and carry the cane. Equally important, cultivation requires equipment
to squeeze and crush the cane stalks. Once crushed, the cane gives up a liquid that can then
be boiled off or, more likely in the early history of sugar, left to evaporate in the sun. The
resulting residue requires a further treatment to begin its transformation into sugar crystals.
In the early history of sugar-making, transformation began by adding previously created
crystals to the liquid, perhaps in the fashion of mother vinegar in the acetic process or per-
haps something akin to the starter dollop in making yogurt.
WHO FIRST BROUGHT SUGAR TO THE CARIBBEAN?
Any number of Caribbean islands offers an excellent environment for cultivating sugar-
cane: tropical sun, a long growing season, abundant rainfall, fertile soil, and flat terrain.
Columbus noted these facts during his first voyage of discovery, and on his second voyage
in 1493 he carried sugarcane to the New World. The Spanish did not come to be planters.
They had come to find the silks, spices, gemstones, and precious metals of the Far East, not
to till the soil. Every Spaniard presumed himself to rise in social rank upon setting feet in
the (as yet unnamed) New World. Farming was beneath the dignity of a Spanish gentleman.
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