Author: Dr. Shrout

From the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, Madeira and the Canary islands were successful and booming sugar markets, playing a pivotal role in creating the transportation of sugar from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, also known as the “sugar route” (Vieira, 42). Sugar cultivation contributed greatly to the socioeconomic and political conditions of the islands and Europe. When sugar production was low, the islands and European nations suffered. According to Fernando Jasmins Pereira, if the Madeira and Canary islands were economically and socially unsuccessful, the sugar industry was directly impacted: “The decline of Madeiran production is principally due to the impoverishment of soils, which given the limited area available for agriculture, inevitably reduced the productive capacity” (Vieira, 48).

The island of Madeira was uninhabited when discovered, and the need for labor was crucial. This reminded me of John Gillis’s Islands of the Mind. Here, Gillis discusses how the geography of islands contributed to European’s perception of the Atlantic and the outside world as mythical, unknown, and vast: “Islands were a kind of third place, partaking of both sea and land, liminal places that were the sites of rites of passage for travelers between earth and water”(Gillis, 28). What simultaneously boomed along with the sugar market was the slave trade. As a result, the island’s agrarian condition and lack of civilization resulted in an increase in slave trading and ownership to create the economic success of sugar cultivation (Vieira, 57).

Along with slavery, the sugar boom directly influenced the economics and markets of the Atlantic world. What resulted from the successful cultivation of sugar was a scramble for land to produce and market sugar, as well as a direct connection between the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ worlds. This bridge was built through Atlantic islands correlating their needs to the demands of European nations; Islands like Madeira and the Canary would alter their economic needs in order to support those of Europe (Vieira, 62-63). Erin Wroe wrote that by working in Atlantic trade, European nations set to establish themselves as powerful economies that wanted to create permanent settlements for future business endeavors. I found this argument incredibly insightful, as Wroe’s case acknowledges and discusses the exploitation of peoples and land in order achieve economic success. While originally unintentional in terms of harm, the destruction of Atlantic islands and the abuse and exploitation of slaves ultimately led to the expansion of sugar cultivation and slavery in the Caribbean New world.

…read more

The main focus of this reading assignment is sugar and its influence on the Atlantic World. Europeans often named places after their local materials and goods. The Canary Islands were known as the Sugar Islands, suggesting strongly the importance of sugar. Canarian islands had a native population that slowed the Europeans settlement. Despite this, Europeans had a strong desire for exploiting local goods and materials f the Canaries. As demand for sugar across the world increased, the amount of sugar produced increased as well. The correlation between slavery and sugar was not significant. While there certainly was a connection, it was minimal compared to the use of slaves in other locations. Sugar was often used in place of currency on the Canary islands.The Canaries and their production of sugar drew the attention of nations all over the globe. In classmate Hunter Loya’s response, he points out that the demand for sugar increased the demand and use of slaves in the canaries. This is true, but in addition sugar this also spiked the exchange of other goods to the Canaries to support those living on the Canaries, the slave trade found a consistent source of business, and the Canaries captured the interests of multiple world powers, creating even more competition among the Europeans in the Atlantic World.

…read more

In Alberto Vieira’s article, the impact of sugar to the islands of Madeira and the Canaries are put on display, as well as the powers that helped form these sugar run islands. In a purely economical mindset, everyone (“Europeans”) was out to acquire the new and unexplored world and its vast resources. Europe just so happen to be a leader in exploration and claiming whatever they took a liking to, which is very similar to what Isaias Ortiz argued in that Europeans battled for the best of the best and did so through the sugar trade route. Thus the whole essence of the sugar islands became one of capitalism and imperial gain. Every part of the island was run by some lord or labeled as property of the Royal Crown. Thus leaving the process extremely micromanaged and regulated as land could only be distributed to those with merit or social distinction. However, this ultimately failed as no matter how much the sugar industry and the land it resided was taxed, not taxed and contractually arranged, the industry simply peaked and then declined. (Vieria 43)

On the surface the picture is painted that the sugar industry within the islands of Madeira and the Canaries was one of success for Europe, as this trade route and economical resource was created. Yet, the entire premise of the sugar islands was one of disarray and greed and ultimately lead to is slow fade into the background. Though it seems that it was through the sugar trade route that this industry was made and but through the islands. It was in fact on the island of Madeira that the concept of sugar agriculture was brought to the scene (Vieira 40). The islands brought what seemed to be a perfect environment for sugar crops to rise and flourish and for awhile was the predominant agricultural product (Vieria 47) Yet, the land would not last forever and the soil became impoverished and the crown and lords all struggles to keep the industry alive. Production rates declined and continued to drop, they simply could not manufacture enough mills to grind the sugar cane, allocate and supply enough water, or provide enough arable land. Sugar farmers simply stopped being sugar farmers, even with the benefits that the Crown and the lords tried throwing their way.

Simply put, it was amount of times the land rights and properties changed hands and the vast amount of regulations that were placed on the sugar crop farmers, as well as the limits of the land that led to the industry fading out. Outside resources figured out how to produce sugar better and more effective and thus dwindling the value of what was once a booming industry for these sugar islands.

…read more

Isaias Ortiz introduces the statement from week 4 reading that: The slaves would find ways to cause chaos on the ship, so individuals responsible for the trade had to make sure that they had chains and weaponry to prevent “an actual outbreak of [slave] revolt” (Smallwood, 679). This makes me think of Sugar Islands in the way of preventing revolts in the sugar mills and plantations. If slaves were likely to start revolts in a place they could not escape (a ship), then would it be more likely for them to start a revolt in a place they may be able to escape from (a sugar plantation). Yet, Alberto Vieira does not address slave tension or revolt on the Sugar islands in detail. Vieira paints a picture that shows slaves, free men, and freed men working in sugar mills and plantations together. I find it incredibly interesting that no correlation between number of slaves impacts production in any way (Vieira, 58). This makes me think that a plantation could have a majority of free men, or a majority of slaves, and they will all work in the same way, with the same outcomes.

This article also interested me because it presented sugar plantations as a business that was not steady in the Madera or Canary islands. Not only was it unsteady for economic reasons, but also for internal political reasons. First, there were issues with water supply, turning water into a commodity that could be bought and sold. Disputes over land and water forced the crown to get involved because the Captains who were in charge of distributing land and water were not doing a good job. The saturated market for sugar production caused problems with supply. The Sugar Crisis made sugar production and sales unsteady in the islands. There was a short relief when the Dutch needed sugar for jams and preserves, but as Brazil reappeared in the sugar market the islands began to struggle again. Sugar was a commodity that many raced to produce, when plantations had to fight over buyers, sugar production began to decline out of necessity.

Tropical Babylons. Chapel Hill, US: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004. Accessed September 20, 2016. ProQuest ebrary.

…read more

The main focus of the chapter Sugar Islands: The Sugar economy of Madeira and the Canaries is “White Gold” or sugar. The chapter starts off by talking briefly about how the sugar trade gets setup up on these two islands and the various property rights that went into owning the land. Before moving onto the next major topics the author discusses how water was brought to the properties and the various difficulties that came up in regards to getting water. The author then talks about the depression of the late 15th century and then a rise in the early 15th century in the value of sugar and then another depression shortly after. This sort of fluctuation in the market of sugar is mentioned various times throughout the rest of the chapter. The rest of the chapter deals with things like the trade of sugar amongst groups and the production of sugar. (Vierira, Pg 42 – 47)

Though Sugar became a big business, that growth was built off the back of slavery as a means to produce large quantities of “white gold”. These slaves were brought in, in part because of a lack of laborers on the islands and also because both of these locations are very close to Africa. This point is also brought up by Erin who also talks about similar points in regards to how there were not that many people available to farm the land so groups turned to using slavery. (Vierira, Pg 56 -58)

This whole chapter in a way links up with the last reading, Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World, which discussed the altercations that nations had with each other in the Americas and Europe. In a way, this chasing of profit in the sugar economy could be seen as an extension of that fighting, without the use of weapons.

…read more

European economies tied themselves to the lands that they colonized. Alberto Vieira discusses this in the reading, arguing that it was specific products that led the Europeans to settle these islands. Sugarcane was particularly valuable to the Portuguese and Spanish, with Madeira and the Canary Islands serving as the main hosts for the crop. Vieira suggests that because of the scarcity of water in the Canary Islands, economic organization was key (Vieira, 44). This scarcity of water in the Canaries resulted in resource management that favored the growth of sugarcane above all else. In Erin’s response she references Grove and concept of Green Imperialism. This reference fits perfectly within the narrative of Europeans leaving large ecological damages on the lands they discover and exert power over.
While Vieira states that sugar production was not the main reason that for occupying these islands, the rapid increase in demand for it changed that objective in an incredibly short amount of time (Vieira, 47). This rapid demand for sugar created a demand for labor, one that was satisfied with enslaved peoples. The outcomes of large scale sugar production are ones that would not have happened without an economic incentive, and the way that Europe reacted when they discovered these sugar islands can tell us a lot about how their imperialistic concerns were impacted by the opportunity for economic growth and how the rush for “White Gold” reveals that not every European country was concerned about the ecological impacts on these islands.

…read more

…read more

…read more