POSTS – Page 21 – Atlantic History

The Atlantic Slave Trade and Sugar Response

October 16, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

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In the excerpt by Sidney Mintz we see a growing colonial obsession with sugar cane. The English people in particular had a growing dependence on sugar. Mintz describes the increase in dependence the English colonial and motherland systems relied on sugar cane as a product. Diana Tran talks in her response about how this increase in demand for sugar resulted in an increase in demand for labor, and with native populations dying off due to exposure to disease, African slaves were used in greater numbers: “The native population was diminishing quickly because of overworking, forced migration, and epidemic diseases. This led to the switch of African labor. It was around the sixteenth century that sugar plantations began to appear. As Vierira mentioned in his article, the need for African labor rose as the demand for sugar soared.”

This increase in African slave labor led to a few different types of unique social outcomes, the most interesting being the concept of the maroon settlements. These settlements grew out of enslaved Africans escaping into the hinterlands and creating spaces that were free from bondage: “By escaping into the American hinterland to create maroon colonies (from the Spanish, and possibly Taíno, term cimarrón, or runaway), rebels did not directly challenge the emerging slave systems as much as they plagued individual planters and mine owners. As early as the mid-sixteenth century, maroon communities in present-day Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador grew populous enough—or inhabited such naturally defensible terrain—to defy the Europeans and force colonial administrators to recognize their freedom and autonomy.”(Egerton et al., 208). The historical significance of these maroon communities lies in their exceptionalism. In times of growing European colonial power these runaways were able to establish communities of their own, usually in unknown territory, and avoid have their newly gained freedom challenged by European powers. The acknowledgment of their autonomy by colonial powers particularly gives us an interesting space for investigation as to how these communities functioned and interacted with other peoples.

Excuse Me…Would You Like a Little Slavery With your Sugar?

October 16, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

In the beginning of chapter six of The Atlantic World, we are introduced to the narrative of Al Haji Seku Momodou Darbo. According to Egerton et al., Darbo’s ancestors were one of the contributors who sold slaves to Europeans which facilitated the Atlantic slave trade economy (Egerton et al. 185). Between the years of 1540 to 1870, approximately eleven to twelve million enslaved Africans endured the Middle Passage between Africa and the Americas. The Atlantic slave trade which encompassed four centuries not only provided Europeans and their colonies with free cheap labor, but was also considered to be one of the biggest (even though forced) migrations of people in the world. As Americans we tend to see the Atlantic slave trade as one of the defining elements of the Southern cotton production and trade. While African slaves were transported to the American South for this purpose, slavery in the United States contributed to less than six percent of the total Atlantic slave trade (Egerton et al. 187). As it happens, the destination for the majority of African slaves was Brazil and the Caribbean islands of the West Indies (Egerton et al. 187). As my colleague, Diana Tran, pointed out the decline in the indigenous people was due to disease or being worked to death that created a labor shortage and this storage needed to be resolved. As a result, both of these harbors received roughly seventy-seven percent of the African slaves that were destined for the Americas to work mining gold and silver or in the highly lucrative industry of sugar production (Egerton et al. 188).

Started by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, sugar production and trade grew by leaps and bounds throughout the years which led to the necessity of massive amounts of labor (forced or other) needed to satisfy Europe’s growing obsession for sugar products. My colleague Hunter Loya echos the same sentiment that during the mid-seventeenth century, Europe had love affair with sugar which became an addiction to the sweet stuff. According Sidney Mintz, sugar not only helped make bitter and dull tasting foods more palatable, sugar also helped attach certain meanings to food that led to particular social settings (Mintz 152). So with this and Europe’s growing addiction to sugar, massive amounts of African slave labor were needed to fulfill the demand. Hence slavery and sugar seemed to form a symbiotic relationship. But that begs the question, since we can clearly see that the production of sugar is dependent on slavery, is the institution of slavery dependent on sugar? In his book Sweetness and Power, Sidney Mintz, suggests that England’s elite though the working class love affair and addiction with the sweet crystals and treacle helped keep the sugar economy going (Mintz 184). Therefore without even knowing it, the English working class became a supporter, even though indirectly, of the African slave economy. This indirect support resulted in slaves who’s work supplied Europe with sugar produced consumer slaves who would need for sugar as a necessity would contribute their money to support the slave economy of sugar.

Slave Trade and Sugar Rush

October 15, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

Slavery and slave trading was one of the many common occurrences in the Atlantic trade. In his blog post about Chapter 5 of The Atlantic World, my colleague Robert Deleon mentioned, “due to European diseases and the harsh working conditions native populations experienced massive amounts of deaths.” The native population was diminishing quickly because of overworking, forced migration, and epidemic diseases. This led to the switch of African labor. It was around the sixteenth century that sugar plantations began to appear. As Vierira mentioned in his article, the need for African labor rose as the demand for sugar soared. There were vast plantations that were staffed by hundreds of enslaved Africans. Sidney Mintz also mentioned that the English people saw sugar as an essential item and that “supplying them with it became as much a political as an economic obligation” (157). Egerton ed al argued that the sugar revolution was one of the factors that made the transoceanic slave trade the largest forced movement of human beings in history and the largest intercontinental migration.

The Spanish were the first to capitalize on the adaption of sugarcanes to the American tropics. This eventually brought African labor to the sugar plantations in the Americas. I found Mintz statement about sugar plantation owners making immense fortune off the labor of millions of stolen Africans on the acres of land stolen from the Indians very interesting (157). It was true, Europeans were making money without much of their own effort. Their fortune was cultivated with someone else’s labor and someone else’s land. Africans tried to resist and fight enslavement. They tried running away, poisoning their masters, or participated in full scale revolts (Egerton et al, 210). The last verified slave trade occurred in January 1870. Interestingly though, there was a women by the name of Maria la Conguita that claimed she was sold into Cuba in 1878.

Influence of the Protestant Reformation on the Atlantic World.

October 11, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

The Protestant Reformation affected not only European nations and their relations with each other, but also with the rest of the Atlantic World. The Reformation severely limited the Catholic Church’s power and influence around the globe. Splits from the Catholic Church caused a domino effect of nations leaving the Catholic Church. In some cases, monarchs used the Reformation to gain political advantage. One such example would be England leaving because the King wanted to be able to divorce wife, so he made himself head of the English church. The Reformation caused tension in Europe, igniting a spirit of competition among the European nations fueled by religious fervor that spread from the European continent to the Atlantic World. This was manifested in Africa and the Americas, as Europeans squabbled over land for colonies, extraditing resources, converting the native populations to their correct version of Christianity, and securing trading posts. All of these events were influenced by the Protestant Reformation. Many theoretical interventions discussed in class go hand in hand with the Reformation, such as mutual misunderstanding, dual discovery, Edenic islands, the commoditization of enslaved people, and the mercantilist approach. The effects of the Protestant Reformation reinforce all of these ideas. Some key turning points might include Queen Isabella of Spain determining that non-Christians could be used as slaves, English migration to Virginia seeking religious freedom, and the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Final Paper

October 11, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

For my final project I will analyze the impact sugar production on the Atlantic. Analyzing changes in population, resource allocation, and scales of conflict between European nations among themselves, and indigenous people, I hope to put into perspective the importance or banality the introduction of sugar as a cash crop had in the Atlantic region, Europe, and the world economy.

Final Project

October 10, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

My final project will locate and analyze significant Atlantic naval battles prior to and during WWI. I will show movement and battle sights of Axis and Entente vessels through an interactive map via scribblemaps.com. My goal is to illustrate significant naval interactions in the Atlantic that caused tensions to rise, precluded full on battles, and, of course, were the reason behind, or part of, The Great War. Maps, in my opinion, are a window into the era being researched. They offer intangibles crucial to the understanding an historian, or any inquirer for that matter, needs in order to convey fresh insight. Additionally, maps allow for a break in the monotony of historical literature one encounters in research. On my topic specifically, my hope is to show how naval movement in the Atlantic influenced battle decisions being made on all sides. From mid 19th century to the end of WWI, naval technologies had grown exponentially creating competition between empires. Because of this, all sides had significant prowess in the water, turning the Atlantic into an extremely important battlefield during WWI. The ability to see exactly where opposite side encounters took place aquatically allows for a more translucent view of the “why” behind certain battle decisions. My project will analyze these decisions and their outcomes with bullet points at each location explaining who, what, where, when, and why.

Final Project Idea

October 10, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

Impact of the Atlantic Ocean during World War II:

Battle of the Atlantic

The passage way from Europe to the Atlantic became critical during the war. Britain bein an island, relied heavily on its imports, which largely came from the United States. Since the German forces decided to create blockades and start sinking ships, British and American commerce took huge negative impacts. The Atlantic had only been known for its hazardous weather conditions in crossing, yet now German submarine fleets were terrorizing the Mid-Atlantic. The British could no longer travel across the Atlantic as they once were able to do so effortlessly (with exception to the terrible weather that plagued numerous English ships). In order to cross the Atlantic the British began using naval convoys as a means of protection against the Wolf packs of Nazi U-boats (submarines). For Germany their U-boats were very effective. They brought terror to the sea and literally helped give them the element of surprise. British ships would be cruising the Atlantic ocean and then BOOM, next thing they knew they were hit with a torpedo missile and either rapidly sinking or slowly fading to their demise. As mentioned above, the German attacks mainly came in the Mid-Atlantic, as ships traveling out of American and British waters could easily be protected by aerial forces. However, once out in the middle of this vast Atlantic sea, it was much harder to request protection that far away from land. The great impact within the Atlantic ocean comes through the game in the Mid-Atlantic waters that Germany played by sinking all that crossed their path, and would become very crucial and drastically impact the war. It was in fact the German U-boats gall to sink ships with Americans on them that ultimately led to America declaring war and blasting there forces not only into the Atlantic but also over in Europe as well.

Final Project Topic: Thieves of the Sea

October 9, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

My final project will focus on Atlantic Piracy and their methods of acquiring profit. When we think of pirates, we often think of Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, but do these swashbuckling adventures have anything to do with what actually happened in the Atlantic around the 1600-1700s? Maybe, but for the most part, it`s fantasy. During the 1500s, when Atlantic trade was growing substantially with the Columbian Exchange and Spanish conquests, the Spanish got rich off of minerals like gold and their rivals, like the English and the Dutch, wanted a piece of their wealth. As a result, they turned to piracy. Most pirates were not just greedy cutthroat raiders of the high seas, but were licensed thieves backed by European powers like the Dutch and the English as mentioned in Chapter 4 of The Atlantic World by Egerton et al. What I find most interesting about my topic is the fact that Atlantic piracy originally started as a revolt on Spanish domination and how it escalated into a lucrative profession that left trading ships damaged and dead sailors in their wake. Surprisingly, it created intricate trade networks in the Caribbean and the Americas as well as the rest of the Atlantic. What I want to write about is how Atlantic piracy and their tactics played an integral role in building the Atlantic economy and its relations with other countries. Though it sounds like a very broad topic, I want to focus mostly on piracy in the Caribbean during in the 1600-1700s and how it affected North and South America.

Final Project Topic

October 9, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

For my final project, I would like to focus on the piracy in the Atlantic. More specifically, the beginning and politics of piracy. Pirates were not necessarily a form of social resistance. The politics of piracy played an important part of the process where the British state began to exercise, or attempt to exercise, authority across the Atlantic maritime networks which expanded significantly during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Final Project Topic: Changing of the Colonial Guard

October 8, 2016December 16, 2020Dr. Shrout

For my final project topic I decided to focus on an often overlooked conflict in U.S. history. I will being doing research on the Spanish-American war and the impacts it had on the Atlantic world. The beginning of the war may have been a fabricated excuse for American involvement and the war itself may have been a mere four months, still its out come would solidified U.S. dominance in the western hemisphere and express the end of Spanish colonial rule in Latin America. American rugged individualism developed from the war as Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders symbolized American character against a weakened Spanish colonial power. After the war the U.S. embarked on its own expansionist ventures in the Pacific and the Atlantic due in part to the acquisition of Spanish territories. Spain would renounce all claim to Cuba, cede Guam and Puerto Ric to the U.S., and transfer sovereignty over the Philippines to the U.S. for 20 million dollars. The war showcased an important turning point in European colonial efforts in Latin America. Spain’s defeat turned the nation’s attention away from its overseas colonial adventures to instead focus on domestic issues. Overall, what I find interesting about this topic is what it signaled for the rest of the world. The United States would emerge a world power with oversea possessions and a new stake in international politics. This would prove important in the years to come as the nation devised whether it would involve itself in an expansive European war.