Sugar and Slavery

Sugar and Slavery

1.Hello children and adults who behave like children. Another podcast from Uncle Tiger Moto

2.Todays podcast is about one of your favourite things-sweets and sugar

3.We all love sweets. Without sweets you cannot have a childhood.

4.if you are not given enough sweets.in the US you can sue your parents for having a deprived childhood

5.In other parts of the world if your parents cannot afford sweets-stealing might be a riskier option

6.As you sit down for dinner and enjoy your sweet dish or sweets

7.Let me give you a short history of sugar and all things not very nice

8.The history of sugar is the history of slavery

9. 500 years of colonialism and racial inequality binds Africa-The Americas and Europe

10.This unholy alliance is responsible for many problems of the world today

11.Around the 16th century European sugar consumption was very low-around 87grams per person

12.By the 18th century it had risen to 9 kg per person

13.Today it is over 40kg per person

14.In the 19th century total production of sugar was around 6 million tonnes

15.by the 20th century 190 million tons was being produced annually

16.From the 13th century sugar has been traded on the world markets as a commodity-as it is today

17.In the past sugar was a luxury item which only the rich could afford-used as medicine and as a spice

18.The Portuguese navigators in the 15th century were looking for gold and silver and found sugar

19.They hit the jackpot for sugar production with the confiscation of the island of Madeira-which today is a popular holiday destination

20.These two islands of the African coast became a sugar plantation and vast wealth for Portugal

21.This island should be given back to the rightful owners and they should be compensated

22.The slaves were used to plant-harvest and boil the sugar cane

23.Capital and slaves exported to the island of Hispaniola confiscated by Columbus

24.Today this island is called Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Today the sugar industry is still dominant

25.Some 200,000 Haitians work on the sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic

26.Their wages are very low-just enough to cover their food bill

27.The subjugation of Brazil has led to deforestation and the local Indians replaced by slaves

28.Over 12 million slaves were transported from Africa-around 50% worked on sugar plantations

29.By the 16th century people-sugar-Europe became globalized. Amsterdam became the financial capital of the world-providing capital for refining and 50% trade in refined sugar.

30.Sugar production created modern capitalism-sugar became white gold

31.The main colonial countries involved in the sugar industry were-UK-France-Portugal-Holland and to a lesser extent Spain

32.Spain lost its Caribbean islands. Haiti became French and a sugar plantation-the world’s largest producer

33.The plantation was 70% by one company

34.Racism-exploitation and lack of dignity or independence for the slaves

45.Vast wealth was accumulated by the Sugar Barons

46.With this exploitation were linked ships-banks and insurance

57.By the 18th century capital made from sugar propelled the industrial revolution

58.Factories relied on migration of farm labourers to the cities. Sugar became a cheap energy fuel for the working masses

59.Tea and sugar became a very popular drink

60.By the 18th century peak sugar production

61.Slave revolt in Haiti by 450,000 slaves. Haiti became the first independent slave colony.

62.Napolean defeated the free colony of Haiti and moved sugar production to the US and Cuba

63.Napoleon sold Louisiana to the US for $15 million

64.Slavery expanded in the US

65.The UK abolished slavery in 1807

66.The Spanish who controlled Cuba employed 5 million slaves

67.By 1886 Spain abolish slavery

68.The reason for abolition of slavery was it was no longer profitable-rise of industry and sugar beet in Europe

69.The cane sugar empire in the 19th century supplied 50% of the world sugar

70.As sugar beet replaced sugar cane in Europe. The salve owners were compensated but not the slaves

71.France gave $150 million gold coins to the salve owners.

72.This money was borrowed from banks with high interest-in todays term $20-$40 billion

73.Haiti was forced to pay compensate the slave owners-with money borrowed from French banks

74.This debt is mainly responsible for the poverty in Haiti today

75.The island of Mauritius near India became a sugar plantation. Indian and Chinese coolies-indentured labour employed for 3-5 years on minimum wage

76.The UK created a new type of slavery-the indentured labourer

77.These indentured labourers had no more freedom than slaves of the past-many in rising debt and locked into 20 years of hard labour

78.Some 750,000 Chinese and 2 million Indians were indentured workers on these sugar plantations

79.In the 20th century the US came to dominate the sugar industry

80.Tin foods and sugar in everything.US plantations owners had their own armies

81.The island of Hawaii became a US sugar plantation

82.Cuba was taken by the US and became a sugar plantation-poverty and enslavement for the people as part of the US sugar empire

83.Today Brazil is using cane sugar production to produce ethanol for fuel.

84.Brazil is responsible for 14% of world sugar production-most of which goes into ethanol production

85.As you digest this podcast-I hope it leaves a bitter sweet taste in your mouth

86.to summarise 12-15 million slaves transported

87.2 million died in transit

88.this is one of the greatest crimes in human history

89.only wars-famines and disease has killed more people