Slaves on a plantation in the 19th century Modern sugar cane plantation in Brazil
Sugar cane changed societies socially as the need for workers on the plantations increased the amount of slaves working in the area.
Slave Trade
After sugar cane was settling in at different locations, there was a lot of growing to do, but no one to do the growing. It wasn't long before the settlers realized that they were lacking the one thing that they needed to plant, harvest, and process this crop; manpower. The slave trade fixed that issue. The first slave ship to be sent off of Africa was in 1505, this vicious behavior of transporting human beings like they're nothing but crops continued for 300 years. By the middle of the 19th century, more than 10 million Africans were forcibly distributed along different regions, like Brazil and the Caribbean, to work at various plantations.
Triangle Trade
African children on their way to England crammed on a claustrophobic cargo ship
This was called the 'Triangle Trade' because the routes between destinations formed a triangle shape. Packed tightly in boats with barely any air to breathe, slaves were shipped from Africa across the Atlantic to numerous destinations like the West Indies and Europe. The ones that survived after a harsh journey across the water were sold at auctions to plantation owners just like objects would be; they weren't thought of to be anything more than a handful of dirt. By the eighteenth century British ships were carrying about 50,000 slaves per year because sugar was becoming essential to the economies of Liverpool and Bristol. This slave route was a cycle: African slaves were essentially shipped to a New World plantation to then do forced labor all day and then be shipped off somewhere else again and again.
Jamaica 1909 Sugar Cane Plantation
Current Times Work
Jobs in USA Over 142,000 jobs in 22 states today rely on a strong U.S. sugar industry.
House on a plantation in present day Jamaica
Crops on sugar cane plantation
Conditions on Plantations
Europe
When the newly bought slaves arrived at their temporary home, they were branded with "estate marks" to represent which plantation they belonged to, the animals were to. Life on each plantation was very different from the rest, each with a new set of rules, requirements, and painful punishments. But the owners of the laboring-lands all did have one thing in common, they were sick human beings, to say the least. Between the scarce and mal-nutritious food, huts unsuitable for the harsh weather conditions, and rapidly-spreading diseases, life on the plantations was not very delectable, not to mention the all day back-breaking work in the fields. Discipline to everyone including children and the elderly was very cruel and in some circumstances, fatal. Not only was the physical work on the fields not too inviting, but the dangerous and messy work in the sugar mills wasn't too appetizing either. Having your fingers trapped and crushed in the big machines or your whole arm burned from the boilers was a very common event for the cane mill workers. The extensive heat in the mills was excruciatingly painful for even the strongest of the workers on the land.
Latin America
Throughout the Caribbean, working conditions weren't much different, only the immense heat made them very separate. The workers still knew that everyday would be a long one, getting necessities like food, water, rest, and bathing were rare, and their life was going no where. All around the world, slaves had the same dream: to be free. Nothing changed about the owners - still selfish monsters who don't value life.