Sunday, January 28, 2018

Week 3 & 4: Sweetness and Power

The following questions apply to the whole book (Sweetness and Power by Sydney Mintz): Describe how Mintz connects the rise of sugar consumption in England to the Triangle trade. How did it become possible for sugar to be such a cheap commodity that even the poor working classes could afford to consume it en masse? What role did the plantation economy play into this? Who were the different actors that made the plantation system lucrative for a particular group of people? Describe the economics of the plantation system. How did the plantation economy affect capitalist economy in British cities? What cultural shifts took place to transform sugar from a luxurious spice into a necessary dietary item? Why did the British working class people aspired to consume sugar? What were the cultural symbols attached to sugar?