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What role did Sugar have in TTEA and British industrialisation?
 

Sugar started it all!

 

This story starts with sweets and cakes and sweet tea and coffee. We are going to look at how and why it was used in the Northeast of England.  We will then trace sugar backwards. Back from the houses of the wealthy (who used it as a status symbol). Back from the poor (who used it for enjoyment and energy). 

 

We will look at where it was sold in our region, how it was refined and how it came to be here in the first place. We will trace it back over the Atlantic to the West Indies and see how it was made.

 

The Northeast, like the rest of the country, came to rely on sugar. Due to its addictively tasty and energy-giving qualities, it became known as "white gold".

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People’s Houses

 

In the 18th century, sugar was used as it is today - to sweeten foods. It was also thought to be good for you. It had been used to clean teeth and as a medicine. How different is that to today's view of sugar?

 

It looked different from today too. It was bought in a block, or sometimes in a cone shape. Sugar nippers were used to cut it into smaller portions.  

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Map of Newcastle and Gateshead sugar refineries in 1700's and 1800's. 

Courtesy of Bryan Mawer - http://www.mawer.clara.net/loc-newc.html

Transportation

The Experiment was launched in Headlam’s yard in Newcastle for the West India trade in 1752. It returned in 1753 with sugar as well as, ‘rum, pimento, coffee, cotton, mahogany and lignum vitae.’[1] The length of the journey makes it possible it went to Africa first. Therefore, the journey may have already begun to take people from this place. However, at this time, it is not noted on the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database.

 

[1] The ‘Black Indies’: The Northeast connection with the Slavery Business. History & Social Action Publications. Sean Creighton. August 2020. Accessed 24 Sept 2023

Sugar does not come from packets!

Sugar was transported in cone shaped 'Sugar loafs'. 

The below sketch, made by French engraver Estienne Vouillemont, shows a very sanitised sugar making process. We can see the huge metal rollers and the boiling of the sugar - highly dangerous tasks.  

Public Domain.
Sketch of a sugar mill with explanations on its operation. Drawing showing enslaved people at work with the directors of the West India Company.
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The West Indies
How sugar is made... A dangerous process!

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Sugar is hard to grow. It is suited to the West Indian climate, a region that was part of the early British Empire. Over time, more and more people were kidnapped from Africa to work on sugar plantations.

 

The process of growing sugar is hard. The soil was prepared and turned into farmland by the enslaved. The crop needs a lot of attention. It takes between 14 and 18 months to grow. This means it will need more care, and the costs to grow it are higher. It grew in the wet months at the end of the year and was ready to be cut in January of the following year.

 

The juice was pressed out by passing the sugar cane through huge metal rollers that were powered by animals, wind and later steam. This was dangerous work as hands could be trapped in the rollers as enslaved people worked around the clock to prepare the sugar.

 

It was then boiled to remove impurities and moisture. This too is hard, dangerous work as it burns at a very hot temperature and sticks to the skin when in a molten state. It was then placed into barrels called Hogsheads, or into cone shaped moulds.[1]

 

[1] https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/archaeologyofslavery/sugar-plantations

Over to You!

History Detective challenge

Where  was the nearest sugar refinery to you?

Use this great
database to research. 

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