Short and sweet could describe me, I guess, but the history of sugar is not so short, nor is it that "sweet." Sometimes the truth cannot be sugar-coated.
From the 1500s to the late 1800s, people from Africa were brought on ships to the West Indies to work on the sugar plantations because plentiful, cheap labor was needed to grow the sugar cane. These people were called slaves, and slavery was a principal issue leading to the American Civil War.
The trading or selling of goods and slaves was a part of the Triangular Trade. You can see by the map how goods were traded and sold within these regions. Sugar or molasses from the West Indies was traded to New England or Europe, where it was made into rum (remember Boston?) The profits were used to purchase goods (food, lumber, china, steel knives) that were shipped to West Africa. These goods were used to barter for slaves, which were then shipped to the West Indies and sold to sugar planters. The profits from the sale of the slaves were then used to buy more sugar, which was shipped to Europe, etc.
To make a long story "short," Napoleon Bonaparte (French emperor) was a major reason for the rise of beet sugar. During the Napoleonic Wars (1802-1815), there was a sugar shortage because supply ships from the Caribbean were blocked from the harbors by the British. By 1806, cane sugar had virtually disappeared from store shelves. In 1811, French scientists presented Napoleon with two loaves of sugar made from sugar beet. Napoleon was so impressed he decreed that 32,000 hectares (79,000 acres) of beets should be planted and provided assistance to get the factories established. In 1813, Napoleon banned sugar imports. By 1815, there were sugar beet factories all over Europe, and in 1838 people started to build sugar beet factories in the United States. About 2/3 of the sugar people eat in the world today is cane sugar, and about 1/3 is beet sugar. Now, that's sweet, even though it wasn't so short!
Let's sweeten the blog now with a catchy song by Sugarland, Stuck Like Glue! Because I think you're so sweet to read my blog, I've got a video that's sickingly sweet with Cute Animals - Why Can't We Be Friends:
