Have you ever watched the reality tv show Black-ish? One character, Mr. Stevens, who is cringingly un-PC, groans that everything is related to slavery. But in my history class last week, I felt like Dre, the main character, who claims that yes, most things are related to slavery.
Coffee culture is quite popular now to put it lightly. Whether it’s Starbucks, Dunkies’, your local coffee shop, or a pot of coffee at home, for many people the beverage is a part of their daily routine. Imagining society without coffee is hard to picture now.
However, for a long time coffee, or kavah as it was then called, was a drink exclusive to the middle east. In contrast, Europe’s libation of choice was alcohol. Coffee’s bitter beans didn’t make their way west until the early 17th century.
1652 AD marked the establishment of the first coffee house in London. Its success was immediate. Coffee houses became social hotspots, where men could gather and exchange ideas. Newspapers were available there, and the novel drink was touted as the sober, healthy alternative to intoxicating ales, beers, etc.
COFFEE arrives, that Grave and wholesome Liquor, that heals the Stomack, makes the Genius quicker, Relieves the Memory, Revives the Sad, And cheers the Spirits, without making Mad;
A Brief Description of the Excellent Vertues of That Sober and Wholesome Drink, Called Coffee (1674)
By providing ideal locations for the spread of political and philosophical discussions, coffeehouses proved the perfect breeding grounds for Enlightenment ideas. The Enlightenment ushered in a new age of ideology revolutions and major political changes. All this was spurred on by coffee, but slavery was the foundation it was laid on.
We typically think of the Americas when we think of slavery, but they were not the only ones benefitting from slavery. European nations headed up the Triangular Trade, which shipped manufactured goods to Africa, African slaves to the New World, and raw materials from the New World back to Europe.
The huge profits from this trade systems created an influx of wealth in Europe. Suddenly, way more people had a little extra money, and a middle class emerged. A consumer culture exploded. With their surplus funds, denizens found themselves able to afford some luxuries such as decorations, entertainment – and coffee.
European colonization then provided a system to satiate Europeans’ new craving for coffee. Beans were imported from the Middle East, then planted in the New World. South American and Caribbean growing conditions were ideal for the crop, and plantation owners ramped up production. Slaves furnished the extra labor required. Not only did slaves carry the burden of agricultural coffee production, but their sale supplied the money necessary for others to buy the coffee.
So when you sip your morning java (a dutch trading colony), take a moment to remember the people who paid everything to bring coffee success.
All these crisp photos were downloaded from https://unsplash.com. Their cool website provides high quality images that are copyright free.
Sources:
Lynn Hunt, Thomas Martin, Barbara Rosenwein, Bonnie Smith (eds.). The Making of the West: Peoples & Cultures, Vol. II, 6th ed.
Katharine Lualdi (ed.), Sources of the Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, Vol II, 6th ed.