Sugar is used as a sweetener all over the world. People sugar all sorts of food and drinks to make them taste better. Sugar is often added to tea or coffee and to certain types of pastries. The food industry adds sugar to soft drinks and ice cream.
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate, a substance that gives us energy. However, too much sugar can be harmful. It can cause obesity and tooth decay. People who consume too much sugar can be hyperactive. That is why some people use artificial sweeteners instead of sugar.
Types of sugar
Our sugar is also referred to as sucrose. It is made up of two basic components. Glucose comes from the carbohydrates that we eat. Our body changes them to energy and transports them into the bloodstream. Fructose occurs naturally, especially in fruits, vegetables and honey. When we eat an apple or orange fructose is changed into glucose and goes into our blood.
Lactose, or milk sugar, is found in dairy products. Some adults are not able to digest milk sugar and should not consume dairy products.
How sugar is produced
Sugar can be manufactured from two natural products: sugar cane and sugar beets. About 70% of the world’s 200 million tons of sugar comes from sugar cane.
Sugar beets grow in temperate climates of the world. Sugar is contained the white roots of the beet. These beets are dug out of the ground and brought to a factory, where they are washed and cut. Afterwards they are heated to a juicy mixture. As the juice evaporates sugar crystals start to form. They are separated from the juice and processed further. Raw sugar is brown or yellow. It is chemically bleached to make it white. Then sugar is packaged and sold. The syrup that is eventually left over is called molasses.
Sugar cane is in the stalks of a tall plant that grows in the tropical regions. Brazil, India and China are the world’s largest producers of sugar cane. When the stalks are ripe they are harvested and crushed in a special machine that squeezes out the sugar liquid. The process after that is similar to the way sugar beets are processed.
History of sugar
Sugar has been known for a long time. Early inhabitants of Pacific Island used sugar thousands of years ago. Sugar cane was also grown in ancient India and in other cultures. Sugar reached Europe at the beginning of the Middle Ages. During the Age of Exploration navigators brought sugar to Africa and America, where it was planted in the southern colonies of the United States.
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The Beginnings of Slavery
Slavery is very old. It probably began when soldiers started capturing their enemies in war. Instead of killing them they made them slaves. Slavery was at its first peak in ancient Egypt, Greece and in the Roman Empire.
Egyptian society depended on slavery. In most cases slavers were prisoners of war, criminals and other people who could not pay their debts. The Egyptians bought slaves from neighbouring countries. They shaved their heads so that they could identify them easily.
Slavery in Greece was not as harsh as it was in Egypt. Greek society had different kinds of slaves. Some household slaves and other public workers were able to save the little money that they got and buy themselves freedom. Then they could become full citizens.
Slaves owned by the state were not treated well. They did hard work on farms and roads and were often chained to each other and whipped.
After the Romans had conquered many countries in Europe they took thousands of prisoners as slaves. As in Greece they were divided into private and public slaves. Until about 100 A.D. Roman masters held the power of life and death over their slaves. Some were trained to be gladiatorswho then fought against other gladiators and wild beasts.
By about 150 A.D. laws began to change and the Romans started treating their slaves in a more humane way. Under Constantine I, the first Christian emperor, new laws were passed .
Slavery in the Middle Ages
A new form of slavery called serfdom developed in the Middle Ages. It was like the slavery system of ancient times, however, masters did not own their serfs.
In most cases, serfs worked on the land of their lords. In exchange , they were given protection. Because they were very loyal and fought for their lords in times of war they often got a bit of land from them.
But from about 1400 onwards slavery started to play a bigger role in Europe. At that time Europeans started to get interested in new routes to unexplored lands.
African Slave Trade
In the middle of the 15th century Portuguese navigators started exploring the coast of Africa on their search to find a sea route to India. They brought back thousands of slaves every year and sold them on the slave market. By the end of the century they also sold slaves to Spain.
In 1492 Christopher Columbus founded the first settlement in the New World on an island in the Caribbean Sea. A few years later African slaves were brought from Europe, later on they were imported directly from Africa.
Slave trade to the English colonies in America started in the early 17th century. At first the slaves were free after serving for their masters for 21 years. Later on, Virginia and Maryland passed laws that made Negroes slaves for the rest of their lives. The new law also stated that children who were born to slaves automatically became the property of the white master.
By the beginning of the 18th century slave trade was a big business. The British started what was called Triangular Trade. Factory goods were brought to Africa, slaves were taken to the West Indies, where they were sold to American plantation farmers , and sugar, cotton, rum and tobacco were brought back to Europe.
Slavery in The United States
Although some Americans were against slavery, many of America's famous statesmen of that time - like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. In the northern states slave trade was soon abolished but it continued in the south.
The southern states needed slaves because their economy depended on them. Farmers planted tobacco, cotton, sugar cane and other crops and they made a lot of money with workers who didn't cost them anything.
Most slaves worked on fields and were called field hands. They were the ones who were cruelly treated and lived the hardest lives . Others worked as cooks and maids. Those who were skilled worked as carpenters or masons.
As cotton plantations grew and spread to the west so did slavery. By 1848 slaves could be found as far west as Texas.
As time went on more and more Northerners were against slavery. The Southerners thought that the only way to keep their right to own slaves was to break away from the United States. As more and more southern states seceded from the Union the Civil Warstarted.
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a system of escape for American slaves in the 19th century. But it was not a railroad and it wasn't underground either. It got its name because people who were against slavery secretly helped slaves escape to the Northern states or Canada.
The slaves travelled at night. Both black and white people helped them, they gave them clothes and a place to sleep during the daytime. Secret railroad words were used as codes to help the slaves. Stopping places were called "stations" , different routes were "lines" , the people who helped the slaves were " conductors".
Most of the routes ran through the northern states. Once the slaves were in Canada they were free and could not be sent back again, but some of them didn't make it to the north. They got caught and were returned to the plantations in the south.
A few people became famous for helping many Negroes. Levi Coffin was a Quaker who turned his house into a place where slaves could stay. More than 3,000 slaves passed through. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery and helped other slaves escape.
On January 1, 1863 Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that slaves in the Confederate States of America were free. Two years later the Civil War ended with the North’s victory.
Slavery in Recent Times
In the 1900s other nations took steps to end slavery. After the Second World War, in which millions of people ended up in concentration and labour camps in Germany and the Soviet Union, the United Nations declared that all people had the right to life and liberty.
Today, although slavery doesn't offically exist, millions of people of all races and religions are forced to work for others. They are deprived of all human rights.