Slaves Working on a Coffee Plantation
Coffee and Islam
Coffee was important in the Islamic faith. It was a large part of both their secular and their religious lives. Wives were even allowed to divorce their husbands if he failed to keep the family coffee pot full. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Islam began to spread. With the help of Suleiman the Magnificent and the Ottomans, Islam spread through much of Europe. Coffee spread with Islam. However, more people began to drink coffee than the number of people who converted to Islam. By the 18th century, Islam, as well as coffee had spread through all of Europe.
Coffee and The Atlantic Slave Trade
During the Atlantic Slave Trade almost 30,000 slaves were traded
each year. From 1511 to 1886 over 1 million slaves were imported to the
Caribbean to produce coffee as well as sugar. Brazil was also a major
exporter of trade, with much help to the slaves. Brazilian coffee planters owned
as many as 10 slaves each. Almost all the slaves either worked on sugar,
cotton, or coffee plantations. Coffee plantations were isolated, smaller,
and usually in the highlands, so they required fewer slaves than the average
sugar plantations. However, there were a lot of coffee plantations, so a
lot of slaves were required. The coffee plantations were harsh conditions
to slaves and led to occasional uprisings. Haiti produced half of the
world’s coffee. When the slaves in Haiti rebelled and the Haitian
revolution began, coffee production abruptly stopped. After the
revolution, the coffee plantations did not recover and Haiti has not been a
producer of coffee.
Coffee Shops
Coffee shops started to appear in Italy and other countries. Coffee
shops became a place for political meetings and social gatherings.
Voltaire, one of the greatest Enlightenment thinkers, supposedly
drank 50 cups of coffee every day. Coffee shops were a place were
the citizens could gather and talk about politics, or where writers
could read their latest novel. It was a new place of social gathering;
many of the citizens could come together and converse.
17th century French traveller, Jean Chardin about coffee houses:
“People engage in conversation, for it is there that news is communicated
and where those interested in politics criticize the government in all
freedom and without being fearful, since the government does not heed
what the people say. Innocent games... resembling checkers, hopscotch,
and chess, are played. In addition, mollas, dervishes, and poets take turns
telling stories in verse or in prose. The narrations by the mollas and the
dervishes are moral lessons, like our sermons, but it is not considered scandalous
not to pay attention to them.”
The Industrial Revolution
In the 1800’s the new inventions of steamships and railroads made coffee
readily available and mass produced. Coffee was no longer a drink for the elite.
Anyone could access coffee regularly. Coffee was now being produced mainly from
Brazil, but many islands in the Caribbean produced coffee, as well. However, mass
productions of coffee beans were still readily available due to the work of slaves.
Slavery was not abolished in Brazil until 1888.
Coffee was important in the Islamic faith. It was a large part of both their secular and their religious lives. Wives were even allowed to divorce their husbands if he failed to keep the family coffee pot full. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Islam began to spread. With the help of Suleiman the Magnificent and the Ottomans, Islam spread through much of Europe. Coffee spread with Islam. However, more people began to drink coffee than the number of people who converted to Islam. By the 18th century, Islam, as well as coffee had spread through all of Europe.
Coffee and The Atlantic Slave Trade
During the Atlantic Slave Trade almost 30,000 slaves were traded
each year. From 1511 to 1886 over 1 million slaves were imported to the
Caribbean to produce coffee as well as sugar. Brazil was also a major
exporter of trade, with much help to the slaves. Brazilian coffee planters owned
as many as 10 slaves each. Almost all the slaves either worked on sugar,
cotton, or coffee plantations. Coffee plantations were isolated, smaller,
and usually in the highlands, so they required fewer slaves than the average
sugar plantations. However, there were a lot of coffee plantations, so a
lot of slaves were required. The coffee plantations were harsh conditions
to slaves and led to occasional uprisings. Haiti produced half of the
world’s coffee. When the slaves in Haiti rebelled and the Haitian
revolution began, coffee production abruptly stopped. After the
revolution, the coffee plantations did not recover and Haiti has not been a
producer of coffee.
Coffee Shops
Coffee shops started to appear in Italy and other countries. Coffee
shops became a place for political meetings and social gatherings.
Voltaire, one of the greatest Enlightenment thinkers, supposedly
drank 50 cups of coffee every day. Coffee shops were a place were
the citizens could gather and talk about politics, or where writers
could read their latest novel. It was a new place of social gathering;
many of the citizens could come together and converse.
17th century French traveller, Jean Chardin about coffee houses:
“People engage in conversation, for it is there that news is communicated
and where those interested in politics criticize the government in all
freedom and without being fearful, since the government does not heed
what the people say. Innocent games... resembling checkers, hopscotch,
and chess, are played. In addition, mollas, dervishes, and poets take turns
telling stories in verse or in prose. The narrations by the mollas and the
dervishes are moral lessons, like our sermons, but it is not considered scandalous
not to pay attention to them.”
The Industrial Revolution
In the 1800’s the new inventions of steamships and railroads made coffee
readily available and mass produced. Coffee was no longer a drink for the elite.
Anyone could access coffee regularly. Coffee was now being produced mainly from
Brazil, but many islands in the Caribbean produced coffee, as well. However, mass
productions of coffee beans were still readily available due to the work of slaves.
Slavery was not abolished in Brazil until 1888.