Timothy Brooks Vermeers Hat and Sidney Mintzs Sweetness and Power - Book Report/Review Example

Timothy Brook’s ‘Vermeers Hat’ and Sidney Mintz’s ‘Sweetness and Power’ Timothy Brook’s book, ‘Vermeers Hat’ and Sidney Mintz’s ‘Sweetness and Power’ offer elaborate accounts of trade in a number of commodities in the seventeenth century. They give wonderful insights into the production, conduct of the trade in them and the various outstanding roles the commodities played in the societies that traded in them. This paper gives comparisons between the sugar trade according Hat’ to Sidney Mintz’s book, ‘Sweetness and Power’ and Tobacco trade in Timothy Brook’s ‘Vermeer’s Hat’. Stakeholders In the production, distribution and consumption of tobacco, key participants were the citizens of the continents of Europe, Asia and Americas. It specifically involved French, Portuguese, Japanese, Indians Malays, Spaniards Chinese, Africans and Dutch. The product was majorly produced in America making the use of labour from the same [especially South America and Africa]. The major consumers of tobacco were the Chinese and the Europeans. In fact, Brook puts it clearly that the Dutchman crazed for tobacco (Brook 110). From the production sites in Americas, the raw product had its way to the European industries for processing, before transportation for trade in the entire Europe and Asia. This is emphasized by “…Spain had long proclaimed Seville, the tobacco capital of the world, where all tobacco produced for sale in the ‘new Spain’ and the entire Europe had to go through for processing” (Hang 174). The production and trade in sugar also involved Europe to a greater extent, West Indies, Africa and South America [especially the islands of Barbados, Jamaica, Antigua and the Caribbean). Slave labour from West Africa was used for cultivation in the Islands and South America, “…since the Europeans could not stand the climatic conditions and the mosquito-infested swamps of West Indies (Gross 15). The canes from the farms were then destined for the European Industries for processing into sugar. Just like the tobacco case, the major consumption population for sugar remained to be the Europeans and some parts of Asia and Arabian world. Meanings and values The tobacco, in the tobacco trade which was majorly concentrated between Europe and Asia, had varied meanings and value to the key participants. Brook clearly expounds that smoking was not a popular act with the average Chinese citizenry. He explains that smoking in China remained a preserve for the rich in Chinese society and a product of ostentation. In contrast though, smoking was commonplace in Europe and the working class heavily indulged in smoking. Similarly, to the Europeans, the list of values was even elaborate and longer. Sugar had a variety of uses and meaning (Mintz 56). The Europeans used sugar as spice for their table meals. Some used it for medicinal purposes while the rich used for decoration of the sculptures and statues. “The first cup of hot tea drunk by a British worker was a significant historic event because it prefigured the transformation of an entire society, a total remarking of its economic and social basis” (Cooper 5). Earlier before the introduction of sugar and its trade, Europe heavily relied on bees honey to provide the calories required to undertake tasks in the industries. Commodity influence From the tobacco and sugar trade, there arose very many complex interactions by the citizens of different countries that finally brought the world together as a progressively integrated economic unit. The sugar trade for instance resulted into the establishment of huge sugarcane plantations in overseas colonies of West Indies and Americas (Mintz 67). Several other links were established and maintained between Europe and other continents, with the common understanding of trade and peaceful coexistence among nations. Timothy further explains that the majority of women and the castaways in further lands played the roles of front liners and intermediaries of contact between many cultures who were involved in the trade of tobacco. Still on the economic front, the cultivation and trade in sugar impacted immensely on the methods of production and manufacture of products. Earlier on, human labour majorly from the West Africa was deployed to supply the labor force in the large sugar cane plantations in West Indies, South America and even in the islands of Caribbean and Antigua. The same applied with the tobacco plantation farming. In fact, Brook rues laments and seriously rues at the period when radical changes and forced labour were imposed upon people, actions which later elicited violent resistance across many nations and resulted to loss lives and identity to many people (Brook 85). These challenges of resistance later brought about the mechanization of the farming activities and other large scale production undertakings. Culturally, the trade in both sugar and tobacco had tremendous impacts on how people lived and their perspectives of the world. There occurred changes from the way earlier civilizations had interacted during the earlier century, and permanent we observe today between former colonies and their colonial powers. This has resulted in the creation of new interconnected world order. Apart from drawing the continents of Africa, Europe, Asia and Americas into an intricate network of commercial activities, other effect like the sharing and circulation of new ideas, new products and interaction with people of other cultures resulted. Evidence examples of the impacts of such interactions across cultures are the derivation of the Chinese term for tobacco from Japanese (Coney 208). Another aspect of culture is the use of sugar. Mintz explores how the Europeans later came to adore sugar apply it in many uses. He explains that the sugar use in Europe later became a matter of fashion and class, He documents that fashion and imitation became a driving force for the popularity of sugar and its use. Further explanation shows that the protracted culture of eating sweet things in Britain springs from the notions of luxury, cheap calories and the popularity of sugar related commodities. The use of sugar has, however, not elicited such perceptions elsewhere. “..it does not have such far reaching consequences in North America and China” (Bahner 452). The production, distribution, as well as tobacco and sugar consumption also impacted on the loss of identity by many people [especially the labourers who were ferried from place to place to offer labor in the plantations. Some people were ferried out of their home places to foreign lands, never to return home. Coupled with the imperialism and colonialism which later ensued, many Africans became frustrated and even disillusioned workers in foreign lands. The two authors of ‘Vermeer’s Hat’ and ‘Sweetness and Power’ candidly outline the trade in tobacco and sugar respectively, major participants in their production and consumption. The books further give accounts of how the trade in the mentioned products influenced the economic cultural and even the political aspects of the world. Works Cited Bhaner, R. Political Economy canon: a classic that remade anthropology and cultural studies. Viking: 2008. Print Brook, Timothy, Vermeer's Hat the Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World.. London: Profile Books. 2009. Print Carney, G. Reconsidering Sweetness and Power through a gendered lens.2008. Hang, F. Tobacco: the dimensions of trade. Lisbon: 2002. Cooper, L. The food column: World’s Unhealthy Alliance with the ‘Cruelest of Crops’. Wellington: 1996. Mintz, S. Sweetness and Power: The place of sugar in modern history. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1985. Print Read More