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Sugarcane It is a little known fact that the sugars utilized by historic Native Americans came in the form of maple syrup and sugarcane. These two sources of sugar provided a sweet additive to teas, breads, grains, berries, vegetables, and some stews. The use of maple syrup or sugarcane was dependent upon the location of the tribe.
Sugarcane use draws upon thoughts of not only how it was used as a sweetener, but how it was used to enslave both African Americans and Native Americans to harvest it. To plow, plant, and harvest sugarcane was hard work. It is for this reason that African Americans and Native Americans were enslaved to provide the labor. Sugar cane is one of the less recognized cash crops of slavery. Most people focus on cotton as the major slave crop. But sugarcane indeed played a part in making slave holders wealthy. It was in Louisiana that cultivation of sugarcane began. Today, sugar comes from many sources, sugarcane, beets, and chemical composition sweeteners. But, let’s not forget who the initial sugar harvesters were and how wealth was gained from African American and Native American slave labor. Article by CherokeeCloud Written November 6, 2006 |
