Today, spices are abundant and fairly inexpensive, but that has not always been the case. At one time they were used as currency, and spice shipping companies created the stock market by becoming the worlds first publicly traded company! Spices were a driving force in trade and in turn a drove economies, exploration and conflict, and they're why St Augustine and the US are here today.
This map shows some of the worlds spices, which are spread across the globe where they were originally found. Although, we have known about them for thousands of years and they're used around the world, many of them are still sourced from the original locations because they grow in fairly specific climates. For instance, black pepper has been used for over 5000 years and remains the worlds most popular spice, but it has been predominantly sourced from the same place in India, because they have a unique double monsoon that makes pepper thrive. There's a story of a trader who once threatened to steal the pepper plants and the local ruler replied, You can steal the plant, but you cannot take the weather too.
The earliest trade routes traveled overland through the Middle East where middle men wanted their cut of the trade, concealed and exaggerated the exotic sources, and made spices very expensive when they finally made it to markets around the Mediterranean.
Then, as Rome expanded their empire, they took over Egypt and eventually they started to sail around the Middle East, cutting out the middle men, cutting the cost and establishing a monopoly on the spice trade for 1500 years!
As other countries developed they wanted in on the trade as well, and in the 1490's Spain and Portugal began exploring in search of new trade routes. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He sailed west in an effort to get to the spice islands in the east. He ran into a bit of a road block (AKA 'the new world', AKA the Americas), but did all he could to make it seem like he was close to the goal. The islands were called the West Indies, the spices (paprika and all spice) were called pepper, and the people Indians. Since he hadn't made it to the spice islands of present day Indonesia, the Spanish were initially disappointed. Especially when their competitors, the Portuguese and Vasco De Gama, sailed south, around Africa and returned with a shipload of Black Pepper in 1498, cutting the price of Pepper in Lisbon down to a fifth of what it had been before!
Meanwhile the Spanish continued to explore the Americas and soon they were learning about many new spices used by the natives in this 'new world.' Although Columbus called All Spice, Jamaican Pepper, it tasted more like a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, which were all highly sought after 'old world' spices, so that really gave Spain a leg in the spice trade game. In addition, before the chili peppers and paprika were introduced to the rest of the world, mustard and black pepper were the spiciest/hottest spices around.
In addition, the Spanish learned about the 'food of the gods,' cocoa, and the vanilla they sweetened their hot chocolate drink with from the Mayans. Soon, this was the aphrodisiac and desert of rich in Europe. And, since Vanilla grew on one specific orchid, pollinated by one particular bee, it could not be moved anywhere else in the world, so the Spanish had a monopoly on that market.
Eventually, the Dutch wanted in on this trade as well. And, since they weren't going to find a new trade route, in 1602, they decided they'd create a new trading model. First they created a huge trading company: The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) It was the first publicly traded company/corporation, but it was practically it's own country. It had its own flag, Army and Navy, and even minted their own currency. Plus, rather than trading with other nations, they decided they would colonize and control the sources of the spices.
They established monopolies of trade with India, but also took over the spice islands. In addition, they cut down any spice plants outside of their control, and if you were caught trying to take a spice plant, the sentence was death! It was pretty brutal, drove the prices of spices back up and at one point the company was estimated to be worth $7.9 TRILLION in modern terms. However, it's size eventually led to it's downfall, as spices slipped out and competition caused prices to collapse, so did the company. The size and expense of operating the VOC's fleet and land forces across the globe became unsustainable and in 1799 the company was dissolved and all of its land holding became Dutch colonies.
Meanwhile, back in the Americas, not only had the Spanish brought back all these new spices, they also discovered gold and silver. In addition, they established a Pacific fleet that would take all the new world spices, gold and silver, across to the Spanish Philippines, where they would be traded for old world spices, porcelain and silk. All of this trade would be transferred through New Spain (AKA Mexico). Now, it all had to get back to old Spain, and the Spanish also found the way to do that: the Gulf Stream.
This river in the ocean, flows at 3-5 knots, which may not seem fast to us, but when your ships sail at 3-5 knots, you're talking about doubling your speed! This was like the I-95 northbound of the day, and it ripped right up the Florida coast. However, not only did they know about the Gulf Stream, but so did their competitors, and soon pirates (mostly British Privateers) were attacking their spice and treasure fleets off the coast of Florida. Now, they had to defend their trade route, and St Augustine was established in part to do just that. So here we are in St Augustine, because of spices.
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