Sugar is a relatively new commodity in the history of Western food. Unknown in Europe until the interaction between Arab and European worlds as a result of Muslim conquest and Christian Crusades. At first sugar was extremely rare (King Henry II of England was only able to acquire four pounds at a time—and he was the king!) and expensive. by the 1700's sugar was starting to trickle down into the diet of the upper classes of Europe who quickly developed a taste for sugar. Extravagant decorations were created from sugar to demonstrate wealth. By the 1800's with the increase in sugar production sugar was becoming more common in the middle and poor classes. With the onset of the industrial revolution and tax incentives supported by the British government, sugar became affordable and a major source of calories for the working class.
In social studies, we have been learning about the history of sugar and how it influenced world events. We can look at how people's diets changed over time and use our knowledge of history to think about what might have caused this change. Today, we are going to look at some historical data, graph it, and then think about what we can learn from it.