Colonial commodities: Tea Flashcards
What is in tea?
psychoactive substances (e.g. caffeine)
What is the differences between black tea and green tea?
same plant; black tea is fermented; green tea is unfermented
Where was tea cultivated and consumed before the 18th century?
- tea plant indigenous to China
- in 8th century brought to Japan by Buddhist priests
- remained unique to China and Japan before European trading companies exported it
Why did tea become so popular in Britain?
context of industrial revolution: water dangerous; beer and ail most popular –> advantages of tea: drunk workers get injured more easily; tea with milk and sugar became cheap source of calories for growing working class
Which economic role did tea play for the British empire?
became an important source of revenue (tax)
What is “The Great British Tea Heist”?
- Scottish botanist sent to China by the East India Company to find tea plants and people who know how to handle tea leaves
- several trips in 1840s-1860s
- disguised as Chinese merchant –> to be able to enter the hinterlands and not just the port cities
- had a Chinese assistant
- did fulfill his task; published a book about his “adventures”
Why did tea production start in India?
- East India company figured out that newly integrated region of Assam might be suited for tea production (first half of 19th century)
- wanted to move tea production there to stop relying on buying more expensive tea from China (parallels to other colonial commodities: sugar, coffee etc. )
- started as an experiment in the 1830s; leading global tea exporter by the end of the 19th century
What are some issues the British encountered when first trying to produce tea in India?
- first exports considered disgusting in England
- lack of know-how (much more complicated to cultivate than sugar or coffee) –> Robert Fortune brought experts and laborers from China
- expensive transportation (hilly area); built railways later
- land: dense forest –> burned it down and gave the land almost for free to European plantation owners
- labor: tea is very labor intensive; not densely populated area
Name some aspects about labor on tea plantations
- plantation owners tried to bring Chinese laborers; ended in disaster (getting sick, fleeing, dying)
- hiring laborers from nearby districts –> a lot of them fled
- indentured laborers from different parts of the country
- signed contracts and received advance payments (usually families in financial difficulties; incentive to sell family members)
- a lot of families –> harder to run away as a family
- food shortage (“rice bellies” of children)
- harsh working conditions
- epidemics and diseases
- flogging, confinement
- high mortality rates
- sexual violence
–> indentured labor as a new form of slavery
Describe a typical contract of indentured laborers
- advance payment to family
- contract for specific plantation –> not allowed to switch to another plantation
- specified duration (5-10 years) but practically impossible to get out of
- have to pay back the advance payment plus food and housing at the plantation
- price of food not fixed in the contract; chosen by plantation owner –> debt trap
- not allowed to leave the plantation; had to conform to the rules and laws of the plantation (like a little state)
How did plantation owners view indentured laborers?
- as an investment
- death of workers as loss of investment
- not as humans but commodity
- guards and dogs to hunt down deserters –> rewarded with money/food
Was indentured labor a typical form of agricultural production in India?
- no; most other cash crops in south Asia produced by peasant families being exploited; tea production is a unique example for bringing indentured laborers from somewhere else;
- ended in the early 20th century; high mortality and desertion –> wasn’t profitable anymore for tea production
