Review (Fernand Braudel Center)

Research Foundation of State University of New York

Sugar and the Expansion of the Early Modern World-Economy: Commodity Frontiers, Ecological
Transformation, and Industrialization
Author(s): Jason W. Moore
Source: Review (Fernand Braudel Center), Vol. 23, No. 3 (2000), pp. 409-433
Published by: Research Foundation of State University of New York for and on behalf of the
Fernand Braudel Center
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Sugar and theExpansionof

theEarlyModern World-Economy
Frontiers,
EcologicalTransformation,
Commodity
and Industrialization*

JasonW.Moore
articleattemptsto restoreand operationalizetheconceptof
the frontierforthe studyof worldcapitalistexpansionand its
structural
degradation.World-systendencytowardsenvironmental
temsanalystshavepaid considerableattentionto thewaysin which
theworld-economy
expands.The bulk of thisworkhas been given
over to the studyof long waves,the reorganizationof production
and otherimportant
units,state-formation,
processes.The ecological
dimension,thoughacknowledgedfromtimeto time,has been underemphasized.I willtracethedevelopmentand expansionofsugar
of encane productionand tradein orderto illustratethecentrality
modern
the
of
a
as
vironmentaldynamics
way rethinking early
of
history capitalistexpansion.The historyof sugarproductionand
howtradeis well-known.
Despite theexistenceof a vastliterature,
been
not
has
of
ever,the environmental
giventhe
history sugar
attentionitdeserves,norhas thelinkbetweenecologicaltransformationand the expansionarylogic of worldcapitalism.My goal is to
earlymoderncapitalistexpansionas a
suggestwaysof rethinking
socio-ecologicalprocess.

studies
I am buildingon world-system
WhenI speakoffrontiers,
of "incorporation"(see Hopkinset al., 1987; Wallerstein,1989: ch.
3). The termfrontieris overused. It has rarelybeen employed
usefullyin historicalsocial science.Nonetheless,I thinkit can be
*
Special thanksto EdmundBurkeIII, WalterL. Goldfrank,and Diana Carol Moore
Gildea forcommentson thisarticlein draft.
XXIH,3, 2000, 409-33
REVIEW,

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409

JasonW. Moore

410

withinthe world-systems
paradigm.
reconceptualizedsatisfactorily
has been employedbyhistoricalsocioloThe conceptofthefrontier
gistsengaged in regionalstudies,but has not been theorizedadeas thearea
quately.Thomas D. Hall, forinstance,definesa frontier
"where. . . incorporationoccurs"(Hall, 1989: 24). In her otherwise
brilliantstudyofSouthernAppalachia,Dunaway( 1996a) does much
the same, treatingthe frontiersimplyas a zone of incorporation.
ofthe
theincorporation
does notdistinguish
Thisconceptualization
AmericasfromAsia and Africa,wherestrongstatestructuresimcentupeded fullincorporationuntilthenineteenthand twentieth
on
focused
studies
have
ries.Whereasincorporation
fairlygeneral
within
and
social
transformations
particuworld-systemic
processes
larregions,I wishto drawattentionto thewaysin whichtheproducofspecific
tionand distribution
commodities,and of primaryprodhaverestructured
uctsinparticular,
geographicspace at themargins
in
a
as
to
of thesystem such way
expansion.To this
requirefurther
end, I suggesttheconceptof thecommodity
frontier.
COMMODITY FRONTIERS
derivesfromtheworld-sysThe idea of thecommodityfrontier
which
"refersto a networkof
temsconceptofthecommodity
chain,
labor and productionprocesseswhoseend resultis a finishedcommodity"(Hopkins & Wallerstein,1986). Althoughthe usual apchainsis to beginwiththefinished
proachto thestudyofcommodity
frontier
expansionrequiresa focuson
product,thetaskof tracking
"raw"
materials;a fullanalysiswouldrequirea
unfinished,
relatively
whichis outsidethescope of thisarticle.
subsequentbacktracking,
The pointof commoditychainanalysisis two-fold:
1) to determine
of
the
the boundariesand shifting
world-economy's
configuration
shiftsbetween
to
division
of
and
labor;
2)
analyze
interdependent
time
and
over
core, periphery,
accordingto each
semiperiphery
zone's retentionofsurplusvalue.Whilestateactorsattempttoshape
thesystem'sdivisionoflaborto theiradvantage,theprimaryorganizingmechanismsare commoditychains,whose operationsare by
This approachpermitsan end runaround
definitiontransnational.
traditionalconceptionsof frontierexpansion,which accept the
or imperialsphereas theprimary
unitofanalysisrather
nation-state
as a whole.
thantheworld-economy

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

411

frontiers
in theAmericasThe existenceofmultiplecommodity
fursand
cattle,
timber,
foodstuffs,
cotton,
tobacco,
silver,
sugar,
to
track
not
etc.allows
us, first,
deerskins,fisheries,
onlycapitalist
of
that
the
unevenness
but
also
expansion.This helps
expansion
correcttheimpressionofmanycriticsoftheworld-systems
perspecto
has
assumed
that
the
transition
tive,who rightly
capitalism
argue
formsin different
places, but wronglycontend
radicallydifferent
is
thatworld-systems
analysis incapableof theorizingthisdiversity.
abstractprocesses
Secondly,it providesa wayto linkup relatively
suchas longwaveswithrelatively
specificprocessessuchas commodityproductionand labor relationsin particularplaces.The concept
of the commodityfrontier,
moreover,sheds lighton the waysin
whichplace-specific
commodity
productionshapesand is shapedby
the socio-spatialexpansionof the law of value-ongoingprimitive
accumulation-under whichpeople are forcedto "sell to survive"
(Moore, 1997). Thisapproachpermitsa deeperexaminationofhow
and local ecosystemsinteractto determinethe
theworld-economy
rateof capitalistexpansion.1Thirdly,because commodityfrontiers,
especiallysugar,requirednumerouscapitalinputsunavailableat the
immediatepointofproduction,theconceptprovidesa morespecific
theorizationof the simultaneousdeepeningand wideningof the
system'ssocial divisionof labor. In short,the commodityfrontier
effect"in termsof
givesmeaningto the conceptof the "multiplier
of value. And
the
law
of
reach
the
and
global
spatial expansion
frontiers
were
because the most significant
commodity
fourthly,
based on theexploitationoftheenvironmentsugar,silverand gold
the
othersconceptallowsan explomining,tobacco,grain,among
betweenproductionin one place,and
rationoftheinterrelationships
theexpansionofcapitalistspacein general.I mustadd thatcommodconstitutethefoundationof a broaderworld-historical
ityfrontiers
arena
modeofcapitalist
thefrontier
expansion-theprimary
category21 For the
relationshipbetween long waves and the advance of settlementon the
frontier,see Earle 8c Cao (1993).
2 It is of course truethattherewere
manyinstancesof capitalistexpansion,in the
New World and elsewhere,whichdid not hinge directlyupon commodityproduction.
colonization,Utopiancommunities,etc.,cannotbe
Certainly,religiousmissions,military
chalkedup to commodityproductionin a simpleway.In addition,preemptivecolonization has been an importantfeatureof imperialismsince the sixteenthcentury(Hall,
1989; Dunaway, 1996a). That said, the primaryimpetusfor preemptivecolonization
came fromthecompetitionoverthefruitsof resourceexploitationand profitabletrade

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412

JasonW. Moore

ofwhichwas theAmericas.I willtouchbriefly

on thislatterconcept
in theconclusion.
The frontier
has been such a slipperycategorybecause it refers
to
simultaneously a certainkindof socio-spatialmovementand to a
certainkindof place-thatis, theterm"frontier"
refersboth to the
as
as
to
The two dimenwell
the
"space-of-flows"
"space-of-places."
formulasionsofthefrontier
mode maybe capturedin thefollowing
tion. A frontieris a zone beyondwhichfurtherexpansionis possiblein a

waythatis limitedprimarily
byphysicalgeographyand thecontradictionsofcapitalismratherthantheoppositionofpowerfulworldempires.The frontieris a specifickind of space definedby the
forwardmovementof the (capitalist)system.Furtherexpansionis
possible so long as thereremainsuncommodifiedland, and to a
lesser extent labor, "beyond" the frontier.Where the external
barriersto capitalistexpansioninitially
outweightheinternalonesas in Africaor Asia duringtheearlymodernperiod-we mustspeak
of bordersand not frontiers.
of land
Commodityfrontierswere profoundlytransformative
and labor because theywere oftenhighlyindustrialIn particular,
and silverminingwere among the
sugarproductionand refining,
mostindustrialactivitiesof the earlymodernworld-economy
(see
schoolhas long
Mintz,1985; Bakewell,1987). As theworld-systems
maintained,therehave been numerousphases of industrialization,
and qualitativelythe most importantphase is an open question
1977;Nef,1964).Mostdiscussionsofindus(Hopkins& Wallerstein,
trialization,
however,have neglectedthe role of whatI callfrontier
industrialization.
In the Americasduringthe earlymodernperiod,
the twomostsignificant
generatorsof value were silverand sugar.
Bothwerehighlyindustrialbyanystandardoftheday.Not onlydid
theyrequirefairlyheavycapitalinputs,but in the case of sugar a
and
highlyrationalizedlabor processwas necessary.The extractive
underconditions
characteroffrontier
industrialization
agricultural
ofceaselesscapitalaccumulationmeantthatnotonlywas ecological
exhaustiona factoflifein theseareas,butthatecologicalexhaustion
was a majorimpetusto furthercapitalistexpansionand to the system's cyclicalfluctuations.Ecological exhaustionat the point of

routes. Even religious missionswere sites of commodityproduction(Monroy, 1995;

Sweet, 1991).

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

4 13

destructive
productionwas complementedby an environmentally
massivesoil
multipliereffectwhichled to, interalia, deforestation,
other
effects
in
the case of
and
climate
erosion,siltation,
change,
and thepoisoningofmountainriversin the
sugar,and deforestation
case of silvermining(see below,and formining,Bakewell,1987;
industrialbyemphasizingfrontier
Dunaway,1996b). Furthermore,
ization as a process coterminouswith the consolidationof the
over the "long"sixteenthcentury(1450capitalistworld-economy
1640),I contendthatthecontemporary
globalecologicalcrisisis not
rootedin theso-calledIndustrialRevolutionperse,butin thelogicof
capitalitself-withor withoutSatanicMills.
THE SUGAR FRONTIER
have containedsuch an expansionary
Few commodityfrontiers
transformative
and environmentally
logicas sugar.The production
and sale of cane sugarplayeda centralrole in the developmentof
to thenineteenthcentury.
Justhow
capitalismfromthefourteenth
modern
in
the
was
James
capitalism?
sugarcomplex early
significant
Blaut makes the plausibleclaim thatthe economic significanceof
sugarshouldbe placedalongsideNewWorldsilver."The sugarplantationeconomywas thesinglelargestproductivesectorin ... [early
and byfarthelargest
asidefromfamily
moderncapitalism],
farming,
Furtado1963: 71).
also
1993:
198;
singlegeneratorofvalue"(Blaut,
historitransformative
wassuchan intensively
The sugarfrontier
cal structurebecause sugar monoculturerapidlyexhausted soil
fertility
througha processofhighlyunequal,and veryrapid,ecologiwas theparathesugarfrontier
cal exchange.Fromthisperspective,
the change
rift"
that
characterized
"metabolic
of
the
case
digmatic
relationsonce the transitionto capitalismcomin nature-society
menced.Withthe creationof a worldmarketand a trans-Atlantic
divisionof labor in the sixteenthcentury,the localized ecological
problemsof the feudalera gave wayto the globalizingproblemof
the metabolicriftunder capitalism,wherebythe productsof the
(especiallybut not onlyin theperipheries)flowedinto
countryside
thecities,whichwereunderno obligationto returnthewasteproductsto thepointof production.Nutrientswerepumpedout of one
toanotherin thecore.In
and transferred
ecosystemin theperiphery
mined,untilitsrelativeexhausessence,theland was progressively

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414

JasonW. Moore

tionfetteredprofitability,
whereuponcapitalwas forcedto seekout
freshlands,theincorporationofwhichinaugurateda newphase of
capitalistdevelopmenton a worldscale(Foster,1999;Moore,1999).
This unequal ecological exchangewould become particularly
centuryBritishworkersconsumedsugar
apparentwheneighteenth
even
as
Caribbean
slavesstarved,mostlybecause so little
products
realfoodwas grownon manysugarislandsand foodimportsfluctuated accordingto ecological and economic cycles(Mintz, 1985;
Carrington,1987; Davis,1973: ch. 15). Partof thetaskbeforeus, in
grapplingwiththe complexitiesof the sugarcomplex'secological
ofagricultural
is toappropriatetheinsights
transformations,
ecology
An agroecoframework.
foruse withinan ecologicalworld-systems
of
logical historicalperspectivehelps bringintofocusthe "totality
interdependent
crops,animals,humans,soils,and woodlands,"albetween
for
a
deeper understandingof the interrelations
lowing
and
market
ecological
integration,spatial expansion,
deepening
1989:
Worster,
153,
149-97;
1990).
(Merchant,
degradation
restfrontier
illustrates
thefundamentally
The sugarcommodity
less natureofworldcapitalism.Considerthelong-run
changesin the
of
developed
Capitalist
sugarproduction
geography sugarproduction.
especiallyon
duringthelate medievalperiodin theMediterraneanCrete and Cyprus(Solow, 1987). Duringthe earlystagesof Portuthelocus
century,
gueseexpansionin thesecondhalfofthefifteenth
ofsugarproductionmovedto theAtlanticislands,especiallyMadeira
centuand earlyseventeenth
(Verlinden,1970). In thelate sixteenth
middle
of the
Brazil.
the
shifted
to
coastal
ries,production
By
again,
theCaribbean,especiallyBarbados,becamethe
seventeenth
century,
centerofworldsugarproduction;Cuba andJamaicabecamepreemiAnd bythe
nentbythelateeighteenth
and earlynineteenth
century.
was
latenineteenth
century,
sugarproduction trulyglobalized(Deer,
1949-50; Galloway,1989;Mintz,1985;see Tomich,1990; 1991; 1994
foran exceptionalworld-systems
accountofnineteenth-century
sugar
in
Part
the
of thisrestlessnesscan be exCaribbean).
production
innovations
and changesinlaborsupply.The
plainedbytechnological
which
was
environmental
transformation,
factor,
however,
primary
oftennecessitatedchangesin,especially,
The
technology. ecological
dimensionshouldneverbe abstracted.
Of speSugar productionwas both labor-and capital-intensive.
cial importancewas the centralrole of sugarin creatingcapitalist
slavery.In contrasttowheatbutsimilarto cotton(Earle,1988) sugar

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

415

cane requiredlabor throughoutthe year,whichdiscouragedfree

labor evenifitcould be obtainedcheaply,whichwas rarelythecase
on anyfrontier.
involvindustrial,
Sugarproductionwas profoundly
ing a degree of labor processcoordinationand capitalintensivity
thatwas rarein theearlymodernworld-system
(Mintz,1985). "The
sugarplantationchangedcolonialsocietiesin muchthesame fashion thatthefactory. . . changedEnglishsociety"(Davis, 1973: 215).
In largepart,theindustrialcharacterof sugarproductionwas manmilldatedbytheecologyofsugarcane,whichrequiresthatcutting,
within
48
cane
desiccates
occur
and
hours;sugar
rapidly
boiling
ing,
once itis cut.As a consequence,thelabor processof sugarproduction was highlyrationalizedand time-conscious."This time consciousnesswas dictatedbythenatureofthesugarcane and itsprocbut it permeatedall phases of plantationlife"
essingrequirements,
1985:
51). Sugar productionrequiredboth skilledand un(Mintz,
skilledlabor,providingan earlyglimpseofthecapitalistlaborprocess, includingsuch dynamicsas deskilling."The specializationby
skillandjobs, and the divisionof labor byage, gender,and condiand 'gangs,'together
intocrews,shifts,
tion[oflabor,thatis,slavery]
and
stress
the
with
upon punctuality discipline,are featuresassociat least in the sixated more withindustrythanwithagricultureteenthcentury"(Mintz,1985: 47).
butforpresentpurposesI willstart
Sugarhas a verylonghistory,
with
in thefifteenth
theclockon thecapitalistsugarfrontier
century
islands
into
the
oftheAtlantic
theincorporation
emergentcapitalist
area outside the
The
first
major sugar-producing
world-system.
Mediterraneanwas the island of Madeira, settledby Portuguese
colonistsin the1430's.The developmentofMadeiransugarproducin the
frontier's
tionforeshadowedmuchof thiscommodity
history
arrived
on
this
a
decade
before
settlers
Over
modern
period.
early
uninhabitedisland,theyhad putashorecows,pigs,and sheep.This
practicewould be repeatedin the Azores,the Cape Verdes, and
muchlaterBarbados.Consequently,theisland'secologywas transformedeven beforehumanarrival.This was not alwaysto the settlers'advantage.The attemptedsettlementof nearbyPorto Santo
was hamperedby theaccidentalrelease of rabbitson the islandin
the 1420's. The rabbitsdevouredtheisland'sgroundcover,leading
towindand rainerosion(Curtin,1990: 75;Johnson,1987: 3; Solow,
1987; Verlinden1970). For the moment,Madeira's heavyforest
coverprotectedtheislandfroma similarfate.

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416

JasonW. Moore

Throughouttheearlymodernperiod,sugarproductionalmost
alwaysfolloweda stageofagrariandevelopmentbased on smallholdpracticedwithminimalcapitalinputs.Mostoften,the
ingagriculture
firstsettlersengaged in the cultivationof wheat or othergrains,
oftenin combinationwitha cash crop such as tobacco,whichrequired fewcapitalinputs.In so doing,the initialsettlersprepared
the social as well as environmental
"ground"forsugarcultivation.
We mightcall this(settler)stage of capitalistexpansionthe grain
surplusfrontierratherthana commodityfrontier.On the surplus
settlerswerenot compelledto "sellto survive"bythecapifrontier,
talistmarket.Rather,theypracticeda "subsistence-surplus"
agriculwas to organizethehumanand
function
turewhoseworld-historical
naturalresourcesin preparationfora moreintensivestageof commodityproduction(Moore, 1997). Sugar cultivationtended to be
unsuccessfulin thoselocations-suchas Hispaniolain thesixteenth
whichhad notbeen preparedby a grainsurplusfrontier
centuryfroma grainsur(Mintz,1985; Watts,1987: 103-04). The transition
a
momentof onfrontier
was
to
the
frontier
sugarcommodity
plus
accumulation.In Madeira,thisoccurredunderthe
goingprimitive
weredisplacedin
impetusofGenoese and Flemishcapitalas settlers
favorof sugar plantations,whose annual outputincreasedfrom
about 80 tonsto over 1,000 tonsbetween1456 and 1494 (Diffie&
Winius,1977: 306-07; Schwartz,1985: 8).
fromwheattosugarhad twomajorconsequences,
The transition
whichwould be repeatedmanytimesover the nextfewcenturies.
had to be imported,therebywideningand deepenFirst,foodstuffs
divisionof labor. In the
interdependent
ing the world-economy's
case of Madeira,wheatwas shippedfromtheAzores;in thecase of
theCaribbeanislandsin theseventeenthand eighteenth
centuries,
NorthAmericaand Irelandsuppliedfood (Davis, 1973: chs. 1, 1516; Carrington,1987; Sheridan,1973; Truxes,1988). Secondly,the
shiftto sugarproductionnecessitateda largerunitof production,
The
intotheworld-economy.3
itselfa keyindicatorofincorporation
3"It seems clearthe
abilityto respondis a functionin partof thesize of thedecisionand itsown prospects
A
unit
is more likelyto have an impacton itself
unit.
larger
making
forcapital accumulationby alteringitsproductiondecisionsin lightof whatit believes
to be alteredconditionsin some market.It followsthat,forenterprisesin a zone to begin
to respondin thisway,theymayhave to become larger.The creationofsuchlargerunits
of decision makingmay occur eitherat a site of directproduction(e.g., by creatinga
'plantation')or at a siteofmercantilecollectionof production"(Wallerstein,1989: 130).

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

417

increasein the size of the averagesugar estaterelativeto thatof

grainand tobaccofarmsseemsto havebeen a negativeenvironmentalfactorin itself(Watts,1987: 167). Hence, theisland'sdeepening
was also a
incorporationin the emergentcapitalistworld-system
momentof deepeningenvironmental
degradation.
could
Beforeanysignificant
agriculture
begin,Madeira'sheavy
Mediterranean
forestcoverhad to be cleared.In thetimber-starved
world of the time,timberexportswere highlylucrative(Cipolla,
wasslow,and
1976:229-30; zveren,1994).Butcommercialcutting
land.
The
forests
were
for
starved
settlerswere
burned,and the
of European animals,in additionto intensiveagriculproliferation
that the island's "forestswould never recover"
ensured
ture,
(Crosby,1986: 76).
workshad to be built
Madeira'slowrainfallmeantthatirrigation
an
ifsugarwas to be grown.Building agroecologicalinfrastructure
capable of sustaininga sugarexportsectortooksome time.Twenty
of sugarcaneto the island
yearselapsed betweenthe introduction
and the commencementof sugarexportsin the 1450's (Galloway,
was as globalas it
of thisinfrastructure
1989: 50). The construction
weresupplied
and
Technical
wastransformative.
expertise financing
by the Genoese, Portugalcovered protectioncosts, and African
slaves(importedby theGenoese and Portuguese)performedmost
wereimmense,exactinga high
ofthelabor.The laborrequirements
to
Alfred
human
lives.
in
Crosby,"muchoftheland
According
price
and had to be
of
cultivation
was too steep for normalpractices
of all thetasks,and themostdangerterraced.Mostback-breaking
of
a
vast
and complicatedirrigation
the
creation
was
ous,
systemto
bringwaterfromthe windyand sodden uplands to the cultivated
fieldsfarbelow"(1986: 78; also Watson,1983: 103).
Undertheimpetusofan expandingworldmarketforsugar,the
consolidationof large landholdingsthanksto Genoese financing,
laborprovidedbytheslavetrade,Madeirabecamethe
and sufficient
century
world-economy's
largestsugarproducerbythelatefifteenth
1985:
the
1989:
ch.
Schwartz,
1490's,
however,
4;
8). By
(Galloway,
coincidedwith
theworldsugarmarketwas glutted.Overproduction
This
which
lowered
soil
erosion,
productivity. allowedfor
increasing
a shiftin thecenterofsugarproductionto Brazilbythesecondhalf
of the sixteenthcentury(Duncan, 1972: 31; Galloway,1989: 54;
Novais, 1991: 24-26; Schwartz1985: 9). The locus of production
wouldshiftagain in thenextcenturyto theCaribbeanislands.

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418

JasonW. Moore

The expansion of sugar cultivationwent hand in hand with

monocultural
a primeexampleofcapitalistagriculture's
production,
drive "towardthe radical simplification
of the naturalecological
order"(Worster,1990; also see Haila & Levins,1992: ch. 5). Such
is inherently
Underconditionsofgeneralsimplification
disruptive.
ized commodityproductionand theimperativeof ceaselesscapital
accumulation,monoculturesare especiallyunstableowingto the
pressuresoftheworldmarket.Competitionmeansthat
competitive
ecosystemswhichmightotherwiseregeneratein timeare not allowed to do so. In additionto thesefactors,Europeanagricultural
and plantingsugar
practices,suchas row-style
plantationagriculture
in trenches,exacerbatedproblemsof soil erosiondue to windand
water.Row plantingwould be supplantedbycane-holeagriculture
onlyafterlong experiencewithsoil erosion(Sale, 1990: 165; Watts,
1987: passim,esp. 402-05).
The advance of the sugarfrontierto theAmericasby the midshiftin thescaleand scope of
sixteenth
centurymarkeda qualitative
One
of
theprincipalagentsof this
capitalistecologicaldegradation.
degradationwas theplantation.In no smallpart,itwas theclimateof
the Americas-especiallythe high rainfallthatmade possible this
"The
formof agricultural
discoverythatsugarcould be
enterprise.
madeAmericancane
grownwellin theNewWorldwithoutirrigation
the
of
the
whole
developmentof the
plantations prototype virtually
oftheworld"(Sauer,1981:49-50).
subsequentgrowthofplantations
The sugar market'ssteady(if discontinuous)growth,it bears
repeating,was the drivingforcebehind the massiveexpansionof
Africanslavery,the developmentof the so-calledtriangulartrade,
and thegrowthoftransatlantic
shippingin bulkgoods.These trends
were reinforcedwiththe onset of sugarproductionand exportin
Brazil,wherethesugarcomplexwas the "centralsocial institution"
ofcoloniallifeduringtheseventeenth
(Lockhart& Schwartz,
century
1983: 204; Mintz, 1985: 43-46). By the 1650's, Brazil would be
eclipsedbytheCaribbeanas thecenterofworldsugarproduction.
This was the periodwhensugarconsumptionbecame increasingly
cenwidespreadin theEuropeancore. Bytheend of theeighteenth
a
wide
of
of
a
became
tury
range sugarproducts
something staplein
Englishworkingclasshouseholds(Mintz,1985).
I willdiscusstheecologicaleffectsof thesugarcomplexthematin orderto conveya sense of the
icallyratherthanchronologically,
transformation
scope of environmental
duringthisperiod.

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

419

First,let me summarizecrudelythebasic economicpressuresof

thesugarcomplex.As was (and is) so oftenthecase in themodern
therealmoneyin sugarwas made notbyplantersbut
world-system,
by merchantsand financiers(Blaut, 1993: 191-92; Braudel, 1982:
190-94, 272-78; Deerr,1949-50: II, 291; Edel, 1969). As withmost
in thesugarsector
in theperiphery,
economicactivities
competition
was intense.4Planterswere almost alwaysheavilyindebted and
membershipin the planterclass was highlyunstable(Dunn, 1973;
Lockhart& Schwartz,1983: 207; Sheridan,1973). Such instability
reinforcedthealreadypowerfultendenciesof capitalistplantersto
overexploitland and labor, whichled to decliningproductivity,
everonwardsto virginsoil,whichin
whichdrovethesugarfrontier
of
fresh
turnrequired
supplies capitaland labor. A viciouscircle
indeed! Americanplanterswere yoked to an "internationaldebt
ofearlymoderneasternEurope(Wallerstein,
peonage"reminiscent
of
beneficiaries
1979:41). Financiers,notplanters,weretheprimary
of
this
these
Not
thesugarfrontier
coincidentally,
agents
complex.
peonage in successivehistoricalepochswerebased in therespective
London.
centersofworldfinance-Genoa, Amsterdam,
How did EuropeancolonistsapproachtheNew World?Richard
Pares (1960: 20) sumsup theinitialapproachin termsof immense
of
waste:"The pioneerspresumedupon the inexhaustiblefertility
resources
of
cattle,turtles,and birds,and upon the immeasurable
theforests:indeed,theyseem to have gone berserkin thepresence
ofso muchediblewildlifeand a continentcoveredwithfirewood.In
time,thiswastewenttoo far"(1960: 20).
ImmanuelWallersteinhas noted thatsugar,likewood, was the
"continuing'growth'crop" of the earlymodern world-economy
(1980: 161-62). The parallelis appropriate.RecallthatEurope "was
a civilizationliterallymade of wood" (Sale, 1990: 84). European
states and capitalistshad access to wood fuel resources which
in the Middle East and China (Sale,
dwarfedtheircontemporaries
lifebloodof theEuropeancore,and
the
1990: 84-85). Forestswere
theywere the lifebloodof the sugarcomplex.Not onlywas forest
but wood was necesclearancea preconditionof sugarcultivation,
4
to monopolizethehighprofitmonopa[C]ore zones . . . have tended,bydefinition,
olies while the peripheralzones housed productionprocesses operatingwithintruly
activities"(Hopkins &
competitivemarketsand hence characterizedby trulylow-profit
Wallerstein,1996: 4).

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420

JasonW. Moore

sary for the immensefuel needs of the boiling furnaceswhich

turnedrawcanejuice intosemirefined
sugar.Timberwas needed to
constructhousing,sheds,and otherbuildings.It was needed bythe
who made thefurnaces,boilers,and toolsneeded to
metalworkers
the
process
sugarcane. It was needed to constructhogsheadsand
otherlarge barrelsforshipment.And of course,it was needed to
thesugarto market.
build theshipsthattransported
The steadyforwardmarchofsugarcultivation
destroyedforests
in areas adjacentto thecane fields,ofcourse.Sugaralso consumed
distantforests.It is impossibleto knowtheextenttowhichthesugar
frontierwas responsibleforthe 260 millioncords of wood which
werecutin New Englandalone between1630 and 1800 (Sale, 1990:
291). While most wood was cut for fuel,sugar's share of wood
productexportswas substantial.NorthAmericanforestswere cut
and fuelpurposes,butthesewerenot
forshipbuilding,
construction,
Forests
activitieswhichled to deforestation.
the onlysugar-related
were cleared to prepare the land on whichwheatwas grownand
amounts
livestockforaged,bothofwhichwereshippedinsubstantial
to the West Indies (Cronon, 1983: ch. 6; Merchant,1989; Silver,
1990: 117-18; Williams,1989).
was evidentfromthe
The linkbetweensugarand deforestation
verybeginningof sugarcultivationin theNew World.On Hispaniola, the firsteffortsat sugarplantingbegan in 1505, and by the
1530's therewere 34 mills(Mintz,1985: 33-34). By the end of the
"theexhaustionofwood supplybecamea serious
sixteenthcentury,
problem" on the island (Sauer, 1981: 352). Barbados, originally
deforestedin the
wasvirtually
coveredwith"densetropicalforests,"
in the 1630's. By the 1660's, some
30 yearsafterinitialsettlement
fifteen
yearsafterthefirstsugarexports,"Barbadoshad less woodwerecomplaining
ofEngland [CJolonists
land thanmostdistricts
of a timbershortage"(Dunn, 1973: 26-27, 67). Barbados colonists
evenattemptedto annexnearbySt. Lucia "inorderto gainaccess to
a new supplyof timber"(Silver,1992: 117). In Antigua,"theearly
planterscleared the acacia and logwood foreststhatcoveredthe
interiorof theislandand convertedit to cane fields"(Dunn, 1973:
34). Between 1690 and 1751, the forestswhichhad once covered
vanished(Watts,1987:434-35).
ofAntiguahad practically
two-thirds
fromsoilexhaustion
St. Kitts,Nevis,and Montserrat
beganto suffer
of sugarmonoculturein the 1750's,
shortlyafterthe introduction
not be feltuntilthesugarboom of
the
full
would
impact
although

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

42 1

the 1820's (Tomich,1990: 140). In FrenchMartiniqueand Guadeloupe, soil exhaustion"beganto showitselfseriouslyin the 1730's"
(Davis, 1973: 253-54). In Jamaica,"the most fertileland . . . was
heavilyforested. . . and ittookthecolonistsmanylongyearsto clear
and plantthesewoodlands"(Dunn, 1973: 167). Earlier,on thesugar
islandof So Tome offtheWestAfricancoast duringthesixteenth
"so quicklywas theforestcutback in theexpansionof the
century,
centurythe entirelittoral
sugarindustrythatby the mid-sixteenth
. . . had been cleared of naturalcoverand turnedinto cane-fields"
(Garfield,1992: 82).
oftenmeantsettingfireto
Clearingforestsforsugarcultivation
the forest,whichdid more than kill trees.Forest clearance also
meantthevirtualeradicationof theanimalswholivedin theforest.
On St. Kitts,feral hogs (leftby earlierSpanish visitors),"native
ground animals,"monkeys,and turtleswere subjectto "totalreled to the
moval"(Watts,1987: 166). On Barbados,deforestation
extinctionof numerousspeciesof floraand fauna,especiallybirds,
"the scarcityof [which]. . . has continuedthroughto the present
ofbirds
day"(Watts,1987: 219-20). In New England,theextinction
offorestsoils;we can assumethat
resultedin a declinein thefertility
similarimpactswerefeltin theCaribbean(Merchant,1989: 36). At
thesame timeas theecologicalbases ofindigenousfloraand fauna
were being undermined,new species were being introducedin a
classicinstanceofso-called"ecologicalimperialism"
(Crosby,1986).
ofBarbados'floraand faunaare notindigeTodaynearlytwo-thirds
nous (Watts,1987).
Forestswere also destroyedin the numerousinterimperialist
oftheperiod.DuringtheSecond DutchWar(1666-67), the
conflicts
Frenchput to the torchthose partsof St. Kittscontrolledby the
English;"at roughlythesame time,Frenchsailorsburntthewhole
islandofSt. Croix"(Watts,1987). Cane fields,notto mentionsettlements and towns,were routinelyburned duringthese conflicts
(Watts, 1987: 240-58, 394). The ecological impacts of warfare,
thougha farcryfromtheliteralscorchedearthpracticesofthepresentday(witnessthe 1991 PersianGulfWar or the 1999 U.S. airwar
againstSerbia),remainlargelyunexploredduringthisperioU.
Animals,especiallywildhogs,were eliminatedby imperialauthoritiesforsocial and politicalreasons.Sometimeswildhogswere
simplya nuisance.For example,whenBarbadoswas firstsettledin
the late 1620's, theisland"wasalmostoverrunby"feralhogs,who

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JasonW. Moore

were systematically
exterminated
withina fewyears(Watts,1987:
156). In othercases, imperialauthoritiesattemptedto destroythe
cattleand hogs on variousislandsforpoliticalends. Spanishforces
"slaughteredthe herds on which[the buccaneers]preyed"on St.
Domingue."The Englishauthoritiessentforbuccaneersto killthe
cattle[onJamaica],in orderto destroytheresourcesof theSpanish
resistancemovement"(Pares, 1960: 20).
The fuelrequirements
of thefurnacesthatboiled thecanejuice
were immense."Anyattemptat sugarproductionwithouta ready
stockpileof forestedland would not succeed no matterhow favorfactorssuch as climateand soil" (Miller,
able otherenvironmental
1997: 137). As earlyas thefifteenth
century,
sugarimportersbegan
to build refineriesin northernEurope because fuel supplieswere
available nearby (Galloway,1989: 36).5 In Brazil, firewoodwas
second onlyto slavesas thelargestitemin themillowner'sbudget,
consumingby the eighteenthcenturysome 12-21% of operating
costs (Schwartz,1987: 93; Barrosde Castro, 1977: 9). Risingfuel
to a largenumberofplancostsalong withsoil erosioncontributed
tationfailuresin thisperiod,whichin any eventwas a period of
declineofBraziliansugarexports(Edel, 1969:42). Duringthesevenlaborof
a largeBahianengenho
teenthcentury,
requiredthefull-time
eightslavesjust to gatherfirewood.Each slave's dailyquota was
1,600poundsoffirewood.Duringtheharvestseason,
approximately
in theregionconsumedsome twelveto thirteen
everylargeengenho
thousandpoundsoffirewoodon a dailybasis(Schwartz,1985: 141).
In termsofland requirements,
one and a halfto twoacresofforest
were needed to process a single acre of sugar cane. It is hardly
in theBahian
thattherewas "considerabledeforestation"
surprising
Reconcavo by the mid-seventeenth
century(Schwartz,1985: 302;
Miller,1997). Barbadoshad so exhaustednativesourcesoffuelthat
by 1667 (sugarproductionbegan in earnestonlyin 1643-46) planters were forcedto importcoal fromEngland.Barbadianplanters
were also importinglarge amountsof timberfromBritishNorth
Americaforconstruction
purposes(Deerr, 1949-50: 1, 166; Watts,
5
Probablymore importantthanthe proximityof fuelsources,as Galloway(1989)
notes,was thatrefiningsugarcloserto marketin northernEuropean allowedmerchants
to avoid the risksassociated withtransport,duringwhichmuch sugar arrivedin port
water-damaged.The risksinvolvedin refiningand marketingin Europe were considerablyless thanthose associated withcultivationand transport.

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

423

1987: 173, 186, 206, 397-98). In Mexico duringthe sixteenthcentury,"thefuelneeds of Spanishenterprises,

particularly
sugar. . . ,
the
Indians'
of
supply firewood"(Frank,
seriouslyencroachedupon
1979: 33). At the same time,in a dynamicthatcontinuestoday,
of themostfertileagricultural
land- in part
Spanishexpropriation
forsugarcultivation,
especiallyaroundCuernavaca-pushedindigenouspeoplesontomarginalforestsoils,whichwerequicklydepleted
(Frank,1979: 33-35).
sourceoffuel,
foundan alternative
Althoughplanterseventually
and
cane
stalks)
employingthe more effiby usingbagasse(milled
cientJamaica trainfurnace-necessitatedby the deforestationof
Caribbeansugarislands-timberwas alwaysthefirstchoiceforfuel.
Throughouttheearlymodernperiod,however,bagassewas useless
as a fuelsourcebecause the sugarmills'crushingrollerswere too
light,leavingthe cane stalksdamp (Sauer, 1981: 352). It was only
exhaustionthat
when faced withthe pressuresof environmental
environment.
the
natural
use
of
"efficient"
more
made
planters
overbagasse.
wood
Whereforestswereplentiful,
planterspreferred
Plantersin Cuba used wood as the primaryfuel source in many
in northeastBraziluntilthe
areas untilthemid-nineteenth
century,
and in Peru cane stalkswereseldomused
earlynineteenthcentury,
ofthe"LouisianaNumber1" millin theearly
untiltheintroduction
1870's (Moreno Fraginals,1976: 38-39; Galloway,1989: 97-99;
Knight,1972: 29-30). Moreover,notonlydid thefuelrequirements
butwood burningitself"resulted
ofthesugarsectordepleteforests,
in the transferof manyvegetativestorednutrientsawayfromthe
immediateenvironment
[and] into the atmosphere,"therebycripcapacityof thelocal ecosystem(Watts,1987:
plingthereproductive
166-67).
Once the forestswere gone, soils became highlyvulnerableto
resilientin
erosionfromwindand rain.The sugarcaneitselfis fairly
severe weather.The soil in which it grows is not so lucky. In
Barbados,
seventeenth-century
Riversbeganto siltup and in some cases wentcompletely
dry,
estuarinehabitatswere destroyedby siltationand estuarine
animalsdisappeared;and withtheloss ofthedense treecover
and thusthewholeclimate,of thearea
thewholehydrology,
was slowlyaltered,at considerablecostto bothland and water
species(Sale, 1990: 165).

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JasonW. Moore

In Barbados,erosionfromnearbycane fieldsbegan to clog Bridgetown harbor in the early 1660's, afterjust two decades of sugar
cultivation(Watts,1987: 222). By the end of the seventeenthcentury,Barbadian planters"complainedendlesslyof decliningcrop
yields,insectand verminplagues,drought,barrensoil, and rising
costs"(Dunn, 1973: 203-04). By 1685,yieldson manysugarestates
had declinedbyas muchas one-half(Watts,1987:397). Suchexhaustionplayeda keyrole in the eighteenth-century
shiftof sugarproduction fromBarbados to the largerislands of Jamaica and St.
land to be able to abandon overDomingue,which"had sufficient
workedsugarplantationsand replanton virginsoil" (Davis, 1973:
254; also Dunn, 1973: 205; Ponting,1991: 206).
in depletingthe soil,requiredevergreater
The sugarfrontier,
of
fertilizer
and
labor.
The challengeofdecliningsoilproducinputs
was met,in part,bybringingin moreanimalsto supplyfertiltivity
led to more deforestation
which
forpasturage,whichresulted
izer,
in yetmore soil erosion.In sixteenth-century
Brazil,the booming
sector
the
to
provided
impetus large-scalecattleranching,
sugar
wherecattlewereinitially
used as a powersourceforthesugarmills
1973: 167-68). In
(Crosby,1972:90; Furtado,1963:58-66; Schwartz,
the
of
animal fertilizer
cost
Barbados,
mid-seventeenth-century
increasedto thepointwheresmallholderswho did not growsugar
began to raise livestocknot as a source of meat or hides,but as a
source of manure(Watts,1987: 222-23; Batie 1991: 50). The existence of a large animal population-especiallyhorses,the power
sourceformanysugarmillsat thetime-provideda favorabledisease
climate.In 1655-56 "a virulent
epidemicalmostdestroyedthehorse
in
threw
Barbados"
(Watts,1987: 193).Thisdevelopment
population
the sugarmillsinto crisis,and induced a shiftto wind-power.
We
shouldnote thatthe shiftto wind-power
was possibleonlybecause
the island had been so thoroughly
deforested(Watts,1987: 193,
198).
As soil fertility
declined,more labor was required-and slaves
were the mostcostlypartof the productionprocess(Dunn, 1973:
theecosocial
197; Schwartz,1987: 93). Seen fromthisperspective,
of
the
frontier
an
of
excellent
illustration
dynamics
sugar
provide
how "capitalistproduction. . . onlydevelopsthetechniquesand the
degreeof combinationofthesocialprocessofproductionbysimultaneouslyunderminingthe originalsourcesof all wealth-the soil
and the worker"(Marx, 1977: 638). When the planterpurchased

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

425

moreslavesto compensatefordecliningyields,thepressuresto exintensified.

In Brazil,as
ploitthesoiland theslaveswereaccordingly
"an
to
lose
between5 and 10
expected
earlyas the 1580's,
engheno
percentof itsslaves"(Lockhart& Schwartz,1983: 206). Duringthe
eighteenthcentury,slave importsto Brazil quadrupled over the
despitestagnating
sugarproduction(Smith,1991:
previouscentury,
seventeenth
the
late
35). During
century,slavesin Barbados were
had
soilthat
washedto thebottomofcultivated
puttoworkcarrying
hillsidesback to the cane fields(Watts,1987: 297). Decliningsoil
also meantthat"ratoon"crops,wherethecane rootis leftin
fertility
thegroundto producea secondcane,produceddiminishing
yields.
By the end of the eighteenthcenturyin Barbados,"no planterratooned more thanone year Since ratooning. . . cost much less
labour thanplantingnew canes, we can see thatin the course of
increasedtheplanters'labour
yearstheexhaustionofthesoilgreatly
costs"(Pares, 1960: 42). ThroughouttheWestIndies theimpactof
soil exhaustionon labor costscould be seen:
Everydecade ittookmoreslavesto producethesame amount
was adof sugarfromthesame acreage,or,wherecultivation
vanced or outputincreased,it was onlydone at the cost of
heavyadditionallabour.Thus,thoughbetween1720and 1755
theslavepopulationand thesugarofAntigua,St. Kitts,Nevis
bothincreasedby 100 per cent,thiswas only
and Montserrat
possible because of the rapid exploitationof the former
Frenchlands on St Kitts-theoutputofNevisand Montserrat
remainedstagnant.Between1710 and 1773,in Barbados,the
slavepopulationrose byabout 30 per cent. . . and theoutput
of sugarwentdownbymorethan20 per cent.In none of the
coloniesnamedcan we suppose thatplanterswereturningto
othercrops-theystillproducedsugar,butwithmoredifficulty
betweencapital(Pares, 1960: 41; forthegeneralrelationship
ism, ecology,and labor, see Marx, 1977: 648-49; also see
Moore,forthcoming).
And finally,
sugarproductioneffectedclimatechange.Cristobal
Colon, writingin the earlysixteenthcentury,noted that "in the
Canary,Madeira,and Azore Islands. . . sincetheremovalof forests
thatonce coveredthoseislands,theydo nothave so muchmistand
rainas before"(quoted in Crosby,1986: 96-97). In additionto deforestation,
ecologistsYrjo Haila and RichardLevinssuggesttwo

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426

JasonW. Moore

regions.
processes whichmightaffectclimatein sugar-producing
I
relevant
in
but
think
Cuba
the
nineteenth
about
century,
Writing
to the Caribbean sugar islandsin the earlymodernperiod, they
observethat
The burningofsugarcane beforetheharvestputso muchash
intotheCuban atmospherethatitprovokedincreasedrainfall
withthe
just whenthiswasleastdesirablebecause itinterfered
transportof the cut cane to the mills [It is possible] that
Cuba had a partlycontinentalclimatebecause the shallow,
muddywatersalong the northcoast behave like land with
respectto the sunlight.Thereforeerosioncan contributeto
theheatingof theearth(Haila & Levins,1992: 153).
Nor were the effectsof sugar productionlimitedto the tropical
areas in whichsugarwas grown.In 1614,forexample,Amsterdam
banned the "use of coal in the [sugar]refineries"because of air
pollution(Braudel, 1982: 193). In New England,forestclearance,
whichresultedpartlyfromthe demandsof sugar-linked
shipbuildalteredtheregionalclimatebytheend of theeighing,significantly
contributedto
teenthcentury.Amongotherthings,deforestation
theincreasedfrequencyof floodingand forestfires,thedryingout
moresevere,and reduced
of soilswhichmade seasonalfluctuations
streamflows(Merchant,1989: 236; Cronon,1983: 122-26).
Justas the sugar complexenslavedworkersand degradedthe
land,so itenslaved(peripheral)regionsbydeepeningtheirdependexwas about unequal ecological
encyon thecore. Peripheralization
Marx'scomment
changeas muchas itwas aboutsurplusextraction.
on therelationshipbetweenIrelandand Englandin theeighteenth
centuryapplies equallywell to the relationshipbetweenBarbados
and Englandin theearlymodernperiod:"Irelandis at presentmereofEnglandwhichhappensto be dividedby
district
lyan agricultural
notes
a widestretchofwater"(1977: 860). SidneyMintzperceptively
thattheexpansionofsugarproductionand thegrowthof slaveryin
the BritishWestIndies tookplace at thesame momentas England
ofan industrial
was experiencingtheformation
wage-laborproletariat (1986: 43-44; also 1978). This is preciselythe world-historical
process Marxcommentedupon in thefirstvolumeof Capital:"the
in Europe needed theunqualiveiled slaveryof thewage-labourers
fiedslaveryof theNew Worldas itspedestal"(1977: 925).

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

427

A world-historical
ecologyofthesugarcomplex-one thatwould
betweendeforestation
and soilerosionin
the
interconnections
study
caused
air
theNew World, pollution
bysugar-refining
plantsin core
areas such as Amsterdam,theimpactof increasedsugarconsumptionon thehealthof consumersand theformationof an industrial
therole of sugaras a sourceof cheap caloriesforworkproletariat,
ersin core zones suchas England,theecologicaldegradationresulting fromthe massiveimportationand breedingof livestockin the
NewWorld,thehumanecologyofslaveryand workplacehealthand
dialecticof
safety,and manyother elementsof a world-systemic
I have triedto drawout in
ecosocial change-remainsto be written.
broad strokessome of the most conspicuousdimensionsof the
and to linkthesetranssugarcomplex'secologicaltransformations
formationswith capital's imperativeof ceaseless geographical
expansion.
CONCLUSION
The sugar commodityfrontierwas a vanguardsectorof early
moderncapitalistspatialexpansionfortwomainreasons.First,the
theearlymodsteadygrowthof theworldsugarmarketthroughout
was overcultivation
ern period meant that existingland under
exploitedand thatnewlandswerealwaysneeded,partlyto replace
worn-out
lands,partlyto expandproduction.Secondly,and in some
the sugar frontierset into motiona vast
waysmore significantly,
to cattle-ranching
fromslave-trading
of
economic
activities,
complex
to shipbuildingto foodstuff
importantare
agriculture.Particularly
called fortha complexof comthewaysin whichthesugarfrontier
to marketin
the
Americas,leadingsimultaneously
modityfrontiers
In NorthAmerica,forinstance,the
wideningand market-deepening.
to feed
Caribbeansugarcomplexpushedforwarda timberfrontier
and to exporttimberto the sugar
a growingshipbuildingindustry
and otherpurposes;itfueleda cattle-ranchislandsforconstruction
theemergence
ingfrontierin thesouthernstates;and it facilitated
wheatagriculturein theVirginiaand Maryland
of export-oriented
a fewexamples.
name
but
to
colonies,
The definingecologicalfeatureof capitalistagricultureis "the
of the natural ecological order" (Worster,
radical simplification

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428

JasonW. Moore

is unsus1990: 1101).6In anyone place,such radicalsimplification

tainableoverthemediumrunof50 to 75 years.Eitheroverexploitarenderscropsvulnerable
tionleads to exhaustion,or simplification
As
and profitability.
to disease,bothleadingto fallingproductivity
inner
KarlPolanyi(1957) arguedsomefifty
logic
yearsago, capital's
is to commoditytheland and laborthatprovidesthefoundationfor
thehumanand natucontinuedaccumulation,
thereby
undermining
ral foundationsof the system.Sugar illustratesthisdynamic.Deland,sugarplantersunder
pendingon suppliesof uncommodified
and as a conforced
to
were
market
commodity
pressures
capitalist
the
stage for further
sequence to degrade the land, thus setting
in
frontiers
productcommodity
expansion.The complexofprimary
in responseto sugarand sometimes
theAmericas,oftenoriginating
silverwere caughtup in the same, if sometimesless conspicuous,
dynamics.
frontier
shouldbe situatedwithin
The conceptofthecommodity
a broader typologyof capitalistspatial expansion.The capitalist
Ceaseless spatialexpanis inherently
expansionary.
world-economy
sion is theproductofa systembased on ceaselesscapitalaccumulation.Duringtheearlymodernperiod,thereweretwomodalitiesof
and trade-based;the
spatial expansion:one largelyredistributive
based on theorganizationof comotheressentiallytransformative,
first
mode
of spatialexpansionwas thatof
The
modityproduction.
a "tradingpost" imperialism,whichoperated in Africaand Asia
(Curtin,1984; Pearson,1987).
mode.
The second mode of spatialexpansionI call thefrontier
arenaofwhichwas the
The frontier
mode ofexpansion,theprimary
because
it
was
was
distinctive
Americas,
ecologicallyand sociologito a degree impossibleelsewherein theworld,
callytransformative
even in mostof Europe. In theAmericas,capitalistsand theirstate
agencieshad a kindof "cleanslate"advantage.The forcesthatlimin theNew World,
itedexpansionelsewherewerenot so important
suchas industrialization
and itwas here thatsocial transformations
could be seen firstin some of theirmost advanced forms.The
mode was not the childof capitalismbut a conditionof its
frontier
birthand consolidation."The Americaswerenotincorporatedinto
6 1 am aware thatWorster'sinvocationof "thenatural
ecologicalorder"is problematic. However,to plunge into thatdebate would lead us too farafield.

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

429

There could not have

an alreadyexistingcapitalistworld-economy.
withouttheAmericas"(Quijano &
been a capitalistworld-economy
Wallerstein,1992:549). In short,withouttheAmericastherewas no
capitalism;withoutcapitalism,therewereno Americas.
The case of the sugarcommodityfrontierservesto clarifyand
specifythe waysthatcapitalistspecialization,under conditionsof
productionand theimperative
generalizedcommodity
increasingly
localecosystems.
Local
destabilizes
ceaseless
of
capitalaccumulation,
ecosystemswhichmightotherwisehave regeneratedin timewere
notallowedto do so. Destabilizationin turnled to fallingproductivand thencethe renewedsearchforfreshland,
ityand profitability
oftenfoundoutsidetheexistingboundariesof thecapitalistworldeconomy.
momentof thetransition
was a fundamental
The sugarfrontier
to capitalismduringthe "long"sixteenthcentury.It was theclassic
instanceofcapitalism's"metabolicrift,"
wherebythenutrient
cycling
betweentownand countryis progressively
disrupted,leading to
and
in
ecologicalexhaustion thecountryside worsening"pollution"
in the cities.All complexhistoricalsystemsto some degree have
been afflicted
by a metabolicrift.But it is capitalismthathas widened thisriftas neverbefore,as partand parcelof thehistorically
unprecedentedpolarizationbetweencore and periphery.
of the
As thecase ofthesugarfrontier
suggests,thesignificance
metabolicriftin the historyof the world-economy's
geographical
expansioncan hardlybe overstated.The openingof theworld-scale
metabolicriftin the sixteenthcenturymeantthatcapitalcould not
to borrowa phrasefromecology.
surviveas a "closedcyclesystem,"
Whereasclosed cyclesystems"continuously
recycletheirownnutrients,"capitalismis a "flowsystem"thatis "dependent] upon an
externalnutrientsupplythat. . . [it] cannot . . . produce" (FischerKowalski& Haberl,1993:416). Capitalism'sdependenceon external
resourcesrisesovertime,as itrequireseverlargerenergyinputsin
order to reproduce itself.As a result,the systemexperiencesa
geometricallyincreasing"energydensity"7that today is fast apshareof the
proachingnaturallimits,as capitalhogs an ever-larger
world's energyfor itself,leaving an ever-smallershare for the
7

by
"Energydensitymeans the amountof energytakenin and being transformed
8cHaberl, 1993:
the systemper calculationunit(space or organism)"(Fischer-Kowalski
416).

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430

JasonW. Moore

& Haberl,
planet's other(nonhuman)residents(Fischer-Kowalski
1993: 416-17). As long as capitalismdid not encompasstheentire
globe, these naturallimitscould be overcomeby geographicalexpansionand to a lesserextentbya shiftto capital-intensive
agriculof the latterultimately
ture,althoughthe possibility
depended on
thesuccessof thelatter.
Fromthisperspective,Rosa Luxemburg'sinsightson theindisenvironment"
(1970: 417)
pensable functionof the "non-capitalist
and
forcapitalaccumulation, theformer'sgradualpenetrationand
destructionby capital and imperialstates,can be applied to the
historical
relationbetweencapitaland nature.8"Theaccumulationof
betweencapitalisteconomyand those
capitalis a kindofmetabolism
methods
of
pre-capitalist
productionwithoutwhichit cannotgo on
and which,in thislight,it corrodesand assimilates"(Luxemburg,
1970: 416, emphasisadded). The same argumentthatLuxemburg
applied to noncapitalistsocial organizationscan be applied to
ecosystemshithertobeyondthedirectreachof capital.In thisway,
theimperative
ofcapitalistspatialexpansion-one ofthefewimperativesactuallygraspedby contemporariesin the earlymodernera
1977)- can be seen to containa profoundly
(Hopkins& Wallerstein,
dimension.
Indeed,as thisstudyofthesugarfrontier
ecological
sugbe
said
to
have
been
the
primary
gests,ecologicaldegradationmay
forcebehindthecyclicalgeographicalexpansionoftheworld-econ8Like
Marx,Luxemburgdid not facedirectlytheissueof formidableecologicalbarriersto expanded accumulation.Nevertheless,considerher observationon the importance of naturalresources:
Thus, if [the advanced capitalistnations]were dependent exclusivelyon elementsof productionobtainablewithsuch narrowlimits,itspresentlevel and
indeed itsdevelopmentin generalwould have been impossible.From thevery
beginning,the formsand laws of capitalistproductionaim to comprise the
entireglobe as a store of productiveforces.Capital,impelledto appropriate
productiveforces for purposes of exploitation,ransacksthe whole globe, it
procuresitsmeans of productionformall cornersof the earth,seizingthem,
ifnecessarybyforce,fromall levelsof civilizationand fromall formsofsociety.
The problemofthematerialelementsofcapitalistaccumulation,farfrombeing
solvedbythematerialformof the surplusvalue thathas been produced,takes
on quite a differentaspect. It becomes necessaryforcapital progressively
to
dispose ever more fullyof thewhole globe, to acquire an unlimitedchoice of
means of production,withregardto both qualityand quantity,so as to find
The processof
productiveemploymentforthesurplusvalue ithas realised
accumulation,elasticand spasmodicas it is, requiresinevitablyfreeaccess to
ever new areas of raw materialsin case of need, both when importsfromold
sourcesfailor whensocial demandsuddenlyincreases(Luxemburg,1970: 358).

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY

43 1

to thenineteenthcentury,
whenthe entire
omyfromthefifteenth
drawn
into
orbit.
was
reached
itsglobal
finally
capital's
Having
globe
for
the
future
of
the
limits,theimplications
capitalistworld-system
are onlyall too clear.

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