Editing Sugar

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'''Sugar''' refers to a type of sweet-tasting carbohydrate, which can exist in various forms at the molecular level. Sugar is made by plants though photosynthesis and is commonly used by humans in various foods and beverages in addition to being naturally present in many foods. Plants with high sugar yields such as [[sugarcane]] and [[beets]] are grown as [[crops]] from which sugar is extracted.<ref>[https://www.sugar.org/sugar/what-is-sugar "What is Sugar?"] The Sugar Association.</ref> The production of sugar as a [[commodity]] has played a major role in world history and has been intertwined with [[colonialism]] and [[slavery]].<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Seamus Higgins|newspaper=The Conversation|title=A brief history of sugar|date=2026-01-26|url=https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-sugar-266189}}</ref> The development of the [[plantation]] system of agriculture can also be traced to sugar cultivation.<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|author=James Hancock|newspaper=World History Encyclopedia|title=Sugar & the Rise of the Plantation System|date=2021-06-18|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1784/sugar--the-rise-of-the-plantation-system/}}</ref>

== History ==
Sugarcane is believed to have been domesticated in [[New Guinea]] around 6000 BC.<ref name=":0" /> Methods of boiling sugarcane juice into crystals was developed in [[Republic of India|India]] around 500 BC. Knowledge of sugar-making later spread to [[Islamic Republic of Iran|Persia]] and eventually reached [[medieval Europe]] via trade routes.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> 

Production of sugar in the [[Iberian peninsula]] began around 900 CE, with its boom starting around 1300 and lasting until around 1500. The [[Kingdom of Portugal (1139–1910)|Portuguese]] would come to pursue sugar production on a world scale as they explored and colonized various regions, and enslaving people to work on sugar plantations.<ref name=":0" /> Other [[Europe|European]] powers would also come to participate in this industry in a similar manner.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

From the start of Atlantic sugar production by European powers, enslaved people were the main labor force, with Europeans typically forcing the indigenous people of a colonized area into slavery, and then importing slaves from elsewhere. Atlantic islands once used for sugar plantations would later become hubs for shipping enslaved Africans to the Americas.<ref name=":1" /> These activities, among others, were foundational to the development of the [[trans-Atlantic slave trade]] and played a major role in the colonization of the [[Americas]]. [[Federative Republic of Brazil|Brazil]] and the [[Caribbean]] would come to be major locations of sugar production throughout this process.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Stubs]]
[[Category:Crops]]
[[Category:Agriculture]]