Research Foundation of SUNY

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 SUNY for and on behalf of the Fernand Braudel Center
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Sugar and theExpansionof
theEarlyModern World-Economy
Commodity Frontiers,EcologicalTransformation,
and Industrialization*

JasonW.Moore
articleattemptsto restoreand operationalizetheconceptof
the frontierforthe studyof worldcapitalistexpansionand its
structuraltendencytowardsenvironmental degradation.World-sys-
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 un-
deremphasized.I willtracethedevelopmentand expansionofsugar
cane productionand tradein orderto illustratethecentralityof en-
vironmentaldynamics as a of the
way rethinking early modern
history capitalistexpansion.The historyof sugarproductionand
of
tradeis well-known. how-
Despite theexistenceof a vastliterature,
ever,the environmental of
history sugar has not been giventhe
attentionitdeserves,norhas thelinkbetweenecologicaltransforma-
tionand the expansionarylogic of worldcapitalism.My goal is to
suggestwaysof rethinking earlymoderncapitalistexpansionas a
socio-ecologicalprocess.
WhenI speakoffrontiers, I am buildingon world-systemstudies
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, 409

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410 JasonW. Moore

reconceptualizedsatisfactorily withinthe world-systems paradigm.

The conceptofthefrontier has been employedbyhistoricalsociolo-
gistsengaged in regionalstudies,but has not been theorizedade-
quately.Thomas D. Hall, forinstance,definesa frontier as thearea
"where. . . incorporationoccurs"(Hall, 1989: 24). In her otherwise
brilliantstudyofSouthernAppalachia,Dunaway( 1996a) does much
the same, treatingthe frontiersimplyas a zone of incorporation.
Thisconceptualization does notdistinguish theincorporation ofthe
AmericasfromAsia and Africa,wherestrongstatestructuresim-
peded fullincorporationuntilthenineteenthand twentieth centu-
ries.Whereasincorporation studies have focused on fairlygeneral
world-systemic processesand social transformations within particu-
larregions,I wishto drawattentionto thewaysin whichtheproduc-
tionand distribution ofspecific commodities,and of primaryprod-
uctsinparticular, haverestructured geographicspace at themargins
in
of thesystem such waya as to requirefurther expansion.To this
end, I suggesttheconceptof thecommodity frontier.

COMMODITY FRONTIERS

The idea of thecommodityfrontier derivesfromtheworld-sys-

temsconceptofthecommodity chain, which "refersto a networkof
labor and productionprocesseswhoseend resultis a finishedcom-
modity"(Hopkins & Wallerstein,1986). Althoughthe usual ap-
proachto thestudyofcommodity chainsis to beginwiththefinished
product,thetaskof tracking expansionrequiresa focuson
frontier
unfinished,
relatively "raw" materials;a fullanalysiswouldrequirea
subsequentbacktracking, whichis outsidethescope of thisarticle.
The pointof commoditychainanalysisis two-fold: 1) to determine
the boundariesand shifting configuration of the world-economy's
interdependent divisionof labor; and 2) to analyze shiftsbetween
core, periphery, and semiperiphery over time accordingto each
zone's retentionofsurplusvalue.Whilestateactorsattempttoshape
thesystem'sdivisionoflaborto theiradvantage,theprimaryorgan-
izingmechanismsare commoditychains,whose operationsare by
definitiontransnational.This approachpermitsan end runaround
traditionalconceptionsof frontierexpansion,which accept the
nation-stateor imperialsphereas theprimary unitofanalysisrather
thantheworld-economy as a whole.

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY 411

The existenceofmultiplecommodity frontiers in theAmericas-

sugar, silver,timber, cattle,foodstuffs, cotton, tobacco, fursand
deerskins,fisheries, etc.-allows to
us, first, track not onlycapitalist
expansion but also the unevenness of that expansion.This helps
correcttheimpressionofmanycriticsoftheworld-systems perspec-
tive,who rightly argue that the transitionto capitalism has assumed
radicallydifferent formsin different places, but wronglycontend
thatworld-systems analysis incapableof theorizingthisdiversity.
is
Secondly,it providesa wayto linkup relatively abstractprocesses
suchas longwaveswithrelatively specificprocessessuchas commod-
ityproductionand 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
theworld-economy and local ecosystemsinteractto determinethe
rateof capitalistexpansion.1Thirdly,because commodityfrontiers,
especiallysugar,requirednumerouscapitalinputsunavailableat the
immediatepointofproduction,theconceptprovidesa morespecific
theorizationof the simultaneousdeepeningand wideningof the
system'ssocial divisionof labor. In short,the commodityfrontier
givesmeaningto the conceptof the "multiplier effect"in termsof
spatial expansion and the global reach of the law of value. And
fourthly, because the most significant commodity frontiers were
based on theexploitationoftheenvironment- sugar,silverand gold
mining,tobacco,grain,among others- the conceptallowsan explo-
rationoftheinterrelationships betweenproductionin one place,and
theexpansionofcapitalistspacein general.I mustadd thatcommod-
ityfrontiers constitutethefoundationof a broaderworld-historical
category2- thefrontiermodeofcapitalist expansion-theprimary arena

1 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.
Certainly,religiousmissions,military colonization,Utopiancommunities,etc.,cannotbe
chalkedup to commodityproductionin a simpleway.In addition,preemptivecoloni-
zation 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
simultaneously a certainkindof socio-spatialmovementand to a
to
certainkindof place-thatis, theterm"frontier" refersboth to the
as
"space-of-flows" wellas to the The two dimen-
"space-of-places."
sionsofthefrontiermode maybe capturedin thefollowing formula-
tion. A frontieris a zone beyondwhichfurtherexpansionis possiblein a
waythatis limitedprimarily byphysicalgeographyand thecontra-
dictionsofcapitalismratherthantheoppositionofpowerfulworld-
empires.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
outweightheinternalones-
as in Africaor Asia duringtheearlymodernperiod-we mustspeak
of bordersand not frontiers.
Commodityfrontierswere profoundlytransformative of land
and labor because theywere oftenhighlyindustrialIn particular,
sugarproductionand refining, and silverminingwere among the
mostindustrialactivitiesof the earlymodernworld-economy (see
Mintz,1985; Bakewell,1987). As theworld-systems schoolhas long
maintained,therehave been numerousphases of industrialization,
and qualitativelythe most importantphase is an open question
(Hopkins& Wallerstein, 1977;Nef,1964).Mostdiscussionsofindus-
however,have neglectedthe role of whatI callfrontier
trialization,
industrialization.
In the Americasduringthe earlymodernperiod,
the twomostsignificant generatorsof value were silverand sugar.
Bothwerehighlyindustrialbyanystandardoftheday.Not onlydid
theyrequirefairlyheavycapitalinputs,but in the case of sugar a
highlyrationalizedlabor processwas necessary.The extractive and
agriculturalcharacteroffrontier underconditions
industrialization
ofceaselesscapitalaccumulationmeantthatnotonlywas ecological
exhaustiona factoflifein theseareas,butthatecologicalexhaustion
was a major impetusto furthercapitalistexpansionand to the sys-
tem'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

productionwas complementedby an environmentally destructive

multipliereffectwhichled to, interalia, deforestation,
massivesoil
erosion,siltation,climate change, and other effectsin the case of
sugar,and deforestation and thepoisoningofmountainriversin the
case of silvermining(see below,and formining,Bakewell,1987;
Dunaway,1996b). Furthermore, byemphasizingfrontier industrial-
ization as a process coterminouswith the consolidationof the
capitalistworld-economy over the "long"sixteenthcentury(1450-
1640),I contendthatthecontemporary globalecologicalcrisisis not
rootedin theso-calledIndustrialRevolutionperse,butin thelogicof
capitalitself-withor withoutSatanicMills.

THE SUGAR FRONTIER

Few commodityfrontiers have containedsuch an expansionary

and environmentally transformative logicas sugar.The production
and sale of cane sugarplayeda centralrole in the developmentof
capitalismfromthefourteenth to thenineteenthcentury. Justhow
was
significant the in
sugarcomplex early modern capitalism?James
Blaut makes the plausibleclaim thatthe economic significanceof
sugarshouldbe placed alongsideNewWorldsilver."The sugarplan-
tationeconomywas thesinglelargestproductivesectorin ... [early
moderncapitalism], asidefromfamily farming, and byfarthelargest
singlegeneratorofvalue"(Blaut, 1993: 198; also Furtado1963: 71).
The sugarfrontier wassuchan intensively transformative histori-
cal structurebecause sugar monoculturerapidlyexhausted soil
througha processofhighlyunequal,and veryrapid,ecologi-
fertility
cal exchange.Fromthisperspective, thesugarfrontier was thepara-
digmatic case of the "metabolic rift"thatcharacterized the change
in nature-society relationsonce the transitionto capitalismcom-
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
countryside (especiallybut not onlyin theperipheries)flowedinto
thecities,whichwereunderno obligationto returnthewasteprod-
uctsto thepointof production.Nutrientswerepumpedout of one
ecosystemin theperiphery and transferred toanotherin thecore.In
essence,theland was progressively mined,untilitsrelativeexhaus-

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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
apparentwheneighteenth centuryBritishworkersconsumedsugar
products even as Caribbean slavesstarved,mostlybecause so little
realfoodwas grownon manysugarislandsand foodimportsfluctu-
ated accordingto ecological and economic cycles(Mintz, 1985;
Carrington,1987; Davis,1973: ch. 15). Partof thetaskbeforeus, in
grapplingwiththe complexitiesof the sugarcomplex'secological
transformations, is toappropriatetheinsights ofagricultural
ecology
foruse withinan ecologicalworld-systems framework. An agroeco-
logical historicalperspectivehelps bringintofocusthe "totality of
interdependent crops,animals,humans,soils,and woodlands,"al-
lowing for a deeper understandingof the interrelations between
deepening market integration,spatial expansion, and ecological
degradation (Merchant, 1989: 153, 149-97; Worster, 1990).
The sugarcommodity frontierillustrates
thefundamentally rest-
less natureofworldcapitalism.Considerthelong-run changesin the
of
geography sugarproduction. sugarproduction
Capitalist developed
duringthelate medievalperiodin theMediterranean- especiallyon
Crete and Cyprus(Solow, 1987). Duringthe earlystagesof Portu-
gueseexpansionin thesecondhalfofthefifteenth century,thelocus
ofsugarproductionmovedto theAtlanticislands,especiallyMadeira
(Verlinden,1970). In thelate sixteenth and earlyseventeenth centu-
ries,production shifted again,to coastalBrazil.By the middle of the
seventeenth century, theCaribbean,especiallyBarbados,becamethe
centerofworldsugarproduction;Cuba andJamaicabecamepreemi-
nentbythelateeighteenth and earlynineteenth century.And bythe
latenineteenth century, was
sugarproduction trulyglobalized(Deer,
1949-50; Galloway,1989;Mintz,1985;see Tomich,1990; 1991; 1994
foran exceptionalworld-systems accountofnineteenth-century sugar
production in the Caribbean). Part of thisrestlessnesscan be ex-
plainedbytechnological innovations and changesinlaborsupply.The
primary factor, however, was environmental transformation,which
oftennecessitatedchangesin,especially, The
technology. ecological
dimensionshouldneverbe abstracted.
Sugar productionwas both labor-and capital-intensive. Of spe-
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. Sugarproductionwas profoundly industrial, involv-
ing a degree of labor processcoordinationand capitalintensivity
thatwas rarein theearlymodernworld-system (Mintz,1985). "The
sugarplantationchangedcolonialsocietiesin muchthesame fash-
ion thatthefactory. . . changedEnglishsociety"(Davis, 1973: 215).
In largepart,theindustrialcharacterof sugarproductionwas man-
datedbytheecologyofsugarcane,whichrequiresthatcutting, mill-
ing, and boiling occur within 48 hours;sugar cane desiccates rapidly
once itis cut.As a consequence,thelabor processof sugarproduc-
tion was highlyrationalizedand time-conscious."This time con-
sciousnesswas dictatedbythenatureofthesugarcane and itsproc-
essingrequirements, but it permeatedall phases of plantationlife"
(Mintz, 1985: 51). Sugar productionrequiredboth skilledand un-
skilledlabor,providingan earlyglimpseofthecapitalistlaborproc-
ess, includingsuch dynamicsas deskilling."The specializationby
skillandjobs, and the divisionof labor byage, gender,and condi-
tion[oflabor,thatis,slavery] intocrews,shifts, and 'gangs,'together
with the stressupon punctuality discipline,are featuresassoci-
and
ated more withindustrythanwithagriculture- at least in the six-
teenthcentury"(Mintz,1985: 47).
Sugarhas a verylonghistory, butforpresentpurposesI willstart
theclockon thecapitalistsugarfrontier in thefifteenth century with
theincorporation oftheAtlantic islands intothe emergentcapitalist
world-system. The firstmajor sugar-producing area outside the
Mediterraneanwas the island of Madeira, settledby Portuguese
colonistsin the1430's.The developmentofMadeiransugarproduc-
tionforeshadowedmuchof thiscommodity frontier'shistory in the
early modern period. Over a decade before settlers arrived on this
uninhabitedisland,theyhad putashorecows,pigs,and sheep.This
practicewould be repeatedin the Azores,the Cape Verdes, and
muchlaterBarbados.Consequently,theisland'secologywas trans-
formedeven beforehumanarrival.This was not alwaysto the set-
tlers'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 smallhold-
ingagriculture practicedwithminimalcapitalinputs.Mostoften,the
firstsettlersengaged in the cultivationof wheat or othergrains,
oftenin combinationwitha cash crop such as tobacco,whichre-
quired 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
frontier, settlerswerenot compelledto "sellto survive"bythecapi-
talistmarket.Rather,theypracticeda "subsistence-surplus" agricul-
turewhoseworld-historical was to organizethehumanand
function
naturalresourcesin preparationfora moreintensivestageof com-
modityproduction(Moore, 1997). Sugar cultivationtended to be
unsuccessfulin thoselocations-suchas Hispaniolain thesixteenth
century- whichhad notbeen preparedby a grainsurplusfrontier
(Mintz,1985; Watts,1987: 103-04). The transition froma grainsur-
plus frontier to the sugarcommodity frontier
was a momentof on-
goingprimitive accumulation.In Madeira,thisoccurredunderthe
impetusofGenoese and Flemishcapitalas settlers weredisplacedin
favorof sugar plantations,whose annual outputincreasedfrom
about 80 tonsto over 1,000 tonsbetween1456 and 1494 (Diffie&
Winius,1977: 306-07; Schwartz,1985: 8).
The transition fromwheattosugarhad twomajorconsequences,
whichwould be repeatedmanytimesover the nextfewcenturies.
First,foodstuffs had to be imported,therebywideningand deepen-
ing the world-economy's interdependent divisionof labor. In the
case of Madeira,wheatwas shippedfromtheAzores;in thecase of
theCaribbeanislandsin theseventeenthand eighteenth centuries,
NorthAmericaand Irelandsuppliedfood (Davis, 1973: chs. 1, 15-
16; Carrington,1987; Sheridan,1973; Truxes,1988). Secondly,the
shiftto sugarproductionnecessitateda largerunitof production,
itselfa keyindicatorofincorporation intotheworld-economy.3 The

3"It seems clear the

abilityto respondis a functionin partof thesize of thedecision-
making unit.A larger unit and itsown prospects
is more likelyto have an impacton itself
forcapital accumulationby alteringits productiondecisionsin 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 negativeenvironmen-
talfactorin itself(Watts,1987: 167). Hence, theisland'sdeepening
incorporationin the emergentcapitalistworld-system was also a
momentof deepeningenvironmental degradation.
Beforeanysignificant agriculture could begin,Madeira'sheavy
forestcoverhad to be cleared.In thetimber-starved Mediterranean
world of the time,timberexportswere highlylucrative(Cipolla,
1976:229-30; Ôzveren,1994).Butcommercialcutting wasslow,and
settlerswere starved for land. The forests were burned,and the
proliferation of European animals,in additionto intensiveagricul-
ture, ensured that the island's "forestswould never recover"
(Crosby,1986: 76).
Madeira'slowrainfallmeantthatirrigation workshad to be built
ifsugarwas to be grown.Building agroecologicalinfrastructure
an
capable of sustaininga sugarexportsectortooksome time.Twenty
yearselapsed betweenthe introduction of sugarcaneto the island
and the commencementof sugarexportsin the 1450's (Galloway,
1989: 50). The construction of thisinfrastructure was as globalas it
wastransformative. Technical and
expertise financing weresupplied
by the Genoese, Portugalcovered protectioncosts, and African
slaves(importedby theGenoese and Portuguese)performedmost
ofthelabor.The laborrequirements wereimmense,exactinga high
pricein human lives.According to Alfred Crosby,"muchoftheland
was too steep for normalpractices of cultivationand had to be
terraced.Mostback-breaking of all thetasks,and themostdanger-
ous, was the creation of a vastand complicatedirrigation systemto
bringwaterfromthe windyand sodden uplands to the cultivated
fieldsfarbelow"(1986: 78; also Watson,1983: 103).
Undertheimpetusofan expandingworldmarketforsugar,the
consolidationof large landholdingsthanksto Genoese financing,
and sufficientlaborprovidedbytheslavetrade,Madeirabecamethe
world-economy's largestsugarproducerbythelatefifteenth century
(Galloway, 1989: ch. 4; Schwartz, 1985: 8). By the 1490's, however,
theworldsugarmarketwas glutted.Overproduction coincidedwith
increasing soil erosion, which lowered productivity. allowedfor
This
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 production, a primeexampleofcapitalistagriculture's
drive "towardthe radical simplification of the naturalecological
order"(Worster,1990; also see Haila & Levins,1992: ch. 5). Such
simplification is inherentlydisruptive.Underconditionsofgeneral-
ized commodityproductionand theimperativeof ceaselesscapital
accumulation,monoculturesare especiallyunstableowingto the
competitive pressuresoftheworldmarket.Competitionmeansthat
ecosystemswhichmightotherwiseregeneratein timeare not al-
lowed to do so. In additionto thesefactors,Europeanagricultural
practices,suchas row-style plantationagriculture and plantingsugar
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 mid-
sixteenth centurymarkeda qualitative shiftin thescaleand scope of
capitalistecologicaldegradation. One of theprincipalagentsof this
degradationwas theplantation.In no smallpart,itwas theclimateof
the Americas-especiallythe high rainfall- thatmade possible this
formof agricultural "The
enterprise. discoverythatsugarcould be
grownwellin theNewWorldwithoutirrigation madeAmericancane
the of
plantations prototype virtually the whole developmentof the
subsequentgrowthofplantations oftheworld"(Sauer,1981:49-50).
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 century (Lockhart& Schwartz,
1983: 204; Mintz, 1985: 43-46). By the 1650's, Brazil would be
eclipsedbytheCaribbeanas thecenterofworldsugarproduction.
This was the periodwhensugarconsumptionbecame increasingly
widespreadin theEuropeancore. Bytheend of theeighteenth cen-
tury a wide of
range sugarproducts became something staplein
ofa
Englishworkingclasshouseholds(Mintz,1985).
I willdiscusstheecologicaleffectsof thesugarcomplexthemat-
icallyratherthanchronologically, in orderto conveya sense of the
scope of environmental transformation 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
world-system, therealmoneyin sugarwas made notbyplantersbut
by merchantsand financiers(Blaut, 1993: 191-92; Braudel, 1982:
190-94, 272-78; Deerr,1949-50: II, 291; Edel, 1969). As withmost
economicactivities in theperiphery, competition in thesugarsector
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,
whichdrovethesugarfrontier everonwardsto virginsoil,whichin
turnrequired fresh supplies capitaland labor. A viciouscircle
of
indeed! Americanplanterswere yoked to an "internationaldebt
peonage"reminiscent ofearlymoderneasternEurope(Wallerstein,
1979:41). Financiers,notplanters,weretheprimary of
beneficiaries
thesugarfrontier complex. Not these
coincidentally, agentsof this
peonage in successivehistoricalepochswerebased in therespective
centersofworldfinance-Genoa, Amsterdam, London.
How did EuropeancolonistsapproachtheNew World?Richard
Pares (1960: 20) sumsup theinitialapproachin termsof immense
waste:"The pioneerspresumedupon the inexhaustiblefertility of
cattle,turtles,and birds,and upon the immeasurable resourcesof
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
dwarfedtheircontemporaries in the Middle East and China (Sale,
1990: 84-85). Forestswere the lifebloodof theEuropeancore,and
theywere the lifebloodof the sugarcomplex.Not onlywas forest
clearancea preconditionof sugarcultivation, but wood was neces-

4 to monopolizethehighprofitmonop-
a[C]ore zones . . . have tended,bydefinition,
olies while the peripheralzones housed productionprocesses operatingwithintruly
competitivemarketsand hence characterizedby trulylow-profit activities"(Hopkins &
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
metalworkers who made thefurnaces,boilers,and toolsneeded to
process the sugarcane. It was needed to constructhogsheadsand
otherlarge barrelsforshipment.And of course,it was needed to
build theshipsthattransported thesugarto market.
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
forshipbuilding, construction, and fuelpurposes,butthesewerenot
the onlysugar-related activitieswhichled to deforestation. Forests
were cleared to prepare the land on whichwheatwas grownand
livestockforaged,bothofwhichwereshippedinsubstantial amounts
to the West Indies (Cronon, 1983: ch. 6; Merchant,1989; Silver,
1990: 117-18; Williams,1989).
The linkbetweensugarand deforestation was evidentfromthe
verybeginningof sugarcultivationin theNew World.On Hispan-
iola, the firsteffortsat sugarplantingbegan in 1505, and by the
1530's therewere 34 mills(Mintz,1985: 33-34). By the end of the
sixteenthcentury, "theexhaustionofwood supplybecamea serious
problem" on the island (Sauer, 1981: 352). Barbados, originally
coveredwith"densetropicalforests," wasvirtually deforestedin the
30 yearsafterinitialsettlement in the 1630's. By the 1660's, some
fifteen yearsafterthefirstsugarexports,"Barbadoshad less wood-
land thanmostdistricts ofEngland [CJolonists werecomplaining
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
two-thirds ofAntiguahad practically vanished(Watts,1987:434-35).
St. Kitts,Nevis,and Montserrat beganto suffer fromsoilexhaustion
shortlyafterthe introduction of sugarmonoculturein the 1750's,
although the fullimpact would not be feltuntilthesugarboom of

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY 42 1

the 1820's (Tomich,1990: 140). In FrenchMartiniqueand Guade-

loupe, 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 Sâo Tome offtheWestAfricancoast duringthesixteenth
century, "so quicklywas theforestcutback in theexpansionof the
sugarindustrythatby the mid-sixteenth centurythe entirelittoral
. . . had been cleared of naturalcoverand turnedinto cane-fields"
(Garfield,1992: 82).
Clearingforestsforsugarcultivationoftenmeantsettingfireto
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 "totalre-
moval"(Watts,1987: 166). On Barbados,deforestation led to the
extinctionof numerousspeciesof floraand fauna,especiallybirds,
"the scarcityof [which]. . . has continuedthroughto the present
day"(Watts,1987: 219-20). In New England,theextinction ofbirds
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).
Todaynearlytwo-thirds ofBarbados'floraand faunaare notindige-
nous (Watts,1987).
Forestswere also destroyedin the numerousinterimperialist
conflicts oftheperiod.DuringtheSecond DutchWar(1666-67), the
Frenchput to the torchthose partsof St. Kittscontrolledby the
English;"at roughlythesame time,Frenchsailorsburntthewhole
islandofSt. Croix"(Watts,1987). Cane fields,notto mentionsettle-
ments and towns,were routinelyburned duringthese conflicts
(Watts, 1987: 240-58, 394). The ecological impacts of warfare,
thougha farcryfromtheliteralscorchedearthpracticesofthepres-
entday(witnessthe 1991 PersianGulfWar or the 1999 U.S. airwar
againstSerbia),remainlargelyunexploredduringthisperioU.
Animals,especiallywildhogs,were eliminatedby imperialau-
thoritiesforsocial and politicalreasons.Sometimeswildhogswere
simplya nuisance.For example,whenBarbadoswas firstsettledin
the late 1620's, theisland"wasalmostoverrunby"feralhogs,who

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422 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 favor-
able otherenvironmental factorssuch as climateand soil" (Miller,
1997: 137). As earlyas thefifteenthcentury, 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
costsalong withsoil erosioncontributed to a largenumberofplan-
tationfailuresin thisperiod,whichin any eventwas a period of
declineofBraziliansugarexports(Edel, 1969:42). Duringtheseven-
teenthcentury, a largeBahianengenho requiredthefull-timelaborof
eightslavesjust to gatherfirewood.Each slave's dailyquota was
approximately 1,600poundsoffirewood.Duringtheharvestseason,
everylargeengenho in theregionconsumedsome twelveto thirteen
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
surprising thattherewas "considerabledeforestation" in theBahian
Reconcavo by the mid-seventeenth century(Schwartz,1985: 302;
Miller,1997). Barbadoshad so exhaustednativesourcesoffuelthat
by 1667 (sugarproductionbegan in earnestonlyin 1643-46) plant-
ers 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 consider-
ablyless thanthose associated withcultivationand transport.

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY 423

1987: 173, 186, 206, 397-98). In Mexico duringthe sixteenthcen-

tury,"thefuelneeds of Spanishenterprises, particularlysugar. . . ,
seriouslyencroachedupon the Indians' of
supply firewood"(Frank,
1979: 33). At the same time,in a dynamicthatcontinuestoday,
Spanishexpropriation of themostfertileagricultural land- in part
forsugarcultivation, especiallyaroundCuernavaca-pushedindige-
nouspeoplesontomarginalforestsoils,whichwerequicklydepleted
(Frank,1979: 33-35).
Althoughplanterseventually foundan alternative sourceoffuel,
by usingbagasse(milled cane stalks) and employingthe more effi-
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
when faced withthe pressuresof environmental exhaustionthat
planters made more "efficient" use of the natural environment.
Whereforestswereplentiful, planterspreferred wood overbagasse.
Plantersin Cuba used wood as the primaryfuel source in many
areas untilthemid-nineteenth century, in northeastBraziluntilthe
earlynineteenthcentury, and in Peru cane stalkswereseldomused
untiltheintroduction ofthe"LouisianaNumber1" millin theearly
1870's (Moreno Fraginals,1976: 38-39; Galloway,1989: 97-99;
Knight,1972: 29-30). Moreover,notonlydid thefuelrequirements
ofthesugarsectordepleteforests, butwood burningitself"resulted
in the transferof manyvegetativestorednutrientsawayfromthe
immediateenvironment [and] into the atmosphere,"therebycrip-
plingthereproductive capacityof thelocal ecosystem(Watts,1987:
166-67).
Once the forestswere gone, soils became highlyvulnerableto
erosionfromwindand rain.The sugarcaneitselfis fairly resilientin
severe weather.The soil in which it grows is not so lucky. In
seventeenth-century Barbados,

Riversbeganto siltup and in some cases wentcompletely dry,

estuarinehabitatswere destroyedby siltationand estuarine
animalsdisappeared;and withtheloss ofthedense treecover
thewholehydrology, and thusthewholeclimate,of thearea
was slowlyaltered,at considerablecostto bothland and water
species(Sale, 1990: 165).

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424 JasonW. Moore

In Barbados,erosionfromnearbycane fieldsbegan to clog Bridge-

town harbor in the early 1660's, afterjust two decades of sugar
cultivation(Watts,1987: 222). By the end of the seventeenthcen-
tury,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). Suchexhaus-
tionplayeda keyrole in the eighteenth-century shiftof sugarpro-
duction fromBarbados to the largerislands of Jamaica and St.
Domingue,which"had sufficient land to be able to abandon over-
workedsugarplantationsand replanton virginsoil" (Davis, 1973:
254; also Dunn, 1973: 205; Ponting,1991: 206).
The sugarfrontier, in depletingthe soil,requiredevergreater
inputs of fertilizer
and labor.The challengeofdecliningsoilproduc-
tivitywas met,in part,bybringingin moreanimalsto supplyfertil-
izer,which led to more deforestation forpasturage,whichresulted
in yetmore soil erosion.In sixteenth-century Brazil,the booming
sugar sector provided the impetus large-scalecattleranching,
to
wherecattlewereinitially used as a powersourceforthesugarmills
(Crosby,1972:90; Furtado,1963:58-66; Schwartz, 1973: 167-68). In
mid-seventeenth-century Barbados, the cost of animal fertilizer
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 exis-
tence of a large animal population-especiallyhorses,the power
sourceformanysugarmillsat thetime-provideda favorabledisease
climate.In 1655-56 "a virulentepidemicalmostdestroyedthehorse
populationinBarbados"(Watts,1987: 193).Thisdevelopment threw
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:
197; Schwartz,1987: 93). Seen fromthisperspective, theecosocial
dynamics of the sugar frontierprovide an excellent of
illustration
how "capitalistproduction. . . onlydevelopsthetechniquesand the
degreeof combinationofthesocialprocessofproductionbysimul-
taneouslyunderminingthe 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 ex-

ploitthesoiland theslaveswereaccordingly intensified.
In Brazil,as
earlyas the 1580's, "an enghenoexpected to lose between5 and 10
percentof itsslaves"(Lockhart& Schwartz,1983: 206). Duringthe
eighteenthcentury,slave importsto Brazil quadrupled over the
previouscentury, despitestagnatingsugarproduction(Smith,1991:
35). During the late seventeenthcentury,slavesin Barbados were
puttoworkcarrying soilthathad washedto thebottomofcultivated
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 planterra-
tooned more thanone year Since ratooning. . . cost much less
labour thanplantingnew canes, we can see thatin the course of
yearstheexhaustionofthesoilgreatly increasedtheplanters'labour
costs"(Pares, 1960: 42). ThroughouttheWestIndies theimpactof
soil exhaustionon labor costscould be seen:
Everydecade ittookmoreslavesto producethesame amount
of sugarfromthesame acreage,or,wherecultivation was ad-
vanced or outputincreased,it was onlydone at the cost of
heavyadditionallabour.Thus,thoughbetween1720and 1755
theslavepopulationand thesugarofAntigua,St. Kitts,Nevis
and Montserrat bothincreasedby 100 per cent,thiswas only
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
(Pares, 1960: 41; forthegeneralrelationshipbetweencapital-
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 de-
forestation,ecologistsYrjo Haila and RichardLevinssuggesttwo

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426 JasonW. Moore

processes whichmightaffectclimatein sugar-producing regions.

Writing about Cuba in the nineteenth
century,but I thinkrelevant
to the Caribbean sugar islandsin the earlymodernperiod, they
observethat
The burningofsugarcane beforetheharvestputso muchash
intotheCuban atmospherethatitprovokedincreasedrainfall
just whenthiswasleastdesirablebecause itinterfered withthe
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 shipbuild-
ing,significantlyalteredtheregionalclimatebytheend of theeigh-
teenthcentury.Amongotherthings,deforestation contributedto
theincreasedfrequencyof floodingand forestfires,thedryingout
of soilswhichmade seasonalfluctuations moresevere,and reduced
streamflows(Merchant,1989: 236; Cronon,1983: 122-26).
Justas the sugar complexenslavedworkersand degradedthe
land,so itenslaved(peripheral)regionsbydeepeningtheirdepend-
encyon thecore. Peripheralization ex-
was about unequal ecological
changeas muchas itwas aboutsurplusextraction. Marx'scomment
on therelationshipbetweenIrelandand Englandin theeighteenth
centuryapplies equallywell to the relationshipbetweenBarbados
and Englandin theearlymodernperiod:"Irelandis at presentmere-
lyan agricultural ofEnglandwhichhappensto be dividedby
district
a widestretchofwater"(1977: 860). SidneyMintzperceptively notes
thattheexpansionofsugarproductionand thegrowthof slaveryin
the BritishWestIndies tookplace at thesame momentas England
was experiencingtheformation ofan industrial wage-laborproletar-
iat (1986: 43-44; also 1978). This is preciselythe world-historical
process Marxcommentedupon in thefirstvolumeof Capital:"the
veiled slaveryof thewage-labourers in Europe needed theunquali-
fiedslaveryof theNew Worldas itspedestal"(1977: 925).

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY 427

A world-historicalecologyofthesugarcomplex-one thatwould
study theinterconnections betweendeforestation and soilerosionin
air
theNew World, pollution caused bysugar-refining plantsin core
areas such as Amsterdam,theimpactof increasedsugarconsump-
tionon thehealthof consumersand theformationof an industrial
proletariat,therole of sugaras a sourceof cheap caloriesforwork-
ersin core zones suchas England,theecologicaldegradationresult-
ing fromthe massiveimportationand breedingof livestockin the
NewWorld,thehumanecologyofslaveryand workplacehealthand
safety,and manyother elementsof a world-systemic dialecticof
ecosocial change-remainsto be written. I have triedto drawout in
broad strokessome of the most conspicuous dimensionsof the
sugarcomplex'secologicaltransformations and to linkthesetrans-
formationswith capital's imperativeof ceaseless geographical
expansion.

CONCLUSION

The sugar commodityfrontierwas a vanguardsectorof early

moderncapitalistspatialexpansionfortwomainreasons.First,the
steadygrowthof theworldsugarmarketthroughout theearlymod-
ern period meant that existingland under cultivation was over-
exploitedand thatnewlandswerealwaysneeded,partlyto replace
worn-out lands,partlyto expandproduction.Secondly,and in some
waysmore significantly, the sugar frontierset into motiona vast
complex of economic fromslave-trading
activities, to cattle-ranching
to shipbuildingto foodstuff agriculture.Particularly importantare
thewaysin whichthesugarfrontier called fortha complexof com-
modityfrontiers in the Americas,leadingsimultaneously to market-
wideningand market-deepening. In NorthAmerica,forinstance,the
Caribbeansugarcomplexpushedforwarda timberfrontier to feed
a growingshipbuildingindustry and to exporttimberto the sugar
islandsforconstruction and otherpurposes;itfueleda cattle-ranch-
ingfrontierin thesouthernstates;and it facilitated theemergence
of export-oriented wheatagriculturein theVirginiaand Maryland
colonies, to name but a fewexamples.
The definingecologicalfeatureof capitalistagricultureis "the
radical simplification of the natural ecological order" (Worster,

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428 JasonW. Moore

1990: 1101).6In anyone place,such radicalsimplification is unsus-

tainableoverthemediumrunof50 to 75 years.Eitheroverexploita-
tionleads to exhaustion,or simplification renderscropsvulnerable
to disease,bothleadingto fallingproductivity and profitability.As
KarlPolanyi(1957) arguedsome fifty yearsago, capital'sinner logic
is to commoditytheland and laborthatprovidesthefoundationfor
continuedaccumulation, thereby undermining thehumanand natu-
ral foundationsof the system.Sugar illustratesthisdynamic.De-
pendingon suppliesof uncommodified land,sugarplantersunder
capitalistmarket pressures were forced to commodity and as a con-
sequence to degrade the land, thus setting the stage for further
expansion.The complexofprimary productcommodity frontiers in
theAmericas,oftenoriginating in responseto sugarand sometimes
silverwere caughtup in the same, if sometimesless conspicuous,
dynamics.
The conceptofthecommodity frontier shouldbe situatedwithin
a broader typologyof capitalistspatial expansion.The capitalist
world-economy is inherently expansionary. Ceaseless spatialexpan-
sion is theproductofa systembased on ceaselesscapitalaccumula-
tion.Duringtheearlymodernperiod,thereweretwomodalitiesof
spatial expansion:one largelyredistributive and trade-based;the
otheressentiallytransformative, based on theorganizationof com-
modityproduction. The first
mode of spatialexpansionwas thatof
a "tradingpost" imperialism,whichoperated in Africaand Asia
(Curtin,1984; Pearson,1987).
The second mode of spatialexpansionI call thefrontier mode.
The frontier mode ofexpansion,theprimary arenaofwhichwas the
Americas, was distinctive because it was ecologicallyand sociologi-
callytransformative to a degree impossibleelsewherein theworld,
even in mostof Europe. In theAmericas,capitalistsand theirstate
agencieshad a kindof "cleanslate"advantage.The forcesthatlim-
itedexpansionelsewherewerenot so important in theNew World,
and itwas here thatsocial transformations suchas industrialization
could be seen firstin some of theirmost advanced forms.The
frontier mode was not the childof capitalismbut a conditionof its
birthand consolidation."The Americaswerenotincorporatedinto

6 1 am aware thatWorster'sinvocationof "thenatural

ecologicalorder"is problem-
atic. However,to plunge into thatdebate would lead us too farafield.

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SUGAR AND EARLY MODERN WORLD-ECONOMY 429

an alreadyexistingcapitalistworld-economy. There could not have

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

7
"Energydensitymeans the amountof energytakenin and being transformed by
8cHaberl, 1993:
the systemper calculationunit(space or organism)"(Fischer-Kowalski
416).

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430 JasonW. Moore

planet's other(nonhuman)residents(Fischer-Kowalski & Haberl,

1993: 416-17). As long as capitalismdid not encompasstheentire
globe, these naturallimitscould be overcomeby geographicalex-
pansionand to a lesserextentbya shiftto capital-intensive agricul-
ture,althoughthe possibility of the latterultimately depended on
thesuccessof thelatter.
Fromthisperspective,Rosa Luxemburg'sinsightson theindis-
pensable functionof the "non-capitalist environment" (1970: 417)
forcapitalaccumulation, theformer'sgradualpenetrationand
and
destructionby capital and imperialstates,can be applied to the
historicalrelationbetweencapitaland nature.8"Theaccumulationof
capitalis a kindofmetabolism betweencapitalisteconomyand those
pre-capitalistmethods of 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 ofthefewimpera-
tivesactuallygraspedby contemporariesin the earlymodernera
(Hopkins& Wallerstein, 1977)- can be seen to containa profoundly
ecological dimension. Indeed,as thisstudyofthesugarfrontier sug-
gests,ecologicaldegradationmay be said to have been theprimary
forcebehindthecyclicalgeographicalexpansionoftheworld-econ-

8Like
Marx,Luxemburgdid not facedirectlytheissueof formidableecologicalbar-
riersto expanded accumulation.Nevertheless,considerher observationon the impor-
tance of naturalresources:
Thus, if [the advanced capitalistnations]were dependent exclusivelyon ele-
mentsof 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
procuresits means 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 progressivelyto
dispose ever more fullyof thewhole globe, to acquire an unlimitedchoice of
means of production,withregardto both qualityand quantity,so as to find
productiveemploymentforthesurplusvalue ithas realised The processof
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

omyfromthefifteenth to thenineteenthcentury, whenthe entire

globe was finallydrawn into capital'sorbit.
Having reached itsglobal
limits,theimplications for the future of the capitalistworld-system
are onlyall too clear.

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